VZCZCXRO4844
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBW #0414/01 1131552
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221552Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0220
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE 0317

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BELGRADE 000414 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SR
SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER: SERBIA MUST CHOOSE EU, BUT ONLY WITH 
KOSOVO 
 
 
BELGRADE 00000414  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Summary 
 
------- 
 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told political 
science students and foreign diplomats that Serbia was at a 
crossroads and must choose to join the EU to bring stability and 
economic prosperity to the country.  Playing the Kosovo card, 
Jeremic insisted Serbia would join the EU intact.  Publicly, 
Jeremic criticized the west and the United States, in 
particular, for promoting "illegal" Kosovo independence which 
risked destabilizing the region.  Out of the limelight, he 
apologized for the rhetoric and chilled relations.  Jeremic's 
speech demonstrated the DS efforts to retain the democratic vote 
by stealing the DSS platform.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
Serbia Must Join the EU 
 
---------------------- 
 
 
 
¶2. (U) In a speech entitled "Strategic Overview of Serbia's 
Foreign Policy Direction," on April 18 Foreign Minister Jeremic 
explained to students and foreign diplomats at Belgrade 
University's Political Sciences Faculty why Serbia should join 
the EU and what the DS was doing to get Kosovo back.  Jeremic 
described the "Serbian singularity," a unique civilization at 
the crossroads between east and west that had always had a 
pivotal role to play on the international stage.  The major 
exception to this was during the Milosevic regime, which Jeremic 
blamed for the Serbia's current problems.  Although these 
turbulent times had passed, the "battle for the soul of the 
western Balkans has not yet been fought to the finish," he said. 
 If Serbian citizens did not make the right choice in the May 11 
elections, Serbia would be left out of what was probably the 
final stage of EU enlargement.  Jeremic said there was no middle 
ground between isolation and joining the EU.  Isolation would 
lead to a repetition of the mistakes of the past. 
 
 
 
¶3. (U) Jeremic gave three reasons Serbia should join the EU. 
 
 
 
-- First, every state that had joined the EU had enjoyed 
economic growth and prosperity.  "The EU delivers what it 
promises, and that is a better life," said Jeremic. 
 
 
 
-- Second, Serbia was clearly already a part of Europe, and 
joining the EU, "the greatest project in history," would give 
citizens a sense of belonging to something greater. 
 
 
 
-- Finally, the EU represented true democratic values, such as 
rule of law, equality, human rights, and diversity.  The EU 
would not solve all of Serbia's problems but would provide the 
framework with which Serbia could address them. 
 
 
 
Joining the EU did not mean giving up the special friendship 
with Russia.  Indeed, Serbia would play a special role in bring 
the EU and Russia closer. 
 
 
 
But Serbia Will Join Only with Kosovo 
 
------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶4. (U) Jeremic emphasized the choice was not between the EU and 
Kosovo.  All parties and politicians agreed that Serbia must 
protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.  DS had 
demonstrated its commitment to overturning Kosovo's unilateral 
declaration of independence (UDI) by Jeremic's diplomatic 
activity--recalling ambassadors from countries that recognized 
Kosovo and lobbying others to vote for a September UNGA 
resolution to request an International Court of Justice (ICJ) 
ruling. 
 
 
BELGRADE 00000414  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
 
¶5. (U) Jeremic stated the reasons that UDI had been bad for the 
Balkans, asserting multiple times that small Serbia was holding 
its own against the "pressures of powerful advocates" of Kosovo 
independence.  Kosovo independence was not only an illegal 
secessionist act that would ultimately fail, but it was an 
attack on the democratic course the country had taken since the 
fall of the Milosevic regime.  UDI also divided the Balkans, 
forcing neighbors to choose to support Kosovo or Serbia.  Third, 
UDI complicated entry into the EU, not because the EU would make 
giving up Kosovo a requirement of accession but because Serbian 
citizens associated the EU with UDI.  Finally, UDI legitimated 
the doctrine of imposed solutions. 
 
 
 
Students Question Jeremic 
 
------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶6. (U) During the question and answer session, a student asked 
what Serbia would do if Kosovo tried to join the EU, either 
before or after Serbia.  Jeremic replied that he promised that 
Serbia would only join the EU with its territorial integrity 
intact.  Giving up Kosovo was not a condition for EU membership. 
 In response to a question a few minutes later, however, he said 
that some countries, most notably Great Britain and Cyprus, had 
joined the EU with ongoing secession disputes.  He said Cyprus, 
in particular, proved that it was acceptable to join the EU 
while "disagreements among the parties" persisted. 
 
 
 
Balkan - Middle East Parallels 
 
------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶7. (U) Responding to a question about the Middle East, Jeremic 
said he hoped for a negotiated solution that would involve all 
sides and accommodate their legitimate wishes, and he drew 
parallels to the Balkans.  Jeremic said that an imposed solution 
was no more appropriate in Serbia than it was between the 
Israelis and Palestinians.  Jeremic acknowledged that Milosevic 
had committed heinous crimes against ethnic Albanians, but 
suggested that those crimes been no worse than Saddam Hussein's 
crimes against the Kurds, noted that the west rejected the 
possibility of a Kurdish state while accepting Kosovo secession. 
 
 
 
Diplomatic Steps to Overturn Kosovo Independence 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
 
 
¶8. (U) Jeremic stressed that Serbia would use international 
institutions and influence to challenge Kosovo independence. 
Serbia would appeal to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) 
to rule the declaration of independence illegal, calling such 
rulings influential, if non-binding.  Such a ruling, he 
suspected, would cause the "great powers" to withdraw their 
recognition and enable Serbia to return its recalled ambassadors. 
 
 
 
Jeremic Apologizes for Anti-U.S. Stance 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) At a reception for the diplomats in the audience 
following the speech, Jeremic approached poloff and apologized 
for the anti-American remarks but said he was compelled to use 
such rhetoric for the duration of the election campaign.  He 
asked that poloff pass his regards to the Ambassador whom he was 
sorry he could not meet but looked forward to seeing after the 
elections. 
 
 
 
Comment 
 
------- 
 
 
BELGRADE 00000414  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) Jeremic's ploy to talk to diplomats via 
intermediaries, in this case, political science students, 
illustrates DS's dilemma in sounding pro-Western while freezing 
relations with western governments.  Clearly Jeremic meant for 
his message to reach the diplomatic corps as much as he wanted 
to interact with students.  DS's strategy retains its internal 
dissonance, how to embrace Europe and keep Kosovo.  The DS does 
a disservice to its electorate by avoiding a clear appraisal of 
pre-1999 events, instead leading the public along PM Kostunica's 
line that Serbs are perpetual victims, bearing no responsibility 
for the international community's decision to remove Kosovo from 
Serbian rule.  End Comment. 
BRUSH