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OO RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBZ RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUCNDT #0059/01 0211927
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 211927Z JAN 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3576
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 USUN NEW YORK 000059 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL UNSC UNMIK KV YI
SUBJECT: UNSC CONSIDERS UNMIK: DRAMA BUT NO DIRECTION 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. During a January 16 Security Council 
session on UNMIK, Serbian President Tadic said before the 
media that Serbia would never recognize Kosovo sovereignty 
but would not resort to violence under any circumstances.  In 
a much longer non-public session: SRSG Rucker lauded the 
recent elections, especially participation in them by a small 
number of Kosovo Serbs in defiance of intimidation from 
Belgrade, and cited progress on Standards implementation; 
Kosovo Prime Minister Thaci described his new cabinet's plans 
to bring Kosovo's minorities further into Kosovo government 
and welcomed EU plans to raise its profile in Kosovo in 
accord with the Ahtisaari proposal; President Tadic said the 
only Standard that really matters is minority returns and 
criticized results to date on that score; several delegations 
directly or indirectly called for further final status 
negotiations (Russia, China, Vietnam, South Africa, 
Indonesia, Costa Rica, Libya, and Burkina Faso); and 
Ambassador Khalilzad and U.S. allies noted continued progress 
on Standards and suggested that Council gridlock on Kosovo's 
final status was obvious during its December 19 session and 
the subject need not be revisited.  Russia also appealed to 
Council members to work together to develop a roadmap for 
maximum self-government for Kosovo.  Russia and China 
acknowledged EU desire to play a larger role in Kosovo, but 
argued that UNSCR 1244 and Council precedent establish that 
UNMIK could be reconfigured only with the express consent of 
the Security Council.  No Council action is currently planned 
on Kosovo before the next quarterly UNMIK report.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
Atmospherics 
------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) In several Security Council consultations leading up 
to its January 16 session on the latest (December 31) 
quarterly report on UNMIK, Russia had insisted that Serbian 
President Boris Tadic be allowed to participate in an open 
UNSC meeting (i.e., a televised meeting with the public and 
interested UN General Assembly members in attendance).  When 
Russia offered to drop its longstanding objection to direct 
participation in UNSC deliberations on UNMIK by officials of 
Kosovo's Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG), 
a deal was quickly struck.  Tadic was invited to be the only 
speaker at an open session (in prime television time in 
Serbia four days before he was to face re-election) and 
Kosovo Prime Minister Thaci was invited to speak along with 
SRSG Joachim Rucker and Tadic during a follow-on private 
meeting (a non-televised session with UNGA members in 
attendance).  Unlike the frosty noninteraction evident 
between Serbian Prime Minister Kostunica and Kosovo President 
Sejdiu (with Thaci accompanying) during a December 19 Council 
session, the Tadic and Thaci delegations reportedly met 
privately in the hours before the January 16 session.  Tadic 
and Thaci also each referred directly and collegially to the 
other during their interventions in the private Council 
meeting and shook hands on the way out. 
 
Tadic: If You Victimize Serbia Again, We Will React -- 
Nonviolently 
------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Speaking in Serbian in the open session, President 
Tadic started right in on final status, describing Serbia as 
a constructive negotiator which had proposed various models 
of substantial autonomy as the key to compromise.  He said he 
regretted that Kosovo Albanians were fixated on Slobodan 
Milosevic's "mistakes" and were unable to appreciate that the 
Milosevic regime victimized all Serbia, that the (NATO) 
bombing punished Serbian citizens rather than the real 
culprits, and that punishing the Serbian people again by 
taking away Kosovo would be tragic after Serbia had 
re-established itself as a peaceful and democratic country. 
He said "Serbia will never recognize Kosovo's independence 
and will preserve its territorial integrity and sovereignty 
by all democratic means" but tempered this with "Serbia will 
not resort to violence and war."  He said "if any violence 
were to break out in Kosovo and if KFOR could not react and 
protect the Serbs in an approprite way, we are ready, and I 
underline with the agreement of competent international 
institutions ... to help and provide protection to the 
threatened population."  He alleged that Kosovo today denied 
basic rights to Kosovo Serbs and that the disappointing level 
of Serb returnees to Kosovo reflected failure to build a 
multiethnic society.  Tadic closed by reading a letter he 
said he had just received from a 15-year old Kosovo Serb girl 
(he did not give a name) who complained that her home was 
without electricity and appealed to him for protection 
because she lived in fear since her father was killed in the 
1999 conflict. 
 
