DEMARCHE DELIVERED: RESOLVING KOSOVO'S STATUS IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L MONTEVIDEO 000018

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT ALSO FOR WHA/BSC, EUR/SCE AND KOSOVO DESKOFF JBLACK

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2018
TAGS: PREL UN UNMIK PGOV YI EU UY
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: RESOLVING KOSOVO'S STATUS IN
EARLY 2008

REF: STATE 01087

Classified By: Ambassador Frank E. Baxter
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) A/DCM urged Uruguay to recognize Kosovo's independence
once it is declared, per reftel instructions. The demarche
was delivered on January 15 to the MFA's Director for
Multilateral Affairs, Carlos Barros and his Chief of the
International Organizations Department, Daniel Pareja.


2. (C) Barros was quite familiar with the countries of
former Yugoslavia. He commented that on his last trip to the
region he had witnessed first-hand the persistent animosity
between countries such as Croatia and Montenegro. He made the
following observations regarding Kosovo's status in early
2008:

-- Uruguay is not a member of the UN Security Council and it
does not have any substantial interests in the Balkans.
Because of its small diplomatic corps, the GOU tends to
concentrate primarily on issues that directly impact Uruguay
and "not long-running or complex issues at the UN that have
minimal relevance to us." He cited Argentina, Brazil, the
United States, Venezuela, Spain, Italy, Congo and Haiti as
the nations which hold direct national/international
interests for Uruguay.

-- Nonetheless, Barros said, the MFA is concerned about the
countries of the former Yugoslavia that have no access to the
sea because their "isolated condition" poses potential risk
for future conflict. He cited Bolivia and Ethiopia as prime
examples of countries where a lack of access to the sea
remained a perennial source of contention with their
neighbors who had sea coasts. He commented that an
independent Kosovo was likely to result "in just another
landlocked micro-state -- unless Kosovo decided to join up
with Albania."

-- Barros said that the prospect of Kosovo eventually joining
Albania might not please Russia, who viewed "all Muslim
states in Europe" with grave suspicion." He added that
"neutral countries like Uruguay" were naturally concerned
when major changes were proposed in a region "where World War
I began".

-- On the other hand, Barros said that Uruguay's MFA well
understood that any attempt to reintegrate Kosovo into Serbia
was a non-starter that would likely spark renewed violence.
He characterized UN Special Envoy Ahtissari's plan as "the
lesser of two evils" and volunteered that the ethnic Serb
minority in Kosovo would not favor independence.

-- In the final analysis, Barros said, Uruguay had no
official position to offer at this time, but that it would
eventually, probably follow Europe's and Latin America's lead
on the Kosovo issue once it was clearly established. In any
case, he doubted that Uruguay would take a high profile on
the issue.


3. (C) Comment: A senior career diplomat with close ties to
the opposition Colorado party, Barros was previously
Ambassador to Italy and the Czech Republic, where he was also
accredited to a number of countries, including Albania. He
was candid in his remarks about which demarches the MFA took
seriously. He did not discount the possibility that either
Russia or Venezuela could alter his assessment of how Uruguay
would react to Kosovo's independence "if the right people at
the top of the MFA were persuaded to do otherwise". In
previous meetings, Barros has been openly critical of Foreign
Minister Reinaldo Gargano, particularly regarding the
Minister's opposition to a Free Trade Agreement with the U.S.
End Comment.
Baxter