SYG BAN LEANING TOWARD UNMIK SURGE FOR LACK OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000367 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/21/2018 TAGS: UNMIK UNSC SUBJECT: SYG BAN LEANING TOWARD UNMIK SURGE FOR LACK OF COHERENT ALTERNATIVE REF: (A) UNDATED S-BAN LETTER WITH TALKING POINTS (B) USUN 348 Classified By: Ambassador Alejandro Wolff for Reasons 1.4 B/D. ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Responding to Ref A letter from the Secretary, UN Secretary-General Ban assured Ambassador Wolff SIPDIS and German PermRep Matussek on April 18 that the UN is confining its dialogue with Belgrade to operational aspects of the UN's role in Kosovo. Ban repeatedly called for all involved to demonstrate creativity and practicality in implementing a harmonious transition from UNMIK to EU as the leader of international community efforts in Kosovo. He made clear he increasingly favors the strengthening of the EU pillar within UNMIK at an early stage in a heightened EU presence in Kosovo that could later give way to a more overt EULEX presence, although he conceded that neither Belgrade nor Moscow has expressly endorsed that concept. To the ambassadors' urging that the UN more closely consult with key stakeholders on transition plans, including the Government of Kosovo, Ban said he would welcome close consultation. Within an hour of this meeting, DPKO Europe chief Harland contacted DepPolCouns to say that Ban had summoned him to his office and asked him to clarify the concerns that had given rise to the U.S./German demarche. Harland said the UN would welcome specifics on what the U.S. and like-minded states would like the continued UN presence in Kosovo mentioned in the Secretary's letter to look like after June 15. END SUMMARY. SIPDIS ¶2. (SBU) Ambassador Wolff and German PermRep Thomas Matussek presented Ref A letter from the Secretary to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on April 18. Ban was joined by SIPDIS Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar, Deputy Chief of Staff Kim Won-soo, and Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno. German Poloff and DepPolCouns also participated. Ban Trying to Find Pragmatic UNMIK Exit Strategy -------------- --- ¶3. (C) Ambassadors Wolff and Matussek, drawing on agreed talking points also provided Ref A, impressed on Secretary-General Ban that the German and U.S. governments SIPDIS believe that close coordination between the UN and key international stakeholders is indispensable to the reconfiguration of UNMIK demanded by the coming into force of the new Kosovo constitution in mid-June. They explained that lack of coordinated planning is already creating uncertainty on the ground in Kosovo and within the EU and NATO. ¶4. (C) SYG Ban immediately replied that he too is concerned about the "great challenges" the international community faces in managing a "realistic, practical, and harmonious" transition in Kosovo. He said the Ahtisaari Plan had been "good advice" but was "diametrically opposed" by Serbia, Russia and others. He said such disagreement could mean that just having the EU take over on June 15 "looks very abrupt." He said he needs "flexibility on the part of the EU." ¶5. (C) Expanding on his Ref B comments to Ambassador Khalilzad, Ban said he had approached EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana two months ago about the idea of initially folding an enhanced EU presence in Kosovo into UNMIK Pillar IV, the existing EU presence in UNMIK, as a means of obviating provocation. Ban said Solana had said he would bring the idea to the EU membership but had never gotten back to him. In the aftermath of more recent discussions with Serbian and Russian leadership, Ban's attraction to the idea has clearly increased, although he conceded that neither Belgrade nor Moscow has fully embraced it. He said Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic still sees Serbia's future within Europe and would welcome an EU presence in Kosovo, but not under the auspices of EULEX because of its Ahtisaari Plan origins. Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Ban, was "very negative" about Ban's failure to void Kosovo's declaration of independence and very critical of the UN generally. Ban added that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, on the other hand, had not reacted negatively to Ban's brief outline of the expansion of the EU pillar. ¶6. (C) Ban said he too was concerned about the lack of clarity on the way forward in Kosovo and appealed for international community creativity in translating a focus on practicalities into a harmonious transition. He agreed that UNMIK must be reconfigured, but added that the way in which he reconfigured UNMIK under the authority 1244 gives him must be legally sustainable. In this regard, he suggested that "my idea may work." He reiterated the disappointment he expressed (Ref B) with the EU's decision to terminate Pillar IV just when he was contemplating a temporary expansion in its role to repackage the EULEX effort. USUN NEW Y 00000367 002 OF 002 ¶7. (C) To the ambassadors' concern that the UN seems to be increasingly involved in dialogue with Belgrade without coordination with Quint capitals or with the Government of Kosovo, Ban said he understood the concern but countered that as SYG he must listen to everyone and assured the ambassadors that the talks are limited to operational matters. Ambassador Wolff pressed him not to underestimate the concern, particularly in Pristina, that Belgrade be denied a role post-independence that UNSCR 1244 expressly denied to it pre-independence. DPKO Looking to Follow Up With Quint -------------- ¶8. (C) Within an hour of the meeting in Ban's office, David Harland, chief of the Europe division in the UN's Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) called DepPolCouns to say Ban had summoned him to his office and instructed him to clarify what the Secretary meant by her letter's indication that "the United Nations will continue to play a role and thus have some kind of continued presence in Kosovo ..." Harland said the Secretary-General found that formulation unclear. He said he would like to know with as much specificity as possible what role the Quint saw the UN playing in Kosovo as of June 16. ¶9. (C) Harland said the Secretary-General and U/SYG Guehenno had noted that only the U.S. and Germany had asked to meet with Ban and speculated that recent DPKO experience suggested that he could expect to hear different views from other interested EU states. He asked that, if at all possible, the USG or the USG and friends deliver "five or six bullet points" spelling out their vision of UNMIK's future role. DepPolCouns agreed to pass on the request to Washington but suggested that the UN was not implementing some aspects of its existing mandate that are not open to question or to change, citing as an example NATO/KFOR's readiness to act immediately to implement any UN decision on security arrangement on the Kosovo-Serbia border. Harland agreed the UN has not developed a plan for the Kosovo-Serbia gates pending a review of February 19/March 17 events. Khalilzad