SIGNING CEREMONY FOR CROATIAN SOFA

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000061 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR U/S BURNS OSD FOR U/S EDELMAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL MARR NATO HR SUBJECT: SIGNING CEREMONY FOR CROATIAN SOFA (U) SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. ¶1. (SBU) After two years of difficult negotiations and a brief delay during the Croatian elections, the Croatian Government finally appears ready to sign our bilateral Status of Forces Agreement. I strongly recommend that the signing ceremony take place during the visit of the new Croatian Defense Minister Vukelic to the United States February 19-21 for the Adriatic Charter Defense Ministerial. I recognize the tremendous demands on Secretary Gates' time, but I hope that a few minutes can be found in his schedule for a very brief signing ceremony. (Similar SOFA agreements with Serbia and Montenegro were both signed at cabinet level on the U.S. side.) ¶2. (SBU) If Secretary Gates should be unable to participate in a signing ceremony, I would hope that one of you might be able to do this. The successful conclusion of the SOFA was the result of a personal commitment by Prime Minister Sanader to resolve the last remaining issues in the agreement. A high-level signing ceremony would be an opportunity to signal our appreciation for the Prime Minister's efforts and to highlight our closer military-to-military cooperation as Croatia prepares to join NATO. BRADTKE