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DE RUEHBW #1727/01 3601614
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 261614Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1969
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC 1416
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RHMFISS/CDRUSNATO AFSOUTHBN NAPLES IT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BELGRADE 001727 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KV SR
SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR ON KOSOVO AND ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN 
 
REF: SECSTATE 169481 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) President Tadic is working to maintain calm in Kosovo and 
to prevent any misunderstanding with the international community 
regarding any potential redlines, President Tadic's foreign policy 
advisor, Jovan Ratkovic, told the Ambassador on December 26. 
Ratkovic said that the draft Kosovo resolution currently with 
parliament was the best deal that the Democratic Party could get 
from the Democratic Party of Serbia and would not hamper Serbia's EU 
aspirations or possible membership in NATO.  Ratkovic said President 
Tadic was energized by the ongoing presidential campaign, but 
realized it would be a difficult fight for reelection.  End 
Summary. 
 
Serbia is Engaging Positively in Kosovo 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Ambassador delivered reftel points December 26 to 
President Tadic's foreign policy advisor, Jovan Ratkovic.   Ratkovic 
responded by emphasizing that President Tadic was encouraging Serbs 
to remain in Kosovo and would work with the international community 
to address "practical issues".  Ratkovic said the GOS was not 
encouraging ethnic Serbs to leave Kosovo, and to do so would be 
against Serbia's interest in Kosovo.  He said the GOS was actually 
placing a heavy emphasis on assisting Serb enclaves, such as with 
infrastructure projects, because it wanted to encourage Serbs to 
stay in Kosovo for the long term.  Ratkovic said Tadic would not 
instigate separatism in Bosnia, but said remarks from U.S. officials 
advocating the creation of "a one Bosnia idea" (e.g. wthout a 
separate Republika Srpska entity) would ot be helpful.  Ratkovic 
said he would deliver reftel points to President Tadic, who has been 
on the campaign trail and attended the parliament session on Kosovo 
today, and left open the possibility that Serbia would reciprocate 
with revised points in the future. 
 
Parliament to Consider Kosovo Resolution Today 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Ratkovic said President Tadic's Democratic Party (DS) and 
Prime Minister Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) had 
intensely negotiated the wording of the draft Kosovo resolution 
currently with parliament.  He emphasized that the DS believed that 
the negotiated DS-DSS draft language would not tie Serbia's hands 
with regard to signing a Stabilization and Accession Agreement (SAA) 
with the EU nor would it limit any eventual decision on NATO 
membership.   Ratkovic said the draft was "the best the DS could 
get" out of the DSS, and that it was a major improvement from the 
"completely unacceptable" draft that the DSS had initially submitted 
to the DS.  He said the initial DSS version would have "prevented 
for good" Serbia's ability to join NATO and would have effectively 
halted Serbia's move towards EU integration.  Ratkovic said the DSS 
may have been trying to "stain" Tadic's foreign policy record by 
submitting the initial draft and threatening not to adopt a softer 
version, but ultimately, the prospect of Serbia's eventual 
membership in the EU was still popular among Serbian citizens so the 
DSS compromised.  Ratkovic said he expected the Assembly to vote on 
the Kosovo resolution late on December 26. 
 
Tadic is in Full Campaign Mode 
------------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Ratkovic said the presidential election campaign, which 
started on December 22, was going better than expected, but he 
thought it would ultimately be a tight race against the Radicals. 
Ratkovic said Tadic began the campaign very tired, but the president 
was a natural campaigner who was quickly becoming energized.  He 
said Republika Srpska Prime Minister Dodik's recent public support 
for Tadic was a good boost to the campaign.  In contrast, French 
President Sarkozy's and U.K. Prime Minister Brown's comments 
regarding Kosovo and Serbia after the recent EU Summit had been 
untimely and unhelpful to President Tadic, he said.  Ratkovic said 
that throughout the campaign Tadic would emphasize Kosovo, as well 
as, Serbia's future within Europe. 
 
Comment 
------ 
 
¶5.  (SBU) On behalf of President Tadic, who is already hitting the 
campaign trail, Ratkovic accepted the list of potential redlines 
regarding Kosovo but said the items should be further discussed in 
the future.  In the near term, Ratkovic appeared confident that 
parliament would pass the draft compromise language for the Kosovo 
resolution and that Serbia's long term interests in Euro-Atlantic 
integration would not suffer.  Post will follow up on the resolution 
upon its passage to see if Ratkovic's optimism holds true and what 
 
BELGRADE 00001727  002 OF 002 
 
 
effect, if any, it will have on the ongoing presidential campaign. 
End comment. 
 
MUNTER