(U) Secretary Clinton's December 10, 2009

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 STATE 127749 SIPDIS NOFORN E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2019 TAGS: OVIP CLINTON HILLARY PREL NATO CR SUBJECT: (U) Secretary Clinton's December 10, 2009 Meeting with Croatian Foreign Minister Jandrokovic ¶1. (U) Classified by: EUR A/S Philip Gordon, Reason 1.4.(d) ¶2. (U) December 10, 2009; 10:30 a.m.; Washington. ¶3. (U) Participants: U.S. The Secretary A/S Philip Gordon, EUR A/S Philip Crowley, Public Affairs Toby Bradley, NSC Director for NATO and Western European Affairs Joe Macmanus, Executive Assistant to the Secretary Cathy Westley (Notetaker) Croatia Gordan Jandrokovic, Foreign Minister Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, Ambassador to the U.S. Mario Dragun, MFA Spokesman Goran Stefanic, MFA Director Betty Pavelich Sirois, MFA Director Dario Mihelin, Embassy Acting DCM ¶4. (C/NF) SUMMARY. Croatian Foreign Minister Jandrokovic strongly supports the strategy for Afghanistan. He pledged to continue strong domestic reform efforts with the aim of completing European Union negotiations by mid-2010 and asked the Secretary for help with Slovenia, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands regarding unblocking progress on specific EU negotiation chapters. The Minister gave assurances of continued positive engagement in the region, particularly with Bosnia. The Secretary expressed strong support for Croatia's EU aspirations, as well as appreciation for Croatia's ISAF contributions, regional engagement, and Prime Minister Kosor's increased anti- corruption actions. She urged Jandrokovic to increase ICTY cooperation and maintain Croatia's commitment to regional stability. They also discussed possible visits, progress with Croatia's qualifying for the visa waiver program, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? offer to host an American as part of the Transatlantic Diplomatic Fellowship program. END SUMMARY -------------- Croatia Committed to Afghanistan/ISAF -------------- ¶5. (C/NF) Responding to Secretary Clinton's appreciation for Croatia's commitment to Afghanistan and its focus on training Afghan forces, Foreign Minister Jandrokovic said Croatia strongly supports the President's strategy. Croatia plans to strengthen its commitment to ISAF by five percent to approximately 315 troops, but needs to hold off on a public announcement until after Croatian presidential elections are completed in January. -------------- EU Accession: Slovenia, ICTY, Reforms -------------- ¶6. (C/NF) Thanking the Secretary for strong U.S. support for Croatia's Euro-Atlantic aspirations, Jandrokovic mentioned that Slovenia failed to lift its hold on three EU negotiating chapters that were ready to be opened this month. He asked if we could check with Ljubljana because the delay means Croatia loses another month after 10 months of a previous Slovenian blockade due to their bilateral border dispute. The Secretary said we would follow up. ¶7. (C/NF) On Croatia's cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY),Jandrokovic said the police task force seeking documents needed for the ICTY trial of three Croatian generals conducted massive raids this week that turned up more than 10,000 documents, but it remains to be seen if any are the documents sought by the ICTY prosecutor. These efforts demonstrate STATE 00127749 002 OF 003 Croatia's commitment to full cooperation with the ICTY and are very important for both EU accession and the rule of law in Croatia. Jandrokovic continued that he had discussed the efforts with the British and Dutch foreign ministers, but that their reservations on opening the EU judiciary chapter were not lifted at the EU General Affairs Council this week. The Secretary said that a vigorous and transparent effort is the best message to the British and Dutch, lauding recent actions as an important step forward. Foreign Minister Jandrokovic said Croatia is also eager to continue anti- corruption, judicial, economic, agricultural and other reforms, with the aim of completing EU negotiations by mid-2010. -------------- Kosovo and Serbia -------------- ¶8. (C/NF) The Secretary said Croatia's efforts on Kosovo, including early recognition of independence and supportive oral arguments at the International Court of Justice this week, were very important and appreciated. Jandrokovic noted Croatia's strong interest in regional stability and Euro-Atlantic integration, but lamented that Serbia's stance on Kosovo undermines these goals. Still, he said he felt the Kosovo issue was the last big political issue preventing better relations between Croatia and Serbia. The countries already enjoy good cooperation in the economic, judicial and law enforcement fields, and hopefully, once Serbia is able to get past its anger with Croatia over Kosovo, progress can be made on the political front as well. -------------- Croatia Will Remain Engaged on Bosnia -------------- ¶9. (C/NF) The Secretary urged sustained Croatian engagement in support of the U.S.-EU "Butmir" effort to promote reform in Bosnia and sought Jandrokovic's assessment of the situation. The FM said the situation in Bosnia is very difficult, but pledged Croatia's full support for the Butmir process, noting that Zagreb had urged the Bosnian Croats to focus on the benefits of Bosnia's progress towards the EU and NATO even if they were not 100% satisfied with all of the elements in the proposed package. The FM stressed that Belgrade needs to put more pressure on Republika Srpska Prime Minister Dodik, whose rhetoric indicates he does not support Bosnia as a state, but it is not clear how much influence Serbia really has over Dodik. Jandrokovic assessed prospects for success were low, but that the best chance required the international community to work together. ¶10. (C/NF) The Foreign Minister lamented Bosnia's exclusion from the EU's recent visa liberalization decisions and argued that NATO's decision not to invite Bosnia into the Membership Action Plan (MAP) gave a victory to those in Bosnia like Dodik who are unhelpful. A/S Gordon made clear that the United States will support Bosnia's MAP application once it makes required reforms, noting that the positive language in the December 4 NATO Ministers? statement is intended to be encouraging. -------------- Anti-Corruption/Economic Reform and Visits -------------- ¶11. (C) The Secretary applauded the efforts of Prime Minister Kosor and the government on fighting corruption, stating that vigorous actions can produce results. Economic reform is also important and welcome, she added. A fair playing field is vital to improving the investment climate. Jandrokovic said Kosor has surprised the Croatian public with her success and willingness to take on tough challenges. Extending an invitation from the Prime Minister to visit Croatia, the Secretary responded that she would be pleased to go. The Foreign Minister asked whether a meeting with PM Kosor and President Obama would be possible soon, noting that recognizing her reform efforts would send a powerful signal to the region. The Secretary said it would certainly be considered. STATE 00127749 003 OF 003 -------------- Visa Waiver Program (VWP) -------------- ¶12. (C) The Foreign Minister said Croatia is very close to reaching the visa refusal rate needed for consideration for VWP at 4-5%. The Secretary responded that the United States would like to help Croatia get under 3% and would continue bilateral security cooperation efforts. -------------- Transatlantic Diplomatic Fellowship -------------- -------------- ¶13. (SBU) Minister Jandrokovic repeated the offer first made by his Deputy, Davor Bozinovic, to invite an American diplomat to serve in the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Secretary said she thought it sounded like an excellent idea and pledged to follow up. CLINTON