BRAZIL WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN KOSOVO WORLD BANK VOTE

UNCLAS BRASILIA 000677 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EFIN PREL KV BR SUBJECT: BRAZIL WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN KOSOVO WORLD BANK VOTE REFS: A) STATE 47369 B) STATE 33629 C) BRASILIA 490 D) Barrett/Freudenwald 5/5 email ¶1. (SBU) Summary: An official in the Ministry of Finance confirmed that Brazil will not cast a vote on Kosovo's World Bank application. The official told Econoff that the Ministry of External Relations (MRE) had directed Finance Minister Mantega not to vote on the upcoming Kosovo World Bank bid, and cited the pending International Court of Justice opinion on Kosovo's independence as the reason why Brazil preferred not to participate. (Note: Brazil did not cast a vote on the May 5 Kosovo IMF bid for the same reason. End note.) End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) The Ministry of Finance official, a Coordinator General for Economic Affairs in the International Affairs Secretariat, relayed that Ambassador Marcos Galvao, the International Affairs Secretary, understood that not voting at all has the potential to make a larger statement than an "abstain vote" since Brazil has effectively chosen not to contribute to a quorum. The official said that Brazil believes nonetheless that not voting is the preferred way not to participate in the decision. ¶3. (SBU) The Ministry of Finance official said that MRE, as a point of foreign policy, does not want to act with respect to Kosovo while the International Court of Justice has still not rendered an advisory opinion on Kosovo's independence. MRE contacts have told Embassy Brasilia that Brazil does not want to take any position on Kosovo until there is a clear UN outcome on its political status. They believe not voting is more consistent with this stance than abstention, even though not voting would favor the Serb position. KUBISKE