Thaci: Standards, Ahtisaari Keys to Kosovo's Multiethnic 
Future 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000059  002 OF 004 
 
 
--------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Kosovo Prime Minister Thaci participated in the 
session in his personal capacity in accord with UNSC 
Provisional Rule of Procedure 39.  His appearance marked the 
first direct participation by a PISG official in a formal 
UNMIK session in the Security Council.  He read his 
presentation in halting English and did not otherwise take 
the floor during the session.  Less than a week in office, he 
spoke of the very recent formation of his government, 
highlighting its inclusion of two Kosovo Serbs and an ethnic 
Turk.  He outlined plans to open a special office of 
communities within the prime minister's office and to more 
generally communicate with Kosovo Serbs to help them overcome 
Belgrade noncooperation and increase their participation in 
Kosovo institutions.  He reaffirmed Kosovo's commitment to 
the Ahtisaari Plan and supervised independence as the best 
means of making Kosovo "a more democratic, multi-ethnic 
society that is fully integrated into European institutions." 
 He welcomed European Union commitment to play an enhanced 
role in Kosovo, particularly in the police and justice 
sector.  Addressing President Tadic directly, he said "with 
all respect, the last two years of failed negotiations have 
confirmed that Serbia and Kosovo will never agree to a union 
between them."  In closing, Thaci asked all Council members, 
even those that had yet to embrace Ahtisaari's independence 
recommendation, to support efforts to "consolidate democracy, 
promote multi-ethnicity and create a more prosperous and 
secure region for all." 
 
Rucker: Pushing Standards Envelope But Constrained by Belgrade 
-------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) SRSG Rucker did not discuss final status in depth 
but placed his remarks in the context of the unresolved final 
status issue, saying "UNMIK has achieved the outer limits of 
what can be achieved" without final status determination.  He 
added that "there is a sense of frustration among all the 
people" with the status process; "people want a decision; 
they do not want to live in uncertainty."  He had praise for 
Kosovo's conduct of the November 17 elections, the fifth 
elections during UNMIK's existence, and blamed the low 
turnout (43 percent) on disinterest derived from deep 
disappointment with the status process.  He noted the "very 
low" Kosovo Serb turnout but commended the 33 Kosovo Serb 
political entities that had registered for the ballot and 
strongly criticized "pressure" from Belgrade that led sixteen 
of these to withdraw and many Kosovo Serbs to stay away from 
the polls.  He particularly criticized a Kosovo Coordination 
Center (CCK) "black list letter" from the Serb village of 
Gorazdevac that he said asked the Serbian Ministry for Kosovo 
to implement sanctions against Kosovo Serbs who voted "for 
alleged disloyalty to Belgrade." 
 
¶6. (SBU) Rucker complained particularly that the CCK office 
in Mitrovica (in northern Kosovo) had been transformed into 
an office of Serbia's Ministry for Kosovo under a May 2007 
Serbian law that presumed to empower the new office to 
administer the functions of Serbian institutions on Kosovo 
territory.  He called these functions "clearly beyond the 
scope of liaison and coordination" as agreed between UNMIK 
and CCK and so a clear violation of Resolution 1244. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Rucker agreed that returns figures remain 
disappointing, although he had praise for PISG and UNMIK 
efforts on returns. He suggested that many IDP's are awaiting 
a status decision before deciding what to do.  On another 
Standard, Freedom of Movement, he contended that there has 
been significant improvement with one recent survey finding 
that 95 percent of Kosovo Serbs regularly travel outside 
their home areas and up to 98 percent of those surveyed 
expressing satisfaction with their degree of freedom to move 
about Kosovo.  He said the situation could be improved still 
further if Serbia would recognize UNMIK-issued license 
plates, which do not indicate ethnic group or place of 
vehicle origin. 
 
