PANAMA: KOSOVO RECOGNITION DEMARCHE DELIVERED

C O N F I D E N T I A L PANAMA 000532 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV KPKO UNMIK UN YI EU PM SUBJECT: PANAMA: KOSOVO RECOGNITION DEMARCHE DELIVERED REF: STATE 69691 Classified By: Ambassador William A. Eaton. Reason: 1.4 (d) -------------- Panama Noncommittal . . . Still -------------- ¶1. (C) Ambassador presented reftel demarche to First VP and FM Samuel Lewis on June 30 on the margins of President Torrijos' farewell lunch in honor of the Ambassador. In addition to raising reftel points, Ambassador noted that Panama had previously indicated it would recognize Panama "soon, but after the Europeans" and subsequently informed Ambassador that Panama was working with its Central American neighbors to organize a joint recognition. Now that two-thirds of the EU had recognized Kosovo and Panama had had two months to work toward a joint recognition with its neighbors, Ambassador inquired when Panama might recognize Kosovo Lewis was noncommittal and said he would consult with the MFA before getting back to the Embassy. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶2. (C) Post believes that Panama has no intention of moving forward on recognizing Kosovo any time soon. Furthermore, the Ambassador was left with the impression that Panama has done little, if anything, to organize a joint recognition with its Central American neighbors. EATON