Zagreb Daily Report - January 27, 2010

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000059 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL HR SUBJECT: Zagreb Daily Report - January 27, 2010 ¶1. (U) Chief ICTY Prosecutor Brammertz Comments on Missing Artillery Logs: Addressing the European Parliament on January 26, the Hague Tribunal's Chief Prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, said that so far the desired results have still not been achieved from Croatia's efforts to cooperate in the matter of the requested artillery logs from 1995's Operation Storm, as the documents have still not been received. The ICTY Chief Prosecutor praised the efforts of the Croatian government's working group established to determine the fate of the missing logs, said he believes those efforts must continue, and hopes that they will produce more positive results. Brammertz also noted that the GoC and his office continued to disagree on some of the issues surrounding the documents, particularly on which specific documents did or did not get produced during Operation Storm. FM Jandrokovic, in discussing Brammertz's testimony on Croatian TV, noted that Brammertz had not given an overall assessment of Croatia's cooperation with the ICTY. Jandrokovic added that he hoped Chapter 23 in EU accession negotiations, which has been stalled by this issue, could be unblocked soon, and opened for negotiation in April. 2.(U) Ambassador Foley Contributes Haiti Op-Ed to Leading Newsweekly: Drawing on his experience as Ambassador to Haiti from 2003 to 2005, Ambassador Foley wrote an op-ed for Globus, Croatia's leading weekly news magazine. In the article, the Ambassador emphasized key U.S. public diplomacy themes regarding our relief efforts, strengthening the message with personal observations on the tragedy and the situation in the country. He praised the generosity of public and private support in Croatia for earthquake victims. The article serves to reinforce the generally accurate and overwhelmingly positive media coverage in Croatia on the crisis so far. ¶3. (U) Croatia Designated Eligible for H-2A-H-2B Nonimmigrant Visa Programs: Croatian media reported on this week's decision by DHS Secretary Napolitano to designate Croatia as one of 11 new countries eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B nonimmigrant visa programs. The H2-A (temporary agricultural workers) and H2-B (temporary nonagricultural workers) visas are petition-based, for which the US employer must apply with DHS. The US employer must establish the temporary nature of the alien's proposed employment, that alien workers will not occupy a permanent position, and that there is a shortage of US workers to do the job in question. While the H2A is strictly for agricultural jobs (picking, canning, packaging, etc.),the H2B jobs are more varied (ski instructors, life guards, spa employees, etc.). The H-2A program is new to Croatia, while H-2Bs have been previously issued, although sparingly. Residents of other countries in the region, notably Serbians, have for years been eligible for H2B visas. WALKER