Russia: Changes in Kosovo Administration Impossible Without 
UNSC Blessing 
------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Russian PermRep Churkin led off with an endorsement 
of Serbia's January 4 response to the SYG's report and a 
barrage of complaints about the circumstances of Kosovo 
Serbs: the IDP situation is far from good; (ICTY indictee) 
Haradinaj was released from custody for the holidays with no 
protections for potential witnesses; Kosovo Albanians refused 
to negotiate seriously during their election campaign.  All 
this, Churkin said, "adds up to increased problems for Kosovo 
Serbs and explains their reluctance to be involved in the 
elections." 
 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000059  003 OF 004 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) Most of the remainder of Ambassador Churkin's 
presentation was a legalistic argument that past practice and 
the plain language of UNSCR 1244 and the November 5, 2001 
UNMIK-Belgrade Joint Document combine to prohibit changes to 
the international presence in Kosovo without express Security 
Council authorization.  He reminded Council members that a 
Russian proposal -- including the continuation of 
negotiations -- remains on the table and urged them to 
undertake to lay out a "roadmap" envisioning a maximum degree 
of Kosovo self-government, an appropriate distribution of 
authorities between Belgrade and Pristina, and a reformatting 
of the international presence.  Although expressing 
understanding of the EU desire to heighten its role, he 
insisted that any change in Kosovo's administration should be 
blessed by the Council.  In an ostensible effort to be 
conciliatory, he said "why not synchronize EU accession and 
the final status process; this could be reflected in the 
roadmap." 
 
China: In Battle of Principles, Territorial Integrity Trumps 
Regionalism 
------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Chinese PermRep Wang had high praise for the 
efforts of the Troika as "demonstrating a basic principle of 
resolution of international disputes in that it reflected a 
process agreed to by both parties."  He said the Kosovo 
problem is European in nature, but added that "its resolution 
has repercussions for other regions."  He said China notes 
the EU interest in playing a greater role, but added that 
"any effort must get Security Council approval" and that "any 
effort should enhance prospects for dialogue."  Wang closed 
by saying that "China welcomes all constructive proposals on 
final status and trusts that the Security Council will 
discuss them all." 
 
Vietnam, South Africa, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Libya, Burkina 
Faso Arguably Follow Suit 
------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Vietnamese PermRep Minh also praised the Troika 
effort and urged the parties, Security Council, and UNMIK to 
continue dialogue and negotiations, adding that any solution 
must be based on respect for national sovereignty and 
territorial integrity. Minh closed by saying "the question is 
not only whether the journey we have to take is shorter or 
longer, but also if the solution we find at the end of it is 
less or more long lasting." 
 
¶12. (SBU) South African PermRep Kumalo's prepared remarks 
included several technical questions for SRSG Rucker and a 
suggestion that the parties might still want to achieve a 
lasting solution notwithstanding their acrimonious 
negotiations.  In an off-the-cuff comment, however, he added, 
in an evident reference to the Russian roadmap proposal, that 
"South Africa welcomes the proposal of another way of helping 
the parties in their deliberations." 
 
¶13. (SBU) Indonesian PermRep Natalegawa said the Kosovo issue 
should be seen from a European perspective, but also saw a 
continuation of a final status process, saying "the final 
status process should not be prejudged as UNMIK implements 
Standards."  Costa Rican PermRep Urbina said compliance with 
international law is essential to preservation of the 
credibility of the United Nations.  Libyan PermRep Ettalhi 
said "resolving final status is important, but final status 
must take into account the views of all of Kosovo's 
communities."  Burkina Faso PermRep Kafando welcomed relative 
good news regarding Kosovo security but said the Council 
faces a real dilemma on final status. 
 
U.S. Focuses on EU Role, Ahtisaari -- Avoids Status Debate 
-------------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) Ambassador Khalilzad said he would not debate final 
status in the session because "we have agreed to focus on the 
UNMIK report" and because "we have had our debate. We have 
been there and done that.  We all know that the Council was 
and is blocked on the matter."  He went on to commend UNMIK 
and the PISG for the recent elections, express concern over 
Belgrade's effort to spark a Serb boycott, urge President 
Tadic to release Kosovo Serbs to participate in Kosovo's 
democracy, second SRSG Rucker concern over the Mitrovica 
office opened by the Serbian Ministry for Kosovo, and urge 
Prime Minister Thaci to continue to work to end 
discrimination against Kosovo Serbs.  Ambassador Khalilzad 
expressly welcomed EU readiness to play an enhanced role in 
Kosovo. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000059  004 OF 004 
 
 
¶15. (SBU) Notwithstanding the drama engendered by President 
Tadic's stump speech and Prime Minister Thaci's historic 
participation, no significant new ground was tread during the 
long session on Kosovo.  No Council action is currently 
planned on Kosovo before the next quarterly UNMIK report. 
KHALILZAD