ECUADOR DEMARCHE RESPONSE - KOSOVO ICG RESOLUTION

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000879 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/05/2028 TAGS: PREL UNGA UN KV EC SUBJECT: ECUADOR DEMARCHE RESPONSE - KOSOVO ICG RESOLUTION AT UNGA REF: A. STATE 91908 ¶B. QUITO 52 ¶C. QUITO 395 ¶D. QUITO 775 Classified By: DCM Andrew Chritton for Reasons 1.4 (b&d) ¶1. (SBU) PolOff delivered Ref A points to MFA Multilateral Affairs Director General Lourdes Puma on September 5, emphasizing that Kosovo independence is a political issue, not a legal question, and therefore should be decided by political institutions, not by the courts. ¶2. (C) Puma quickly asserted that the GOE would support the resolution to send the Kosovo resolution to the International Court of Justice (ICJ),claiming that the UN Security Council (UNSC) "had lost all credibility" by not respecting the territorial integrity of Serbia, as per UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1244. PolOff countered that UNSCR 1244 includes elements that deny Serbia a role in governing Kosovo, authorize the establishment of an interim UN administration, provide for local self-government, and envision a UN-led political process to determine Kosovo's future status, which the resolution made clear was open to a definitive solution. ¶3. (C) PolOff asked why the GOE, which has been supportive of the UNSC, would want to question its authority by sending the Kosovo issue to the ICJ, which has seldom addressed this type of issue. Puma explained that the GOE is particularly sensitive to issues of the protection of sovereignty due to its own experiences following the March 1 attack by Colombia against the FARC in Ecuadorian territory. Noting that the GOE's position against Kosovo's independence had hardened (Refs B, C, D),PolOff stressed that after an extended period of international administration aimed at building Kosovo's capacities for self-government, and a UN-led process of negotiation, sending the Kosovo independence issue to the ICJ would risk creating additional uncertainty and instability in the Balkans. Hodges