Zagreb Daily Report - December 11, 2009

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000725 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL HR SUBJECT: Zagreb Daily Report - December 11, 2009 ¶1. (U) Investigation for ICTY Documents continues: As reported in Zagreb 724, on Wednesday, December 9, Croatian police searched dozens of buildings and interviewed some two dozen individuals, including some closely tied to Gotovina's defense team, looking for artillery documents sought by the ICTY Prosecutor in connection with 1995's Operation Storm. Police report seizing some 10,000 documents, and are reviewing them to see if any are relevant to the ICTY search. Gotovina's lawyers at the ICTY have filed a motion with the court seeking a court order to halt the GoC from continuing with any searches. They claim the searches were carried out at Prosecutor Brammertz's instructions, in order to compromise the defense case. A hearing on the motion is scheduled for today, December 11. Further details and updates will be reported septel. ¶2. (U)Positive Reports on Secretary Clinton - FM Jandrokovic Meeting: All local media reported positively on the December 10 meeting and press conference in Washington. Focus was on strong US support for Croatia's membership in NATO and the EU. Some reports also picked up on the Secretary's willingness to offer technical assistance to the ICTY documents investigation, if the Croatians ask for it. ¶3. (SBU)Parliament Session on Opposition Motion to Dismiss Transport Minister: The Croatian Sabor on December 11 will debate a motion by the opposition Social Democratic Party seeking a vote of no-confidence in Transport Minister Bozidar Kalmeta, over recent corruption allegations in state-run companies under his Ministry's authority. While a long and stormy debate is expected, it is unlikely that the opposition will be able to muster a majority of votes against Kalmeta, a leading figure in the ruling HDZ party. Nonetheless, a contact within one of the HDZ's coalition partners has told us of growing unease with the situation, and hopes that Kalmeta will resign so as not "to prolong the agony." ¶4. (U)Mandate of OSCE Office in Croatia extended through 2010: The OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on December 10 approved the extension of the OSCE Office for 2010, with its mandate unchanged. The decision garnered little media attention on December 11. Those that did report focused on the decision's language expressing "appreciation of significant progress", and largely ignored the accompanying "interpretative statement" issued by the Government of Serbia criticizing Croatian performance. FOLEY