KOSOVO RECOGNITION IN ADVANCE OF UNGA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SINGAPORE 000898 SIPDIS EAP/MTS - M. COPPOLA EUR/SCE - PFEUFFER E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2019 TAGS: PREL UNGA AORC KV SN SUBJECT: KOSOVO RECOGNITION IN ADVANCE OF UNGA REF: SECSTATE 94939 Classified By: EP COUNSELOR JOEL EHRENDREICH FOR REASONS 1.4 (B + D) ¶1. (C) POLOFF delivered reftel demarche points urging Singapore to meet with Kososvo's UN delegation on the margins of the UNGA and urged Singapore to formally recognize Kosovo during a meeting with MFA United Nations and Legal Issue Branch Desk Officer Jeremy Rabani on September 14. Rabani acknowledged that the Kosovars had requested a meeting with Singapore on the margins of the UNGA but that Singapore has not yet agreed to the meeting. In a separate conversation, MFA Europe Director Lawrence Anderson said that Singapore's policy of not recognizing Kosovo has not/not changed. ¶2. (C) Comment: Singapore usually follows rather than leads on issues such as recognition of independence. Given the sensitivities in the region with regards to breakaway states (specifically in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and China),Singapore has long adhered to a policy of refusing to recognize Kosovo as an independent state. Until momentum on this issue has shifted in the region, Post does not expect Singapore to change its position. End Comment. Visit Embassy Singapore's Classified website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/singapore/ind ex.cfm SHIELDS