VZCZCXRO1261
PP RUEHAST RUEHFL RUEHLA RUEHMRE RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHVEN #0074/01 0811016
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211016Z MAR 08
FM USMISSION USOSCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5614
INFO RUCNOSC/ORG FOR SECURITY CO OP IN EUR COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0980
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHMFIUU/HQ USAFE RAMSTEIN AB GE//POLAD/XPXC//
RHMFISS/CDRUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ5-T/ECPLAD/ECCS//
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEASWA/DTRA ALEX WASHINGTON DC//OSAE
RUESDT/DTRA-OSES DARMSTADT GE
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5-DDPMA-E/DDPMA-IN/CAC//
RUEADWD/DA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 USOSCE 000074 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR VCI/CCA, VCI/NRRC, EUR/RPM, EUR/PRA, EUR/SCE, 
PM/WRA 
JCS FOR J5 
OSD FOR ISA (PERENYI) 
NSC FOR DOWLEY 
USUN FOR LEGAL, POL 
CENTCOM FOR CCJ5-C, POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PARM PREL OSCE KCFE XG ZL
SUBJECT: DAYTON ARTICLE IV: 40TH SRCC IS QUIET BUT BUSY 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  The Dayton Article IV Parties met in 
Sarajevo March 10-13 for the 40th Sub-Regional Consultative 
Commission (SRCC).  The SRCC was held in a cooperative and 
friendly atmosphere, resulting in an impressive list of 
decisions, to include: agreement on amending the Agreement, 
dates and agenda for the Sixth Review Conference, changing 
the number of SRCCs from three to two per year, quotas for 
the upcoming inspection year, and the use of additional 
inspection equipment.  There was no discussion of Kosovo. 
The Parties themselves shared many of the same viewpoints 
and, when there were differences, were able to reach their 
own compromise solutions.  End summary. 
 
No Discussion of Kosovo 
----------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) There was little talk of political issues such as 
the collapse of governments in Serbia or Macedonia, or of 
Kosovo's independence.  However, the Contact Group on the 
margins informally discussed how Article IV might be impacted 
after one or more of the Parties recognize the independence 
of Kosovo. 
 
¶3. (SBU) During earlier separate discussions with Brigadier 
General Costanzo Periotto, the Chairman-in-Office's Personal 
Representative for Dayton Article IV, German senior military 
advisor Colonel Wolfgang Richter, and U.S. representative 
(Claus), it was agreed that it would be unwise to raise the 
subject of Kosovo at any point during the SRCC and that any 
discussion should be kept at the informal level among Contact 
Group and Periotto's staff.    The Agreement's area of 
application includes the entire territory of Serbia, to 
include Kosovo.  The Croatian military advisor, Colonel 
Mijatovic, informally said that Croatia would be the first of 
the Parties to recognize Kosovo independence, and that this 
recognition would occur by the end of March 2008.  (Note: 
Croatia recognized Kosovo on March 20.  End note.) 
 
¶4. (SBU) There were some concerns among the Contact Group 
that Serbia might reject Assistants from countries that had 
recognized Kosovo's independence.  USDel met earlier with 
Periotto and agreed that U.S. Assistants would not join a 
Serbian inspection team until June.  On March 20, USDel was 
informed by Periotto's staff that Serbia had accepted on its 
team an Assistant from France. 
 
SRCC 
---- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Permanent Working Group, which met February 5-7, 
prepared the drafts for the SRCC, although many of the 
documents were altered before final approval.  Many agenda 
points resulted in SRCC decisions (see para 10).  Most of the 
documents that did not become decisions were labeled as "SRCC 
Conclusions."  (Comment: Periotto, along with the Bosnian 
chair, did a very good job of trying to keep the SRCC on 
task, and with better results than at the 39th SRCC.  End 
comment.) 
 
¶6. (SBU) The SRCC was chaired by the head of the Bosnian MFA 
peace and security office, Minister-Advisor Momir Brajic. 
For the first time in several years, the Contact Group was 
fully represented.  The U.S. representative was Lt. Colonel 
Alan Hester (USOSCE).  The Parties were represented by: 
 
- Bosnia: Goran Pranjic; 
- Croatia: Mirko Capjak; 
- Serbia: Ambassador Branka Latinovic; 
- Montenegro: Ambassador Milorad Scepanovic. 
 
Amending the Agreement 
 
USOSCE 00000074  002 OF 003 
 
 
---------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The need to amend the Agreement to note the 
separation of Montenegro and the Republic of Serbia (Note: 
All were reminded not to use the term, "Republic of 
Montenegro."  End note.) resulted in a hurried, last minute 
push to refine the previous draft's language to include an 
amendment for each article instead of one amendment to the 
entire Agreement.  The SRCC agreed to a silence procedure 
ending on April 15.  Each Party then would be required to 
adopt the formal amendments in accordance with national 
requirements. 
 
