UNDERSECRETARY OF DEFENSE CLAPPER DISCUSSES REGION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ZAGREB 000321

NOFORN
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PLEASE PASS TO THE OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE, EUCOM PLANS AND ANALYSES STUTTGART GE, US
MILITARY DELEGATION AT USNATO, AND THE OFFICE OF THE UNDER
SECRETARY FOR DEFENSE POLICY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/02/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV KPAO MOPS MARR NATO HR
SUBJECT: UNDERSECRETARY OF DEFENSE CLAPPER DISCUSSES REGION
AND BILATERAL COOPERATION WITH CROATIAN LEADERSHIP

Classified By: PolOfficer Peter D'Amico, for reasons 1.4(b) & (d).


1. (C) Summary. President Mesic told Under Secretary of
Defense for Intelligence James Clapper on June 1 that Serbia
needed to send a public message to the political elite in
Republika Srpska that they were part of BiH and should look
to Sarajevo, not to Belgrade. Mesic warned that the leaders
in the RS were hoping that the international community will
eventually give up on BiH, and added that the international
community's active involvement, particularly that of the
Office of the High Representative, was needed to create a
viable BiH state. Regarding the border dispute with Slovenia,
Mesic said that the Government of Slovenia was "maltreating"
Croatia to force a territorial concession from Zagreb and
added that Croatia could not give up territory under such
conditions. Clapper expressed appreciation for the
opportunity to hear Mesic's views on the region and responded
that the USG did not believe that bilateral disputes should
block Euro-Atlantic integration. In a meeting with Defense
Minster Vukelic, Clapper asked for Croatia's support on
reforming intelligence cooperation at NATO to promote greater
sharing of information and collaboration. During his meetings
with Mesic and Vukelic, Clapper thanked Croatia for its
contributions to international peacekeeping missions,
particularly ISAF. End Summary.

Mesic on Serbia's Relations with Kosovo and BiH


2. (C) In a June 1 meeting with Under Secretary of Defense
for Intelligence James Clapper, President Mesic stated that
since Serbia could not govern Kosovo, the United States and
Croatia made the correct decision in recognizing Kosovo's
independence. Mesic noted that the GoS had a made a good
move when it turned the issue of Kosovo into a legal question
with its case before the ICJ. By making the issue less
political, this process might give Serbia the opportunity to
"de-Kosovize" its politics. Serbia did not need to recognize
the independence of Kosovo, but should coexist and interact
with Kosovo while both sides agreed to disagree on the status
of Kosovo, just as East and West Germany had done during the
Cold War.


3. (C) Mesic said that Serbia's policy towards Bosnia and
Herzegovina (BiH) was a problem. Mesic characterized Tadic
as a friend, and said that he had asked the Serbian President
why he has not publicly told the Bosnian Serbs that their
state is BiH, their capital is Sarajevo, and that they should
go to Sarajevo to shape policy. Tadic responded that he
could not make such a statement due to internal Serbian
politics. Mesic noted that he had publicly made this kind of
declaration to the Bosnian Croat community and it was a
fundamental part of Croatia's policy towards BiH. Absent a
similar message from Belgrade, the political elite in the
Republika Srpska (RS) would not consider playing a
constructive role in the future of BiH.

Challenges Facing BiH


4. (C) Mesic said one of the major challenges facing the
region was that the political elite in the RS was opposed to
the existence of a BiH state. RS PM Milorad Dodik did not
recognize BiH, only the RS. Mesic added that the RS was
founded on a policy of ethnic cleansing and noted that the
majority of Croatian and Bosniak refugees from the RS still
had not returned since the leadership in Banja Luka did not
want this to happen.


5. (C) According to Mesic, Dayton stopped war but it did not
create a mechanism for BiH to function effectively. While
there were some state level institutions that existed in BiH,
like the integrated armed forces, the RS still retained too
many of the functions of a state and would not give them up.
The international community's active involvement was needed
to reach an agreement among the three constituent peoples on
creating a viable BiH state. Mesic cautioned that the
political elite in the RS thinks that the international
community will eventually get tired and leave BiH. If that
happens the RS would eventually attempt to join Serbia and

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BiH would collapse. If BiH fell apart with the RS going to
Serbia, then the Bosnian Croats would leave in large numbers
for Croatia. Left with a rump state made up almost entirely
of Muslims, the Bosniaks would turn to fundamentalist Islamic
countries for support, making Bosnia a potential base for
terrorism in Europe.


6. (C) To avoid this scenario the Office of the High
Representative (OHR) had to use the Bonn powers to remove
political figures from power who did not recognize the BiH as
a state. Mesic believed that NATO's presence in BiH was also
essential.


