This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 000774 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2016 
TAGS: PREL EAID ZL EUN USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: U.S. AND EU DISCUSS W. BALKANS 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Vincent Carver for reason 1.5 (b/d). 
 
SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (C) EUR/SCE Director English met in Brussels March 1 with 
EU and Austrian Presidency officials to discuss the Western 
Balkans.  EU officials characterized U.S.-EU cooperation on 
the Balkans as "excellent."  English noted how EU accession 
prospects continue to serve as a major catalyst for reform in 
the region and urged the EU to increase assistance to the 
region, particularly to Serbia (once it cooperates fully with 
ICTY), to help meet SAA requirements aimed at eventual EU 
membership.  Both sides agreed to discuss the timing of their 
respective responses to Belgrade's continued lack of full 
cooperation with the ICTY.  English noted U.S. expectations 
that the EU will play the lead role in a post-final status 
civilian international presence in Kosovo and assured the EU 
that the U.S. would also continue to play a key role there. 
English and the EU discussed the need for Kosovar officials 
to form a new government quickly following the March 1 
resignation of PM Kosumi and not lose time needed for 
standards and decentralization implementation.  Both sides 
agreed to continue to send consistent messages on the 
Montenegrin independence referendum.  English thanked the EU 
for support for constitutional reform in BiH, noted that the 
reform package likely would not be "perfect," but would 
represent a significant step forward from the Dayton 
Constitution and would help BiH in preparations for eventual 
EU membership.  EU officials urged U.S.support for a regional 
free trade agreement in the region.  English's separate 
meeting with Heather Grabbe, Rehn advisor on the Balkans, 
reported septel.  See penultimate para for participant list. 
END SUMMARY 
 
Kosovo 
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¶2.  (C) English discussed U.S. thinking on Kosovo and 
stressed the need for more progress on decentralization, 
including the protection of minority rights and Serbian 
Orthodox property issues.  Pristina's position that it will 
begin to implement decentralization once final status is in 
place is unacceptable.  The Austrian Presidency agreed; the 
Council Secretariat noted that EU Envoy to the Final Status 
Talks, Stefan Lehne, had clearly argued this point with 
Pristina.  English observed that a new UNSCR will have to 
address further international supervision for Kosovo to both 
monitor a status agreement and to provide Pristina needed 
guidance.  He added that a donors' conference for Kosovo will 
be needed around the time status is determined.  While the 
U.S. will be an active contributor, we also hope the EU will 
bring significant resources to help secure Kosovo's future. 
English underscored the expectation that the EU will play the 
lead role in an international civilian supervisory presence 
in Kosovo and assured the EU that the U.S. expects to play a 
strong supportive role as well.  All agreed on the 
desirability of a negotiated status for Kosovo but 
acknowledged that this might not be possible absent increased 
realism from Belgrade. Yannis of the Council Secretariat 
underscored that continued U.S.-EU cooperation on Kosovo is 
critical and observed that the U.S. was invited and 
participated in the latest UNMIK Steering Group meeting. 
Yannis noted that an EU fact-finding mission is currently in 
Kosovo and likely will be followed in April by a planning 
team to begin work aimed at a post-final status  EU presence 
in 2007. 
 
¶3.  (C) COWEB participants welcomed the breaking news of 
Kosovar PM Kosumi's March 1 resignation and expressed hope 
that this would energize the Kosovar Unity Team negotiators. 
The Council Secretariat and English agreed to urge the 
Kosvars that they should form a new government quickly and 
not lose time; the Unity Team should continue work on 
standards and decentralization. 
 