Inspections 
----------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Periotto's staff provided a report on inspection 
activities conducted during the previous year (March 2007 ) 
March 2008).  The Parties conducted 20 inspections in 2007 
and no substantive issues arose.  The Parties approved the 
draft quota distribution and inspection schedule for 
2008-2009 that was proposed by Periotto's staff.  The quotas 
(19 in all) are: Bosnia (4); Serbia (7); Croatia (5); 
Montenegro (3). 
 
¶9. (SBU) There was discussion on how to set quotas for the 
future, which formula to use, and what the minimum number 
might be to allow for a balanced inspection regime among the 
four Parties.  Serbia proposed the following minimum passive 
quotas:  Bosnia (5); Croatia (5); Serbia (5); and Montenegro 
(3).  This distribution would allow all Parties to conduct at 
least one inspection of all the other Parties; however, no 
agreement was reached. 
 
SRCC Decisions 
-------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) The SRCC agenda was quite ambitious, but numerous 
decisions were reached: 
 
-- A decision to conduct the Sixth Article IV Review 
Conference in Vienna during July 2-4, preceded by an 
Extraordinary SRCC for the sole purpose of approving the 
minutes of the 40th SRCC. 
 
-- A decision to reduce the number of SRCCs held during a 
year from three to two, with target months of March and 
October.  Permanent Working Groups will be held at least one 
month prior to each SRCC. 
 
-- A decision to extend the length of time from one year to 
two years that Armaments Limited by the Agreement can remain 
in an export status.  This was a change from the earlier 
draft proposal to eliminate the time limit altogether. 
 
-- A decision on the framework language to be used by the 
four Parties in releasing a statement, to be completed at the 
42nd SRCC, on voluntary limitation of military manpower. 
 
-- A decision encouraging the Parties to organize and conduct 
additional or supplemental training for inspectors and 
Assistants within their own countries.  This decision has the 
practical effect of giving a seal of approval for Bosnian 
plans to set up a training center.  Croatia, after initially 
protesting in favor of training at Zagreb-based Regional Arms 
Control Verification and Implementation Assistant Center 
(RACVIAC), eventually agreed. 
 
-- A decision that digital cameras, SATCOM satellite systems, 
mobile telephones, and GPS would be permitted during 
inspections.  (Note:  This decision did not actually change 
 
USOSCE 00000074  003 OF 003 
 
 
the Agreement: the Parties used a consensus agreement to 
define the above equipment as "other equipment" in accordance 
with Paragraph 13, Section VI of the Protocol on Inspection. 
End note.) 
 
Handbook for Inspectors 
----------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Serbia proposed to add "political" elements to a 
draft of the Handbook for Inspectors developed by all four 
Parties during the November working group.  The other Parties 
were frustrated with these efforts to add political documents 
and elements to what has been proposed and initially 
developed as an operational-level handbook.  After a two hour 
discussion, the SRCC agreed to form an "ad hoc working 
group," to be chaired by Latinovic, to complete the handbook. 
 Additionally, the SRCC approved a standing operation 
procedure (SOP) for OSCE Assistants, which will become part 
of the handbook.  The SOP includes the requirement that all 
OSCE supporting nations provide health insurance for their 
Assistants. 
 
RACVIAC 
------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) On the margins, the Croatian delegation passed out 
RACVIAC's list of course offerings planned for 2008 (emailed 
to State VCI/CCA).  (Comment:  RACVIAC has continued to 
develop, growing in stature in the region.  Recommend 
Washington consider whether it would be beneficial to 
re-engage with RACVIAC, to include increased participation in 
courses and provision of guest instructors.  End comment.) 
 
 
Cultural Interlude: Surreal Moments at City Hall 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶13. (SBU) On the margins of the SRCC, the Bosnian hosts 
organized a visit to the Sarajevo city hall, where the deputy 
mayor presented a film that included some propagandistic and 
anti-Serb narration.  Afterwards, the deputy mayor, speaking 
in Serbo-Croatian and asking the Serbian   Ambassador 
Latinovic to translate into English, spoke on the future of 
Sarajevo.  Latinovic, while visibly uneasy, translated the 
deputy mayor's speech, which related how the people of 
Sarajevo were overcoming the effects of the 3-year Serbian 
siege and were looking forward to the future.  Latinovic was 
afterward praised publicly and privately for her graciousness 
and demeanor. 
SCOTT