NATO KFOR MISSION: SWISS NOT PLANNING ANY CHANGES \

2009-03-20 16:40:00 09BERN127 Embassy Bern CONFIDENTIAL 09STATE26179 VZCZCXRO5710\
OO RUEHSR\
DE RUEHSW #0127/01 0791640\
ZNY CCCCC ZZH\
O 201640Z MAR 09\
FM AMEMBASSY BERN\
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5730\
INFO RUEHXP/ALL NATO POST COLLECTIVE PRIORITY\
RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PRIORITY 0006\
RUEHDL/AMEMBASSY DUBLIN PRIORITY 0087\
RUEHHE/AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PRIORITY 1172\
RUEHKV/AMEMBASSY KYIV PRIORITY 0009\
RUEHPS/AMEMBASSY PRISTINA PRIORITY 0035\
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 0190\
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM PRIORITY 3024\
RUEHVI/AMEMBASSY VIENNA PRIORITY 0855\
RUEHYE/AMEMBASSY YEREVAN PRIORITY 0057\
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY\
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 0330 C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BERN 000127 \
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SIPDIS \
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DEPT FOR EUR/RPM (C.DAVY) AND EUR/CE (C.HODGES) \
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/20/2019 \
TAGS: PREL MARR NATO KPKO KV SZ
SUBJECT: NATO KFOR MISSION: SWISS NOT PLANNING ANY CHANGES \
IN FORCE CONTRIBUTION \
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REF: STATE 26179 \
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Classified By: Acting Political-Economic Affairs Counselor Chris Buck; \
reasons 1.4(b) and (d). \
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SWISS PLANNING NO CHANGES IN KFOR CONTRIBUTION \
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1. (C) Acting POL-ECON Counselor and DAO representative \
delivered the reftel message on March 19 to Marlene Odermatt, \
Policy Advisor for International Relations and Strategy at \
the Swiss Federal Ministry of Defense. Odermatt said that \
Switzerland has no plans to change its current force \
contribution to KFOR. In collegial but appropriately \
cautious fashion, she referred to the fact that current Swiss \
DefMin Ueli Maurer generally espouses his Swiss People's \
Party (SVP) aversion to foreign deployments. However, \
Odermatt underlined that DefMin Maurer is well aware of the \
importance of Balkan security to Swiss interests, given the \
region's proximity to Switzerland and the large Kosovo expat \
population living in Switzerland. She further emphasized \
that the DefMin is taking a fact-based (i.e., \
non-ideological) approach to foreign deployment issues as \
they are discussed within the MOD. In that context, Odermatt \
mentioned that DefMin Maurer on his own initiative was in the \
early stages of considering travel to Kosovo, to visit the \
Swiss KFOR contingent (SWISSCOY) and Kosovo officials. \
\

2. (C) Also on March 19, A/POL-ECON Counselor passed the \
message (reftel, para 5) via telephone to Didier Chassot, \
Swiss MFA Regional Coordinator for South-Eastern Europe; \
Chassot was not available to meet, due to pending travel out \
of Bern. In a follow up meeting at the MFA on March 20, \
Chassot informed A/POL-ECON Counselor that the MFA concurred \
with the USG's views and concerns with regard to the KFOR \
posture -- the "job is not yet done." Responding to \
A/POL-ECON Counselor's query regarding the Swiss government's \
current position with regard to the Kosovo Security Force \
Trust Fund, Chassot said that, although Switzerland is \
strongly committed to Kosovo's future, he does not believe it \
likely that Switzerland will make a contribution to the \
Kosovo Security Force Trust Fund, due to domestic political \
considerations. (Note: Though the Swiss arms industry \
routinely is permitted to make foreign commercial sales to a \
range of countries, the Swiss generally are more reluctant to \
provide foreign security assistance other than in ways that \
clearly have only humanitarian or civil-military \
applications, such as the types of training provided at the \
Swiss Geneva Center for Security Policy. End Note) \
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QUICK REFERENCE: SWITZERLAND AND KOSOVO/KFOR \
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3. (U) Switzerland recognized Kosovo independence on February \
27, 2008 -- ten days after Kosovo's declaration. In March \
2008, Switzerland became one of the first countries to open \
an embassy in Pristina. FM Calmy-Rey traveled to Pristina \
for the opening. The Swiss government pledged CHR 77 million \
(USD 69 million) in development assistance over three years \
at the July 2008 international donors' conference for Kosovo. \
Approximately 150,000 Kosovo Albanians reside in \
Switzerland, most on long-term residency permits. \
\

4. (U) The Swiss government made its initial decision to \
participate in KFOR in June 1999. Switzerland's \
participation in KFOR is based on UNSCR 1244 and a mandate \
from the Swiss Parliament. The parliamentary mandate was \
renewed last July through the end of 2011. Up to 220 Swiss \
military personnel (all volunteers only) serve in the \
SWISSCOY, which is composed of support and infantry \
companies, and an aviation detachment with two Superpuma \
transport helicopters. The SWISSCOY is stationed in \
Multinational Task Force South (MNTF-S),but can be employed \
throughout Kosovo. The Swiss personnel are co-located with \
Austrian personnel at Camp Casablanca. The Swiss MOD's \
budget for its KFOR deployment in 2008 was CHF 37.5 million \
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BERN 00000127 002 OF 002 \
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(USD 33.5 million). \
CARTER \