VZCZCXRO2695
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBW #1050/01 2070637
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 260637Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1228
INFO RUEHPS/USOFFICE PRISTINA 3706
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BELGRADE 001050 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: PBTS PGOV PREL SR
SUBJECT: SERBIA ADOPTS NEW KOSOVO RESOLUTION, PM DECLARES VICTORY 
 
REF: Belgrade 915 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  Serbia's parliament approved a resolution on July 
24 which empowers the GOS to negotiate on Kosovo status as long as 
Kosovo remains within Serbia.  The document requires the GOS to 
"react vigorously" to any foreign government's recognition of Kosovo 
but does not prescribe any specific action.  Prime Minister 
Kostunica called this resolution and the withdrawal of the draft 
most recent UNSC resolution on Kosovo, a "victory" for Serbia "in 
the defense of Kosovo" but warned that there are more "challenges" 
for Serbia ahead.  Both the PM and President Tadic stressed that a 
legal outcome can only come from the UN, while the Radicals urged 
for stronger consequences if foreign governments recognize Kosovo's 
independence. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) After an eight-hour session on July 24, Serbia's parliament 
adopted the Government's Kosovo resolution with 217 of the 250 
members voting in favor of the text.  The governing coalition 
(DS-DSS/NS-G17+) was joined by the Socialist, Radical and Roma 
parties in support of the resolution, while the Liberal Democrats 
and the Albanian MP were against.  The document (in para 8, below) 
essentially recycles the previous parliamentary mandate of February 
14 and makes the following points: Kosovo is "an inseparable part" 
of Serbia guaranteed by the UNSCR 1244 and the UN Charter, Serbia 
stands ready to "start a new phase" of "true negotiations" between 
Belgrade and Pristina after the "unsuccessful talks led by Martti 
Ahtisaari," and that a new UNSCR is not necessary until the 
"conclusion of talks at which a compromise" is found. The resolution 
also calls on the GSO to form a new negotiating team, but does not 
prescribe any composition. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The text is purposefully vague as to what the GOS must do 
in the case of Kosovo recognition by foreign governments saying only 
that it is "under obligation to react vigorously" to "threats and 
acts of unilateral acknowledgement" of Kosovo's independence. 
According to contacts (reftel), the Radicals wanted stronger 
language requiring the GOS to take specific steps including breaking 
diplomatic relations with countries that recognize Kosovo's 
independence. While the Radicals voted in favor of the resolution, 
Radical leader Nikolic attacked the GOS for not defining such 
consequences in the document saying it was their "duty" to "defend 
Kosovo by all means possible." 
 
¶4. (U) In his speech to parliament before the vote, PM Kostunica 
relied on the same "struggle for Kosovo" rhetoric he has used for 
the past weeks.  He called on Serbians to show "genuine patriotism" 
and said that "a new hope" was emerging that Kosovo would remain 
within Serbia.  Taking his usual aim at the USG and other countries 
in support of Kosovo's independence, the PM said that "no country, 
no matter how powerful, can put its politics ahead of the UN, and 
every unilateral recognition of Kosovo's independence would be 
nothing more than the implementation of political force."  The PM 
said that Kosovo Albanians were employing two types of threats -- of 
massive violence and a UDI -- to achieve independence, and that it 
is up to the international community to deal with these threats. 
While the PM did not satisfy the Radicals as far as defining 
consequences for countries that recognizes Kosovo, he did warn that 
"all the states that want normal and friendly relations with Serbia 
will have to honor...the inalterability of internationally 
recognized borders and territorial integrity of Serbia." He added 
that any future status negotiations must be under the auspices of 
the UN. 
 
¶5. (U) President Tadic made similar remarks at the session, calling 
for more talks and a compromise solution through the UNSC.  The 
President credited Serbia's united Kosovo policy for the renewed 
support of the international community for Serbia on Kosovo.  Like 
the PM, Tadic also bemoaned "threats" by the Kosovo Albanians which 
are "against European democratic charters." 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Liberal Democrats, the lone party against the 
resolution, fielded their own resolution (text in para 9) which 
called on the GOS to "guarantee the sustainable future of all the 
citizens in Serbia and in Kosovo." LDP leader Jovanovic added that 
the GOS may soon regret having rejected the Ahtisaari proposal and 
that more delay on status will only hurt Kosovo Serbian community. 
Due to the overwhelming support for the GOS's resolution, the LDP's 
text had no chance of even reaching the floor. 
 
