VZCZCXRO5258
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBW #0958/01 1871553
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 061553Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1129
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC 1377
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BELGRADE 000958 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PBTS KPAO SR MW YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO WEEKLY UPDATE: BELGRADE PREPARES FOR NEW 
NEGOTIATIONS 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Without hard news on Kosovo out of Kennebunkport, 
Serbian media filled the vacuum with speculation about new status 
negotiations. Serbian officials doggedly continued their diplomatic 
offensive abroad and political entrenchment at home.  Partition of 
Kosovo crept back into the news vacuum but the GOS immediately 
denounced the concept publicly.  Foreign Minister Jeremic traveled 
around Europe pressing Serbia's case on Kosovo.  Meanwhile, Prime 
Minister Kostunica worked on lining up the political forces at home 
to ensure parliamentary approval for his Kosovo policy. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
 
REACTIONS TO THE MAINE EVENT 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Serbian officials downplayed earlier high expectations about 
Kennebunkport as it became clear that the only Kosovo-related news 
was that both leaders would delegate discussions on the issue to 
their top diplomats.  Earlier, PM Kostunica called the meeting "an 
important opportunity" to open "a new page" on Kosovo status. 
Kostunica had expected the leaders to call for "new negotiations, 
with an aim of reaching a compromise and mutually acceptable 
solution that would be in accordance with basic principles of 
international law."  Minister for Kosovo Samardzic expected Putin to 
request continuing the talks, saying that Serbia was "positive that 
President Putin will both stand on his principles and also be 
persuasive in his stance." After Kennebunkport, the mood was more 
subdued.  Kostunica and Samardzic did not mention the Kennebunkport 
meeting after it occurred.  Kostunica's party spokesperson 
backpedaled on July 2 calling the meeting only a "possible turning 
point," and "a small success and a step toward...justice." 
 
¶3. (U) All Serbian media reported National Security Advisor Hadley's 
statement to the press that the President and Putin discussed Kosovo 
but that "it is a question that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice 
and Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov will spend a lot 
of time on."  RTS also reported the Department spokesperson's 
indication that there is no deadline for reaching a decision on 
Kosovo's status in the UNSC.  Media reported the lack of any mention 
of Kosovo at the leaders' joint press conference. 
 
 
PM WORKS KOSOVO AT HOME; FM & PRESIDENT AWAY 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) Kostunica shifted the nationalist rhetoric he used in the 
run-up to Kennebunkport and to language aimed at securing 
parliamentary support for his Kosovo policy. On July 3, the PM 
announced he would ask parliament to schedule a Kosovo debate in 
July, most likely July 23 according to media reports. (Note: The 
existing mandate stems from a February 14 session which reconfirmed 
the old team and platform. End note.)  In a statement, Kostunica 
said that "the state negotiating team will submit its report to the 
parliament, which then must adopt a new resolution on Kosovo and 
define further steps in our policy towards the issue."  Kostunica 
also said his cabinet would insist on a new negotiating process with 
a new international mediator adding "it is of utmost importance that 
no preconditions or imposed limitations are set before a new round 
of talks." 
 
¶5. (SBU) Illustrating the broad support Kostunica has attained for 
his Kosovo policy, both the government and almost all opposition 
parties agreed to schedule the extraordinary session to "adopt a new 
resolution set to define the state policy towards the issue of 
Kosovo."  The government will begin consultations with party 
caucuses on Monday, July 9.  DS caucus chief Nada Kulundzija 
previewed the new resolution, noting it was practically unchanged 
from the previously agreed upon version.  Kulundzija expected the 
main points to be "preserving territorial integrity [and the] 
continuation of status talks without deadlines and predetermined 
outcome."  Radical Party leader Vucic was eager to discuss the 
issue, saying "it is high time the Parliament discussed Kosovo. It 
seems that parliaments elsewhere around the world spend more time 
debating it than we do." Radical deputy leader Nikolic also voiced 
the need for a platform stating that regardless of the Russian and 
U.S. stances on Kosovo, Serbia needed to have its own plan for 
Kosovo "which does not depend on theirs." 
 
¶6. (U) The only dissenting voice came from the Liberal Democrats, 
with their leader Jovanovic saying on July 3 that Serbia has "one 
last chance to define its state policy on Kosovo, abandon its 
defeatist political concept and face the truth." He added that his 
party was not surprised at the outcome of the Kennebunkport talks 
during which, he opined, Kosovo "was not mentioned even between bits 
of food." 
 