¶4.  (C) Turning to Serbia, English noted the need to advance 
strategic engagement with Serbia by demonstrating that its 
Euro-Atlantic integration is on track.  In this regard, the 
EU, English emphasized, could increase its assistance to help 
Serbia reach its SAA goals.  Commission rep Priebe noted the 
challenge the EU faced in advancing Serbia's case given 
Serbia's continuing lack of cooperation with the ICTY.  He 
indicated that Enlargement Commissioner Rehn would be guided 
by the opinion of ICTY prosecutor Carla Del Ponte in 
determining whether the conditions of "full cooperation" are 
being met to allow April's formal SAA negotiating session to 
go forward.  Responding to a question from the Council 
Secretariat, English noted that the Secretary would have to 
 
SIPDIS 
make her decision in May as to whether to certify Serbia's 
cooperation, and the congressional language had specific 
requirements that had to be met for that decision.  The two 
sides agreed to discuss the respective actions to coordinate 
message and timing. 
 
MONTENEGRO 
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¶5.  (C) Council Secretariat official Gentilini outlined EU 
Envoy Lajcak's efforts and the agreement reached between the 
government and the opposition in Podgorica regarding an 
independence referendum scheduled for May 21.  Gentilini 
stressed that the EU had suggested but never imposed 
conditions on the parties and had not prejudged the 
referendum's outcome so as to help ensure the legitimacy of 
the referendum.  English called the agreement a critical 
achievement and agreed with the EU on the need to send 
consistent messages on the referendum and its outcome.  EU 
officials said that, while ministers have not discussed the 
issue in detail, they doubted any EU member state would 
recognize Montenegrin independence if the vote falls in the 
"grey zone" of between fifty and the required fifty-five 
percent favoring independence.  The EU noted that initial 
reports coming out of Belgrade indicate that the Serbian 
leadership is satisfied with the referendum modalities.  The 
Commission noted that, while trade aspects of the SAA are 
already being negotiated with Montenegro and Serbia 
separately, Montenegrin independence would necessitate a new 
SAA process for Podgorica and an amended SAA process for 
Belgrade.  The Commission opined that there was not a great 
possibility that any member state would oppose the revised 
SAAs (contingent on cooperation with ICTY). 
 
BiH 
- - 
 
¶6.  (C) The Austrian Presidency voiced support for 
constitutional reform efforts in BiH and noted that 
Schwarz-Schilling's position will evolve from "High Rep" to 
EU Rep" and that a Peace Implementation Council (PIC) 
Steering Board should re-examine the Bonn powers, but only 
after the October elections.  The Commission said that 
technical aspects of the SAA negotiations with BiH are going 
well but that BiH must still meet EU requirements on ICTY 
cooperation, police reform and education for an SAA to be 
concluded by the end of 2006.  The EU would remind BiH 
President Tihic of this during his visit to Brussels the week 
of March 6.  English noted DAS DiCarlo was in Sarajevo, in an 
effort to convince HDZ-BiH President Covic and others to 
support constitutional reform and observed that, the reform 
package likely will not be perfect but would improve 
considerably on the Dayton Constitution and help BiH better 
prepare itself for EU accession.  Commission Rep Priebe said 
that the EU does not want to make constitutional reform a new 
condition in the SAA process.  English noted that reform 
would help BiH meet its SAA obligations.  He also noted that 
the PIC Steering Group may consider creating a body that 
could provide advice on further constitutional reform after 
the BiH elections in October.  English agreed that 
Schwarz-Schilling should be the last High Rep, adding that 
the termination of this office would signal to the BiH people 
that they have full responsibility for running their country. 
 Both the EU and the U.S. agreed on the need to monitor the 
BiH case against Serbia in the International Court of 
Justice. 
 
MACEDONIA 
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¶7.  (C) The incoming Finnish Presidency portrayed Macedonia 
as a "success story" of the SAA process, particularly given 
its meeting the Copenhagen Criteria and its willingness to 
share its decentralization experience with the Kosovars. 
Skopje now wants a clear signal regarding a date when EU 
accession negotiations will begin.  Brussels, however, wants 
Macedonia to focus on SAA implementation, particularly on 
police, judicial, and electoral reforms and the fight against 
organized crime and corruption.  The Finns also noted that a 
future FTA could help Macedonia's stagnant economy, that the 
EU considered Macedonia's name to be a bilateral issue 
between Skopje and Athens.  English briefed on the Adriatic 
Partnership ministerial held recently in Washington, 
emphasizing the complementary and reinforcing nature of the 
NATO and EU processes for countries in the region.  He also 
raised proposed return of the  ICTY cases as a potential 
problem.  Both sides agreed on the need to ensure that this 
issue does not damage internal Macedonian stability. 
 