7. (C) Mesic also noted that while Croatia supported BiH's
territorial integrity and wanted to strengthen state level
insinuations there, Zagreb should change some of its Bosnia
policies. Mesic said policies, such as the law on dual
citizenship, dated back to the time of the war and
contributed to Bosnian Croats leaving BiH. He noted that he
had told the GoC that the Croatian law on dual citizenship
should be changed so that Bosnian Croats could only vote in
the elections of one country. While some political figures
in Croatia did not want to get rid of these votes, Mesic
expressed the hope that somehow the political will would be
found to solve the situation. Additionally, the laws on
extradition in Croatia and the region needed to be amended so
convicted criminals could not avoid justice by fleeing to a
neighboring country that does not allow its citizens to be
extradited.

Mesic on Border Dispute with Slovenia


8. (C) Mesic said that the Government of Slovenia was
"maltreating" Croatia and the EU by blocking Croatia's
progress toward EU membership to force a concession on the
disputed border from Zagreb. Mesic said that Croatia could
not give up territory under such conditions. Calling for an
international legal solution to the border dispute, Mesic
argued that if Croatia as a state should be based on the rule
of law then it followed that its relations with other states
should be based on international law. Mesic added that the
border dispute was not just a problem for Croatia now, but
for the EU as well.


9. (C) Mesic noted that when Slovenia was trying to join the
EU the border dispute existed, but Zagreb did not raise
objections since Slovenian membership in the EU was in
Croatia's interest. For the long-term stability of the region
and Europe it was important that the countries of Southeast
Europe become part of the Euro-Atlantic community so as not
to create a "gray zone" in the middle of Europe. Slovenia
was acting in an "inflated" manner by putting its own agenda
ahead of the best interests of the region and Europe more
broadly. Mesic acknowledged that there might be expansion
fatigue in the EU, but it also needed to recognize that some
in region would grow tired being stuck in a transition phase
towards EU membership. Clapper stated that the USG did not
believe that bilateral disputes should block Euro-Atlantic
integration and agreed that the problem needed to be resolved.

Intelligence Cooperation with Croatia


10. (C/NF) In a meeting on June 1 with Defense Minster Branko
Vukelic and the Director of Military Security and
Intelligence Agency (VSOA) General Darko Grdic, Clapper noted
that he had just come to Croatia from a NATO intelligence
board meeting in Slovenia where the allies were very
gratified that two new members had joined the Alliance.
Clapper said the USG wanted to work with Croatia on reforming
intelligence cooperation at NATO to promote greater sharing
of information and collaboration. There was a need to change
the intelligence strategy at NATO since it was still too
based on ideas from the Cold War. NATO should change its
intelligence structure to face new threats such as terrorism
and operate in a more expeditionary fashion. Croatia as a
new member of the Alliance could play an important leadership
role in this process, particularly at NATO Headquarters.
Clapper also encouraged the GoC to support the NATO Special

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Forces Coordination Center.


11. (C/NF) Clapper praised the multilateral work being done
in support of NATO at the Intelligence Fusion Center in
Molesworth and was pleased to hear that Croatia planned to
fill one or two positions there. Croatia's participation and
use of the Battlefield Information Collection and
Exploitation Systems (BICES) was also a positive development.

DefMin Vukelic Discusses Peacekeeping Missions and the Region


12. (C) Vukelic thanked the USG for its help during the NATO
accession process and praised the excellent bilateral
cooperation between the two countries. Vukelic noted that
the strong relationship was demonstrated by the fact that
Croatia's third Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT)
in ISAF was a joint one with the Minnesota National Guard.
Clapper thanked Croatia for its contributions to peacekeeping
missions around the world, especially ISAF, and noted that
Croatia's contributions were highly valued. Vukelic said
that including ISAF, Croatia participated in 16 peacekeeping
missions. Croatia planned to send two helicopters and 20
troops to participate in KFOR in June, its first peacekeeping
mission in the region.


13. (C) Looking more broadly at the region, Vukelic said that
Croatia tried to support its neighbors with Euro-Atlantic
integration since it benefited all the countries in Southeast
Europe. He said that the current border dispute with
Slovenia sent the wrong message to the region. If Croatia,
which was currently the furthest along in the EU accession
process, was blocked, then other countries would see it as a
sign that the EU would not accept them.


14. (C) In addition to meeting with President Mesic and
Defense Minister Vukelic, U/S Clapper with his delegation
also exchanged views on the region and intelligence
cooperation during lunch with Minister of Interior Tomislav
Karamarko and Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA) Director
Josip Buljevic.


15. (U) U/S Clapper has not cleared this cable.
BRADTKE