¶7. (SBU) COMMENT:  This parliamentary session and resolution 
represent the climax of several weeks of political theater 
orchestrated by PM Kostunica to keep his Kosovo policy as Serbia's 
only Kosovo policy.  With this vote, Kostunica has shown that he has 
every party except the LDP on his side on Kosovo.  While he has not 
returned to his overtly anti-U.S. rhetoric of June, he has used this 
parliamentary session to build a united front so that there is no 
doubt, both domestically and internationally, that Serbia has a 
single Kosovo policy: Kosovo's stability is the international 
community's problem and that its status must be decided through 
UNSC-led talks (without Ahtisaari and without a defined end).  END 
COMMENT. 
 
BELGRADE 00001050  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶8.  (U)  Text of Draft Resolution 
 
Begin Text 
 
Draft resolution on the need for a just solution of the issue of the 
Autonomous Province of Kosovo-Metohija based on international law: 
 
(1. Kosovo and Metohija is an inseparable part of the state of 
Serbia on the basis of existing and all-binding constitutional and 
international legal documents. The sovereignty and territorial 
integrity of the Republic of Serbia are guaranteed not only by the 
Constitution of the 
Republic of Serbia, but also by the United Nations Charter, the 
Helsinki Final Act and proper resolutions of the UN Security 
Council,especially Resolution 1244. Any solution for the future 
status of Kosovo-Metohija must be based on these basic principles, 
complying at the same time with the appropriate decisions of the UN 
Security Council. Any attempt to reach a decision that violates 
these basic 
principles would be declared null and void and dangerous for the 
survival of the state of Serbia, and as such, would represent a 
motive for the state organs of the Republic of Serbia to take 
appropriate actions in line with international law. 
 
(2. The Republic of Serbia is ready to start a new phase of 
negotiations for finding the most favourable solution for 
Kosovo-Metohija, taking into account all fundamental state 
interests, the legitimate interests of the Albanian national 
minority in the province,general interests of securing regional 
stability and prospects for peaceful and prosperous future for all 
its citizens. Laying out its 
proposal for substantial autonomy of Kosovo-Metohija, the Republic 
of Serbia is ready to reach a compromise solution to this issue. 
 
(3. To that end, it is necessary that interested international 
parties, together with representatives of the Republic of Serbia, 
secure true negotiations between representatives of the Republic of 
Serbia and interim institutions of self-government in 
Kosovo-Metohija. As 
opposed to unsuccessful talks led by Martti Ahtisaari, new 
negotiations must be open as regards their outcome and 
duration,while at the same time respecting the basic principles and 
norms of international law. 
 
(4. Serbian parliament thinks that the new United Nations 
Security Council resolution on Kosovo-Metohija should be brought 
only after the conclusion of talks at which a compromise solution 
for the province's status resolution is adopted. New talks may be 
led only within the effective UN Security Council Resolution 1244 
and on the basis of the United Nation's clear mandate. 
 
(5. Serbian parliament demands that all United Nations 
member states respect Serbia's sovereignty and territorial integrity 
in line with international law, UN Charter and UN Security Council 
Resolution 1244. Serbian parliament also demands that UN Secretary 
General takes all measures at his disposal, on the basis of UN 
binding documents, and prevent the breach of the UN Charter and UN 
Security Council Resolution 1244. The Serbian government is under 
obligation 
to act towards the accomplishment of these demands posed by Serbian 
parliament. 
 
(6. Serbian parliament thinks that unilateral recognition of 
Kosovo's self-proclaimed independence would have unpredictable 
consequences on regional stability. The Serbian government and all 
state organs are under obligation to react vigorously and duly to 
any 
hint or act on the part of any international entity whose final aim 
would be unilateral acts of breaching Serbia's sovereignty and 
territorial integrity. This particularly refers to threats and acts 
of unilateral acknowledgment of Kosovo-Metohija's independence. 
 
