CZECH COMMENTS ON SERBIA AND KOSOVO

C O N F I D E N T I A L PRAGUE 000061 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/CE, STATE FOR INL AHARMATA E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/04/2015 TAGS: PGOV PREL EZ SR XG SUBJECT: CZECH COMMENTS ON SERBIA AND KOSOVO REF: A. STATE 9661 ¶B. 09 PRAGUE 672 ¶C. 08 PRAGUE 584 ¶D. 08 PRAGUE 312 Classified By: POLEC Counselor Charles O. Blaha for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) During a meeting covering a range of topics, Emboffs and Czech MFA Political Director Ivo Sramek touched upon the Balkans and the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) upcoming advisory opinion on Kosovo. (Note: The GoCR recognized Kosovo in May 2008 and subsequently submitted a brief to the ICJ in support of the legitimacy of Kosovo's declaration of independence. End Note.) Sramek commented that it is quite well known that the Serbian government plans to propose another resolution reopening the status of Kosovo within the United Nations General Assembly, something the GoCR opposed in 2008 (Ref C). Sramek stated that he anticipates the ICJ advisory opinion is "likely to be an unclear answer." While such an answer would not change Kosovo's current status, Sramek hypothesized that Serbia's action in this area could resurrect fractious discussions in the Czech Republic, but he indicated that did not believe this would amount to much. -------------- Klaus's Opposition Prevents Exchange of Ambassadors -------------- ¶2. (C) PolDir Sramek noted that while the GoCR has officially recognized Kosovo (Ref D),neither country is represented in the other country at the ambassadorial level. Within the Czech Republic, several prominent center-left Christian Democratic (CSSD) parliamentarians and a few ministers expressed reservations about recognizing Kosovo in 2008, thus delaying recognition from February until mid-May of 2008 (Ref D). According to Sramek, the Kosovars expressed interest soon after Czech recognition, but Head of State and President Vaclav Klaus who approves all ambassadorial appointments, has made clear his opposition (Ref B). For this same reason, Sramek stated the MFA has never taken the step of identifying an ambassadorial nominee for Kosovo. Thompson-Jones