KOSOVO: ICELAND MUDDLING ITS WAY TOWARDS RECOGNITION

C O N F I D E N T I A L REYKJAVIK 000027

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DEPT FOR P, EUR, EUR/NB, EUR/SCE
ZAGREB FOR BELGRADE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2018
TAGS: PREL UNMIK UN YI KV IC
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: ICELAND MUDDLING ITS WAY TOWARDS RECOGNITION

REF: REYKJAVIK 23 AND PREVIOUS

Classified by: Amb. Carol van Voorst for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Ambassador contacted Permanent Secretary of State at the
Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs Gretar Mar Sigurdsson on 28
February to query the failure to make good the FM's pledge that
Iceland would recognize Kosovo on February 22 (reftel). Sigurdsson
pointed to the Foreign Minister's statement after meeting UN
Secretary General Ban in New York on February 26, in which she said

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that Iceland intends to recognize Kosovo's independence but a final
government decision on timing has not yet been made. Sigurdsson said
that the MFA is releasing a press statement February 28 stating the
same point. Although pressed hard on timing for the official
recognition, he would only repeat "soon," noting obliquely that there
were "differences in the government" about the best time to announce.
Sigurdsson said he had been in contact with the PermSecs for the
other Nordics, and said that Iceland would not be the last of the
Nordics to announce.


2. (C) Comment: Though no government source has directly raised
this angle, we think it likely that the "differences within the
government" reflect concerns that Iceland's bid for a UNSC seat in
2009-10 will be jeopardized if Kosovo recognition greatly irritates
the Russians, and the vagueness of "soon" and "won't be the last"
reflects the scramble to arrive at some announcement date which the
Icelanders somehow hope will least irritate the Russians while not
overly irritating the U.S. and the other Perm 5 supporters of
independence.

van Voorst