(7. The Serbian government is under obligation to form a 
new state negotiating team for talks on Kosovo-Metohija's future 
status. 
 
(8. The Serbian government is under obligation to regularly 
inform Serbian parliament on international and domestic situation 
regarding Kosovo-Metohija. 
 
End Text 
 
¶9. (U) Begin text of LDP resolution: 
 
Principles for participation in talks on KiM status: 
 
(1. The National Parliament (NP) welcomes the decision to allow for 
a new negotiating process to define a sustainable and just solution 
for KiM, based on the interests and needs of all citizens and the 
entire region's necessary participation in European integration. 
 
BELGRADE 00001050  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
(2. The NP expresses its readiness and desire that all relevant 
state institutions should join this process with best intentions, 
with a constructive role to find a solution, bearing in mind state 
interests of the Republic of Serbia and all of its citizens, 
regardless of their national and ethnic background or territory they 
inhabit. 
 
(3. The NP expresses an unambiguous dedication to a European future 
of the entire region, based on moving beyond the burden of the past 
and creating a mechanism for all societies, especially including 
Serbian and Albanian community, to be equally treated members of the 
European community based on principles of rule of law, respect for 
human rights, free movement of people, goods, capital and 
information, collective security and mutual cooperation in common 
interest. 
 
(4. The NP authorizes representatives of the Republic of Serbia to 
conduct negotiations bearing in mind the two most important 
interests of our state and its citizens: 
 1) to overcome the problems of KiM by defining solutions for the 
secure future of all its citizens; 
 2) an unambiguous dedication by the state and its citizens become 
equal members of the EU. 
 
(5. The NP is convinced that these two interests cannot be separate 
and that they are equally important for all participants in 
negotiations, and that the reconciliation of these principles and 
the simultaneous solutions should be a mechanism for the just and 
effective solution to the problem. 
 
(6. The NP believes that a status solution for KiM should be a 
functional society, part of the unique European political and 
economic environment.  This means that negotiations on Kosovo should 
be aimed at establishing mechanisms and clear and efficient 
guarantees for the sustainable future for all  citizens in Serbia 
and in KiM, including defining relationships in Kosovo through 
mechanisms that enable decision making for the Serbian community and 
each individual, as well as effective political representation, 
management of activities of interest within communities in which 
they live, freedom and security, freedom of movement, economic 
freedoms and social rights. We emphasize that the first step towards 
defining a realistic and lasting settlement for Kosovo equality for 
both the status of Serbian and Albanian communities and equal rights 
and obligations determined by the principles of constitutionality 
and consensus. 
 
(7. Having in mind this determination, the NP believes that future 
negotiations should define arrangement which is not a final status 
solution per se, but a necessary step in removing political and 
security obstacles to the common goal of the entire region as full 
EU members. 
 
(8. The NP expects that the international participants in the 
negotiations and decision-making process should achieve an outcome 
based on a European future for the region conditioned only by the 
readiness of states to solve all challenges and problems in a 
peaceful manner with the intention of joining the EU. 
 
(9. The NP recognizes as partners in this process all international 
subjects that share rights and responsibilities of contemporary 
international order: protection of vital national interests through 
participation in international organizations; mutual relationships 
based on the recognition and implementation of common interest; 
integration; peaceful resolution of conflicts; participation in 
collective security systems and common responses on security and 
other threats. The RS particularly insists on the necessary 
assistance of the most important international subjects: the U.S.A, 
Russian Federation and the framework of the EU and its common 
foreign and security politics. 
 
(10. The interest of the RS and its citizens is not a blockade of a 
solution-finding process and further preservation of instability and 
unresolved relations in the region.  The NP authorizes and obligates 
all Serbian representatives in future negotiations to be 
constructive in spirit and intent to find a solution based on the 
aforementioned principles, and to, having in mind interests of 
Serbia, use all legal and legitimate negotiations methods, including 
methods envisaged in the UN Charter,  in order to achieve a 
sustainable and compromise-based solution. 
 
(11. The NP insists on a verification of the solution by appropriate 
UNSC documents, which will have a mandatory, legal effect as the 
authority of the institution that represents the highest 
organization of the international community. 
 
End text. 
 
POLT