ALBANIA 
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¶8.  (C) Priebe noted that the SAA with Albania would be 
formally signed soon and that the trade treaty component of 
the SAA likely would enter into force in July.  Then a "long 
period" of ratification of the SAA would begin.  Priebe 
observed that, while Albania had made much progress over the 
past several years, it still has a long way to go.  He 
predicted that Tirana will face one of the longest accession 
periods of any potential member before actually joining the 
EU. 
 
SAA PROCESS 
- - - - - - 
¶9.  (C) Priebe characterized the SAA process as a forceful 
catalyst for reforms in the region and as a way to maintain 
the countries' perspective for membership in the EU.  He 
noted that each of the countries in the Western Balkans had 
moved one step closer to accession over the past year, 
emphasizing that this is  evidence of the efficacy of the SAA 
process.  He said that he had recently initialed the SAA with 
Albania and that the EU hopes to conclude SAA negotiations 
with SaM (conditioned on full cooperation with ICTY) and BiH 
by the end of 2006.  Priebe noted that Instruments for 
Pre-Accession (IPAs -- replacing the current CARDS) will 
align EU financial and technical assistance to the countries 
with EU political priorities.  He observed that, while the 
EU's financial framework for 2007-13 likely will have 20 
percent less in foreign assistance than the Commission had 
originally requested (NOTE:  But possibly a few percentage 
points higher than the current financial framework budget), 
EU aid to the Balkans will remain more or less constant. 
Priebe added that, in light of Kosovo's likely post-status 
talks needs, however, the EU and other donors will have to 
assist and suggested that USAID coordinate informally in the 
coming months with the Commission on future aid programming. 
He stressed that the EU would fail, "like UNMIK," if it were 
to assume all responsibility to administer Kosovo while 
simultaneously trying to engage it in an SAA process. 
English assured the EU that, while it views the EU as taking 
the lead role in a civilian international presence in 
post-status Kosovo, particularly on police and justice 
issues, the U.S. will play a role as well. 
 
STABILITY PACT, FREE TRADE AGREEMENT 
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¶10.  (C) Priebe noted he favors beginning a transition moving 
the Stability Pact (SP) to regional ownership after the SP's 
May Regional Table Meeting.  He also supported the creation 
of a modest secretariat to be located in the region.  Priebe 
underscored the desirability of continued support from non-EU 
players for whatever organization the SP evolves into. 
Priebe also emphasized the advantages of a regional free 
trade agreement (FTA) in the region and asked if the U.S. 
continued to disagree with the proposal.  English noted 
support for the SP but acknowledged that the Administration 
continues to have reservations about a regional FTA. 
 
 
PARTICIPANTS 
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¶11.  (U) Austrian Presidency: 
 
Thomas Schnoell, Head of Western Balkans Unit, MFA 
Karl Ehrlich, Austrian Mission, Brussels 
 
Incoming Finnish Presidency: 
 
Juha Ottman, Director, Balkans Unit, MFA 
Mikko Hautala, Finnish Mission, Brussels 
Kim Kuivalainen, Finnish Mission, Brussels 
 
Council Secretariat: 
 
Lene Hove, Balkans Policy Unit 
Alexandros Yannis, Balkans Policy Unit 
Fernando Gentilini, Balkans Policy Unit 
 
Commission: 
 
Reinhard Priebe, Director, Western Balkans 
Dirk Lange, Head of Unit 
Axel Wallden 
Therese Sobieski 
 
U.S.: 
 
Charles English, EUR/SCE 
Patricia Manso, USAID, Brussels 
Aaron Cathey, USEU/POL 
Vincent Carver, USEU/POL 
 
¶12.  (U) EUR/SCE Director English has cleared this message. 
GRAY 
.