CONVALIDATION OF PENSIONS IN FORMER OCCUPIED SERB

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000411 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR PRM, EUR/SCE AND EUR/RPM, BELGRADE FOR REFCOORD JIKICH E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREF PGOV PREL HR EUC SR SUBJECT: CONVALIDATION OF PENSIONS IN FORMER OCCUPIED SERB AREAS OF CROATIA MOVING TOWARD RESOLUTION REF: ZAGREB 357 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Deputy Prime Minister Slobodan Uzelac, the highest ranking Croatian Serb in the government, appears to be making some progress toward solving problems related to the return of Serbs who fled Croatia at the end of the war. On May 17th, 2008, the Croatian Government published a Rulebook on the Convalidation of Working Years for pensions earned between 1991 and 1995 in areas which were not under Croatian control during the war. This document establishes a procedure whereby people who worked in the "Republika Srpska Krajina" during the war can now receive credit for that time on the job in the calculation of their retirement pensions. Resolving this "convalidation" issue has been a major outstanding issue under the so-called Sarajevo Process, and is also among the opening "benchmarks" sought by the EU prior to opening negotiations on Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) in Croatia's on-going EU accession negotiations. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) In an April 25th meeting with representatives of the international community (REFTEL),Uzelac and his Minister of Regional Development, Forestry and Water Management, Petar Cobankovic, both promised to resolve this problem quickly and quietly. The new Rulebook allows for flexible methods for proving a person's working years/contributions, does not require applicants to be returnees to exercise this right, and imposes no further deadlines for applying. The practical impact of the decision is lessened by the fact that crediting the time worked towards retirement will mean only a small increase of under $40 a month to most Serb retirees' pensions. Nonetheless, the symbolism of this decision is significant, and the GoC will seek credit for the step with the international community. The GOC will likely downplay the step domestically, however, to avoid provoking any political backlash among the portions of the Croatian public who still view anyone who participated in the "RSK" in any fashion as a de facto war criminal. Embassy has seen no public announcement or media coverage of the step (which is consistent with Uzelac's desire not to publicize this move -- see reftel). ¶3. (SBU) While an April 10, 1999 deadline for applying for convalidation still must be annulled to avoid legal complications and contradictory instructions, UNHCR has received assurances from the Ministry of Economy, Labor and Entrepreneurship that only the Rulebook provisions will be taken into account in its implementation. Officials were told that local offices have been instructed to "ignore" the earlier deadline, which had been introduced by a decree. UNHCR officials remain cautiously optimistic and are generally quite pleased with the overall provisions in the rulebook. Leading Croatian Serb politician Milorad Pupovac told POLCOUNS on May 30 that he was happy with the new decision. He said that some details of implementation still needed to be clarified, but that if the new Rulebook was properly implemented, then he would consider the convalidation issue resolved. Internal GOC documents shared with POLOFF indicate that up to 44,000 requests for convalidation will be accepted by the GOC. Conservative estimates from the same anonymous sources estimate that the GOC will need to allocate approximately 370 million kuna (79 million dollars) from the budget in 2008 and approximately 530 million Kuna (113 million dollars) in subsequent years to finance anticipated claims. ¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: We agree with both Pupovac and UNHCR that, assuming this decision is implemented, the new procedure means the convalidation issue will be solved. Even if implementation is messy, which given the frailties of Croatian public administration it may well be, the new Rulebook still represents an important political decision for the GOC. It has put the government on record as recognizing that employment within the local institutions of the "RSK" was in some sense legitimate work, even as the "RSK" was in armed conflict with the Croatian government. As with its policy of providing housing to Serbs who lost their tenancy rights during the war, the GoC is gradually, and in as low a profile manner as it can, seeking to redress the legacy of population movements from the 1990's war. END COMMENT Bradtke