SAUDIS SLOWLY MOVING TOWARD KOSOVO RECOGNITION

S E C R E T RIYADH 001190

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT PASS TO NEA SJONES, NEA/RA MADLER, EUR/ACE/SEED
JBORIS AND NEA/ARP WROEBUCK

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/03/2018
TAGS: EU EUN FR GR KPKO PGOV PREL RS SA UNC KV YI
SUBJECT: SAUDIS SLOWLY MOVING TOWARD KOSOVO RECOGNITION

REF: A. MCGRATH-URETA JULY 29 E-MAIL

B. RIYADH 1170

C. RIYADH 678

D. RIYADH 586

Classified By: Charge' d'Affaires Michael Gfoeller
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (S) SUMMARY. According to the no. 3 official in the Saudi
Foreign Ministry, the Saudi Arabian Government (SAG) is
slowly moving toward official SAG recognition of Kosovo. He
ascribed the SAG's reluctance to recognize the newly
independent Balkan republic heretofore to concern over
Russian sensitivities, as well as a desire to refrain from
creating the impression that Kosovo is an "Islamic issue" for
the Saudis. The growing number of European states that have
recognized Kosovo apparently have allayed Saudi concerns.
END SUMMARY.


2. (S) Per ref A, Riyadh Charge' d'Affaires and Political
Counselor met with Saudi MFA Chief of Americas Department and
no. 3 in MFA hierarchy Ambassador Khalid Jindan on July 30
regarding Kosovo. Jindan was aware of the Kosovar request to
meet with Saudi FM Prince Saud al-Faisal, referring to a
joint French/British/Italian/German demarche on the same
topic made to him on July 28. Jindan stated a Kosovar-Saudi
meeting would likely occur, either in late August once Prince
Saud returns to the Kingdom (he is currently traveling in
Morocco and France) or in September at UNGA.


3. (S) Jindan agreed on the importance that Kosovo's final
outcome be a peaceful one with multilateral support, adding
he saw it now "becoming a priority" and "momentum was
building" for its recognition. He opined that "Serbia was
changing" and that if it eased its opposition to Kosovo it
would help its chances of eventual accession to the EU. As
we encouraged Saudi Arabia to recognize Kosovo, Jindan
repeated the SAG's position of not wanting to make Kosovo a
"Muslim issue," with Kosovar independence being perceived as
an Islamic cause celebre'. The SAG prefers that it be a
European issue without any Muslim connotations, he said.
Jindan acknowledged there was also Russian pressure across
the international spectrum to not recognize Kosovo, but he
concluded that the "time of Saudi Arabia recognizing Kosovo
is nearing."


4. (S) In a separate meeting between Pol Counselor and French
DCM in Riyadh Emmanuel Bonne on August 2, Bonne confirmed he
received the same response from the SAG when they delivered
the joint demarche to the Saudis. He added these types of
demarches normally include Spain and Greece, but these two
nations had opted to not participate in the Kosovo demarche.


5. (S) COMMENT. Kosovo is not a strategic concern for the
Saudis, as they are focused on Arab and regional security
issues - Syrian and Hizbollah activity in Lebanon;
Israeli-Palestinian conflict; Al-Qaeda terrorism in the
Kingdom; Iranian expansionism; Iraq's insurgency; Yemeni
stability; and Pakistani instability. Likewise, King
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is highly concerned with
Islam's global image, as shown by his initiating an
interfaith dialogue (Reftel B). Hence his decision to
disavow any link to the Kingdom's and Islamic religious
agenda to Kosovo, which he likely considers a secular
national entity and solely a European issue. Additionally,
Saudi Arabia has a large weapons deal pending with Russia.
The Saudis view this arms sale as more than just obtaining
military hardware. It will also give them leverage with
Moscow vis a vis with Iran, they hope. We believe Jindan's
statement that Saudi recognition of Kosovo is much closer and
may take place this Summer or Fall. END COMMENT.
GFOELLER