KOSOVO - REDUCING THE FREQUENCY OF UNMIK REPORTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L STATE 069813 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/05/2019 TAGS: UNSC PREL KV SUBJECT: KOSOVO - REDUCING THE FREQUENCY OF UNMIK REPORTS TO UNSC Classified By: IO/PDAS Gerald Anderson for reason 1.4(b). ¶1. (U) This is an action request. Please see paragraph 2. OBJECTIVES AND ACTION REQUEST -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The Department requests that USUN work with the Secretariat and UNSC members to reduce the frequency of SYG reports to the UNSC on the situation in Kosovo under resolution 1244 to a bi-annual, rather than the current quarterly schedule. The Department has raised this with British, French, German, and Italian Balkans Directors and they have agreed to a coordinated approach in New York. If compromise is necessary, Department could fall back to three times per year. BACKGROUND -------------- ¶3. (C) Neither UNSCR 1244 nor any other binding resolution mandates the frequency of the SYG's reports to the UNSC on the implementation of the resolution, nor does the current pace or intensity of developments show a need for quarterly reports. The practice of submitting such reports once per quarter appears driven by its own inertia. The next report would normally occur in September when the U.S. is President of the UNSC. Our Presidency may provide an opportunity to work with the Secretariat and members on this procedural change. On June 19, SRSG Zannier told Deputy Secretary Steinberg that the meetings to discuss these reports have little value for UNMIK and serve only to provide a forum for leaders of Kosovo and Serbia to make public remarks directed at their respective domestic audiences. The resulting media reaction in Pristina leads to trouble on the ground, according to Zannier, with each UNSC debate on an UNMIK report typically followed by premature calls for UNMIK to depart. Zannier told EUR DAS Stuart Jones that he thought the Government of Serbia might be open to considering less frequent reports. Zannier also recommended that the UNSC discussions of these reports occur in closed sessions. ¶4. (U) Mission may draw on the following points if needed. Begin Points: -- While the UNSC remains seized of the Kosovo issue and UNSCR 1244 remains in effect, UNSC attention is not required as frequently as in the past. UNMIK is reconfiguring, the situation on the ground is generally calm, and the EU-led EULEX rule of law mission has reached full operational capability. -- It is important for the UNSC to hear from UNMIK regularly, but given the changed circumstances we believe these reports would be more useful if provided twice per year instead of the current practice of once per quarter. -- Kosovo, Serbia, UN staff, and UNSC members have rarely raised new points of discussion in the last several meetings. Discussions have hardened positions while producing no counterbalancing progress on outstanding issues. --- Leaders of Kosovo and Serbia typically make remarks in open session directed primarily to their respective domestic audiences. There is no continued benefit to conducting these debates in open session. End points. CLINTON