KOSOVO: ICELAND MUDDLING ITS WAY TOWARDS RECOGNITION

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