UZBEKISTAN: ENGAGING STATES ON KOSOVO RECOGNITION

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000183 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE SBU DELIBERATIVE PROCESS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019-02-12 TAGS: PREL AORC KV ICJ UZ SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: ENGAGING STATES ON KOSOVO RECOGNITION REF: a) STATE 11928 CLASSIFIED BY: Steven Prohaska, Second Secretary, P/E Office; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) Post advises against an additional demarche to the Government of Uzbekistan (GOU) urging it to recognize Kosovo at this time. Despite multiple demarches over the past year, the GOU has refused to recognize Kosovo and we do not believe it is likely to do so in the near future. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has indicated in the past that this is a bilateral issue between Uzbekistan and Serbia and that "third party" involvement is not welcome. Moreover, if Uzbekistan were to recognize Kosovo, this could prompt the Uzbeks to succumb to Russian pressure to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which thus far they have refrained from doing. NORLAND To view the entire SMART message, go to URL http://repository.state.sgov.gov/_layouts/OSS SearchResults.aspx?k=messageid:e81921d0-a2d7- 472c-aed2-3f9dc2cb4881