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PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHVB #0088/01 0401135
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 091135Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9890
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 000088 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
PLEASE PASS TO EUR/SCE AND PRM DAS ROBINSON; BELGRADE FOR 
REFCOORD; GENEVA FOR MULREAN AND PITOTTI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/04/2020 
TAGS: PREF PREL UNHCR HR SR
SUBJECT: SERBIAN AMBASSADOR OUTLINES PLANS ON UPCOMING 
VISITS AND ON REFUGEE MINISTERIAL 
 
REF: A. 09 ZAGREB 0746 
     ¶B. ZAGREB 0055 
 
Classified By: Peter D'Amico, Pol Officer, for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary:  The Serbian Ambassador to Croatia says 
Belgrade is looking to improve relations with Zagreb. 
Planned parliamentary visits could help improve the dialogue. 
 GoS is proposing March 25 for regional ministerial on 
refugees, but projects that agreement on better data 
regarding refugees may only be reached in six months. 
Ambassador Foley cautioned against trying to hold the 
ministerial before adequate preparations had been made.  The 
US is willing to urge Croatia to be flexible in trying to 
meet people's humanitarian needs, but first there needs to be 
agreement on the numbers involved.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) Serbian Ambassador to Croatia Stanimir Vukicevic on 
February 4 told the Ambassador that he spoke with President 
Tadic in December, and that the Serbian side was ready to get 
work to improve relations with Croatia.  The election of and 
positive messages from President-elect Josipovic, with whom 
Tadic already has good relations, as well the pragmatic style 
of PM Kosor, meant that the GoS believed there was a good 
opportunity for both sides to move forward. 
 
Upcoming Visits 
 
¶3. (C) As part of the effort to improve relations a Serbian 
"friends of Croatia" parliamentary delegation is scheduled to 
come to Zagreb on February 22 to meet with various officials. 
 Vukicevic was also looking into having a Croatian 
parliamentary delegation visit Belgrade soon.  In addition, 
the Serbian Speaker of the Parliament, Slavica Dejanovic, 
would be in Croatia on March 1 for a regional parliamentary 
meeting, and would seek appointments with Croatian leaders. 
Vukicevic was still looking to arrange a visit on the PM or 
presidential level in the near future.  He did not, however, 
know who, if anyone, would represent the GoS at Josipovic's 
inauguration on February 18. 
 
¶4. (C) The Ambassador agreed that it was high time for 
relations between Croatia and Serbia to improve and that the 
moment was indeed propitious.  However, both sides needed to 
be willing to make hard decisions to find compromises.  The 
Ambassador noted that the negotiations would be tough but 
that it would be easier if they were done in private and not 
via public statements such as took place over Tadic's 
potential attendance at the inauguration. 
 
GoS Plans on Refugee Ministerial 
 
¶5. (C) Vukicevic noted that the GoS had recently officially 
proposed having a regional ministerial on refugee issues on 
March 25 in Belgrade (ref A) and that they were waiting for 
the GoC's response to that date, as well as to the agenda 
proposed by the Serbian side.  The last working level 
conference in Zagreb in January had gone better than the 
previous one in Belgrade, and they had agreed to have an 
expert group work out more exact numbers on the refugees in 
question.  Vukicevic said that the process of determining 
the new numbers would take about six months.  The Ambassador 
questioned whether the timing of the ministerial meeting 
would be helpful in moving towards a solution since it would 
be extremely difficult for the ministers to reach any 
concrete decisions without having updated statistics on the 
size and characteristics of the refugee population.  A 
ministerial that did not have sufficient preparatory work 
would achieve very little and might even set back efforts to 
address the refugees' humanitarian needs as well as harm 
efforts to improve bilateral relations. 
 
¶6. (C) The Ambassador noted that while the GoC would not 
accept a legal obligation to compensate refugees who would 
not return to Croatia and avail themselves of the housing 
care program, the GoC had privately indicated a willingness 
to resolve outstanding refugee problems flexibly and 
pragmatically (ref B), and the USG was prepared to press 
Croatia in this regard.  But finding a compromise would 
require agreement on the numbers, and likely quiet diplomacy 
outside the framework of a conference.  Vukicevic stated that 
the two lead MFA negotiators had good personal relations and 
that perhaps they could hold private talks to seek common 
ground.  The Ambassador thought this would be a good idea. 
He also suggested it would help if Belgrade could allay 
Croatian fears that Serbia was seeking to create a new 
benchmark on refugees for Croatia's EU accession process. 
 
 
ZAGREB 00000088  002 OF 002 
 
 
FOLEY