NO SURINAMESE POSITIONS ON GEORGIA, KOSOVO

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARAMARIBO 000377 SIPDIS SENSITIVE EUR/RUS FOR KATE SZPILA, EUR/KOSOVO DESK FOR SEIJI T. SHIRATORI AND WILLIAM TOMLYANOVICH, WHA/CAR FOR JACKIE ROSHOLT E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2018 TAGS: PREL GG KV NS SUBJECT: NO SURINAMESE POSITIONS ON GEORGIA, KOSOVO REF: A. SECSTATE 93448 ¶B. SECSTATE 91908 ¶C. SECSTATE 91894 ¶D. SECSTATE 90980 ¶E. SECSTATE 90978 ¶F. PARAMARIBO 104 ¶G. PARAMARIBO 56 Classified By: DCM Susan Bell for reason 1.4 (d). ¶1. (U) On September 9, per reftels A-E, Post delivered messages to Jerrel Moriah, head of the European Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Suriname (GOS). Moriah said the GOS has no position on the relevant issues in Georgia or Kosovo at this time, but promised to forward the messages to Acting Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs Robby Ramlakhan. Moriah said the GOS will "look carefully" at the issues, which "need to be studied," and that "time will tell." ¶2. (C) Moriah, who has headed the Europe desk for the GOS for ten years, showed unfamiliarity with the issues. He repeatedly mistook which countries were in which position, asking twice, "so you don't want us to recognize Georgia?" He looked at a impromptu map drawn by PolOff to gain a better understanding of the issues. Regarding Georgia, Moriah said he could understand the need to speak out against destabilization by Russia. On Kosovo, he said if the case is brought to the International Court of Justice, "after this ruling the thing could be solved." Moriah stressed that these were his personal opinions. ¶3. (C) Post has discussed Kosovo extensively with the GOS at a higher level (refs F-G) and expects the GOS's non-committal stance to continue, as with many foreign policy issues. ¶4. (U) Post will report any further reaction from the GOS. SCHREIBER HUGHES