¶7. (U) FM Jeremic traveled abroad predominantly to promote Serbia's 
Kosovo policy.  Jeremic traveled the whole week, meeting 
 
BELGRADE 00000958  002 OF 003 
 
 
counterparts in Slovakia, Slovenian, Austria and Germany. In a 
statement to Tanjug news agency prior to his departure for 
Bratislava on July 3, Jeremic said he intended to secure the support 
of "as many EU member states as possible" for new negotiations on 
the future status of the province, noting Serbia "already has 
Russia's backing." Jeremic told reporters that Serbia has "reached 
an important point in the process of Kosovo's future status 
settlement when there is no unified opinion on how to proceed." 
 
¶8. (U) Serbian media covered a Reuters report, however, that 
"Western diplomats" see dividing Kosovo as possibly the only 
solution for the Kosovo status crisis.  While in Berlin, Jeremic 
reacted to rumors that partition was being considered by some 
"Western diplomats," calling partition "unacceptable" and stating 
that both partition and a unilateral declaration of independence by 
Pristina are "very dangerous."  Jeremic also met with Austrian FM 
Plassnik in Vienna on July 4 and said after the meeting that the 
international community and Contact Group had also made a decision 
not to accept the partition of the province.  After his meeting with 
Slovenian FM Rupel, Jeremic said "the question of Kosovo is the 
biggest challenge within the frame of the Western Balkans' European 
prospects." 
 
 
DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITY 
------------------- 
 
¶9. (U) EU: Serbian media covered July 4 statements by Enlargement 
Commissioner Rehn, who said that Europe -- not the U.S. or Russia -- 
will pay the price if Kosovo status is not resolved.  Rehn said that 
"neither Russia nor the U.S. is hit so directly by what is happening 
in the Balkans as we Europeans are. Europe will pay the price if the 
Kosovo status process falls through." He added that the EU "is 
focused on creating a democratic, multiethnic and economically 
sustainable Kosovo." 
 
¶10. (U) EU: The media gave wide coverage to EU spokesperson 
Christina Gallach's comments to a Serbian daily that the EU "will 
take responsibility and make a decision on Kosovo if Russia 
continues to say nothing but 'no.'" Gallach added that the EU would 
then ask for UNSC support and assessed that while Russia is 
defending its interests, "Kosovo is a European question...the future 
of the Balkans depends on Europe, not on Russia."  She also noted 
that while the EU has been "patient" and trying to find a solution 
alongside Russia for months, "everything has a deadline and if there 
is no solution, at one point, we will have to make a decision." 
 
¶11. (U) Russia: Gallach's interview immediately drew a reaction from 
Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexeev, who called it "simply a 
statement coming from one person and it is wrong.  This is not the 
kind of language that can be used in communication with Russia." 
Alexeev told journalists (as he was presented with 500,000 
signatures collected by the Socialist Party of Serbia's "For Kosovo 
and Metohija's Defense" campaign) that Kosovo "is of vital 
importance to the Serbs and we are persistently working on it. I 
think it is also very important for the Balkans and all of Europe to 
preserve international law and international stability." Alexeev 
said that a unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo 
Albanians would be "the worst possible development in the situation" 
but dismissed plans for Russian peacekeepers in Kosovo saying he was 
"not sure that this would be a good idea." 
 
¶12. (U) China: Serbian media covered Chinese PermRep Wang Guangya's 
July 3 comments that Kosovo debate in the UNSC will happen once the 
USG and Russia have overcome differences and that "if the two sides 
can reach agreement China will certainly support it." News agency 
B92 spun this as indicating either "a summer break or fresh talks on 
Kosovo." 
 
¶13. (U) Germany: According to outgoing German Ambassador Andreas 
Zobel in an interview to FoNET news agency on Sunday July 1, as far 
as Brussels is concerned, there is no connection between Kosovo and 
Serbia-EU negotiations on a Stabilization and Association Agreement 
(SAA). 
 
¶14. (U) Slovenia: In July 5 comments, Slovenian Foreign Minister 
Rupel said that Slovenia, which succeeds Portugal as EU president in 
2008, plans to focus on the Western Balkans and "become the region's 
engine...to bring it closer to the EU."  Serbian media also noted 
that Slovenian Foreign Minister Rupel said that his country has "no 
particular stance" on the Ahtisaari plan and that earlier support 
was "not Slovenia's own, but an EU stance." 
 
¶15. (SBU) COMMENT: Belgrade would certainly have liked more out of 
Kennebunkport; a strong statement from Putin or a clear indication 
for more talks (and delay). However, with no indications that 
Russian interest is waning, Serbian officials see no reason to 
adjust their tactics abroad and at home. While it was positive that 
 
BELGRADE 00000958  003 OF 003 
 
 
the GOS quickly rejected partition (even rumors of partition are 
dangerous things here), they did so because they now expect Kosovo 
to remain within Serbia.  We can expect next week's consultations to 
be mostly theatrics with all the major parties sticking to 
Kostunica's script on Kosovo.  The expected July 23 parliamentary 
session will be more of the same. END COMMENT. 
 
POLT