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RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBW #1252/01 2501841
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071841Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1427
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BELGRADE 001252 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PBTS PREL PGOV KPAO KV SR
SUBJECT: KOSOVO WEEKLY: DS HITS BACK AT DSS RHETORIC 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Democratic Party (DS) responded to the 
Democratic Party of Serbia's (DSS) NATO-bashing and inflammatory 
comments about Serbian "use of force" or "severe measures" in 
Kosovo.  Serbian media covered the U.S. and EU's reactions to the 
latest DSS rhetoric, which included a Kosovo Ministry official 
asserting that a Kosovo unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) 
would annul the 1999 Kumanovo Agreement and allow for a return of 
Serbian forces to Kosovo.  In high-level meetings at the Ministries 
of Defense and Foreign Affairs, we expressed USG concern about these 
inflammatory public statements.  The MOD and MFA confirmed that the 
KosMin official's remarks did not represent Government views.  End 
Summary. 
 
GOS STATEMENTS AND ACTIVITY 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) DSS officials, including the party spokesperson and several 
ministers, continued to raise the specter of a UDI by Pristina after 
December 10.  The DSS' inflammatory rhetoric culminated in public 
comments by Kosovo Ministry official Dusan Prorokovic that Serbia is 
"ready to use force to prevent the West from recognizing Kosovo's 
independence."  In a September 5 International Herald Tribune 
article that received major attention in Serbia, Prorokovic made the 
most explicit threats yet by a GOS official saying that Belgrade 
could legally send forces back to Kosovo and close Kosovo's borders, 
among other options, if Pristina declares independence.  Prorokovic 
cited the 1999 Kumanovo Agreement as the legal basis preventing such 
moves now but said Pristina's UDI would void the agreement. 
Prorokovic said, "Without Kumanovo our army can go back without any 
legal limits. It can cross the boundary and go everywhere in Kosovo 
without any legal problems."   Prorokovic reiterated that the GOS 
considers continued talks on Kosovo status the only desirable 
option. 
 
¶3. (SBU) For the first time since the DS-DSS coalition government 
formed in May 2007, DS officials directly criticized the DSS over 
Kosovo policy.  In the September 6 Financial Times, Foreign Minister 
Jeremic contradicted Prorokovic and said that Serbia will not 
threaten military action in Kosovo.  Jeremic stressed that while a 
UDI would destabilize the region, Serbia would not contribute to the 
province's destabilization with either physical, military or 
security measures.  Jeremic said, "All legal, diplomatic and 
practical means will be used to show that we do not accept the 
proclamation of independence and that it is void." 
 
¶4. (SBU) On September 6, Sutanovac said that the statements made by 
some Serbian ministers about NATO did not represent the position of 
the Serbian government, and assessed that they were politically 
motivated.  "Those who say they are in favor of entry into the EU 
and against cooperation with NATO should know that, lately, not a 
single state has entered the EU without first becoming a member of 
NATO," Sutanovac underscored that the army and the Defense Ministry 
had established a high degree of cooperation with NATO.  Sutanovac 
assessed that it was in the highest interest of Serbians who live in 
Kosovo that the Serbian Army has excellent cooperation with KFOR. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Embassy officers met with the Minister of Defense on 
September 7 to express USG concern over the inflammatory 
pronouncements of State Secretary Prorokovic and our appreciation of 
the Defense Minister's public remarks to counter Prorokovic's 
threats.  The Minister told us (and the media) that Prorokovic did 
not speak for the GOS, nor control Serbia's troop movements or 
foreign policy.  "As long as I head the Ministry of Defense, no 
troops will be sent to Kosovo," he told us.  The minister 
characterized Prorokovic's remarks as a message for domestic 
consumption, laying a marker to establish blame if/when "things go 
badly."  He accepted our point that the international community and 
press make no such distinctions.  Sutanovac told us that he had 
received a flood of messages supporting his public statements.  We 
added our encouragement for more of the same, if necessary. 
Sutanovac emphasized his commitment to advancing his ministry's 
relationship with NATO and the West. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Embassy officers also met with Borlisav Stefanovic, the new 
Political Director at the MFA, to register USG concerns.  Stefanovic 
referred to FM Jeremic's statement and assured us that the GOS is 
committed to engaging constructively to find a diplomatic and 
political solution to the Kosovo issue. He added that the MFA had 
received a message from its Embassy in Washington expressing USG 
concerns on this issue.  Stefanovic emphasized that the MFA would 
work within the GOS to try to avoid such comments in the future.  He 
stressed, however, that these are difficult times for Serbia and 
that he and others would try to be the "guardians of the right 
views" of the GOS to the international community. 
 
¶7. (U) President Tadic has not yet joined his ministers in 
responding to DSS rhetoric.  This week, he reiterated arguments 
against Kosovo independence and lauded Russia's support for Serbia's 
position.  In an interview with the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS, 
Tadic said Kosovo is not ready to become an independent state 
because "right now it is impossible to create in Kosovo a modern 
society capable of respecting human rights, including those of 
 
BELGRADE 00001252  002 OF 002 
 
 
citizens of non-Albanian descent."  He added that using the threat 
of violence as an argument to support independence is "absolutely 
unacceptable" and that any state created as a result would lead to 
long-term instability in the region.  Tadic blamed "outside support 
for Albanian separatism" for raising the expectations within Kosovo 
for independence.  Tadic spoke of Russia's key support for Serbia 
and said that "for centuries...even in the most difficult 
circumstances, Russia protected Serbia. 
 
DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITY 
------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Sweden:  According to local contacts, Swedish Foreign 
Minister Carl Bildt told PM Kostunica that NATO-bashing and the PM's 
threats against countries that recognize Kosovo were "unhelpful." 
 
¶9. (U) UK & France: Belgrade daily Blic carried on September 7 an 
op-ed written by the Foreign Ministers of France and the UK, Bernard 
Kouchner and David Miliband, in which they stated that France and 
the UK want Serbia in the EU as it is of crucial importance for the 
future of the region but that it is difficult to imagine Serbia in 
the EU without the Kosovo status issue being resolved first.  The 
ministers also write that both sides should be constructive in the 
negotiating process.  "If Belgrade cannot accept Ahtisaari's plan, 
then it has responsibility to propose an alternative which would 
also be acceptable to Kosovo," the ministers write according to the 
daily. 
 
¶10. (U) EU: Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy 
chief Javier Solana, said on September 6 that recent "inflammatory 
vocabulary" from Belgrade on Kosovo did not respect the agreement 
reached by representatives of Serbia and the Kosovo Albanians. 
Gallach said that the Serbian officials "violated the agreement less 
than a week" after the August 30 meeting in Vienna. 
 
¶11. (U) NATO: Serbian media conveyed NATO spokesman James Apaturai 
statements that claims that NATO wants to create a state through an 
independent Kosovo are "senseless because NATO does not, cannot and 
does not want to create states". He added these claims are purely 
political, unnecessary and undesirable from NATO's point of view. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Comment:  The DS took an important step forward this week 
by finally standing up to the DSS on its inflammatory Kosovo 
pronouncements.  We will continue to encourage the generally 
risk-averse DS leaders to counter (or better, prevent) remarks that 
justify the use of force in Kosovo or otherwise undermine GOS 
commitments to finding a diplomatic solution to Kosovo status. 
 
MUNTER