VZCZCXRO8226
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBW RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHPG #0257 1161552
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 251552Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY PRAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0270
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHSB/AMEMBASSY HARARE 0006
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON 0083

UNCLAS PRAGUE 000257 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
EUR/ERA JGIAUQUE, EUR/NCE FOR ATRATENSEK 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EUN EZ EG PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: CZECH COMMENTS IN ADVANCE OF THE APRIL EU GAERC 
 
REF: STATE 43742 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Emboff met with Katerina Sequensova, Deputy 
Director of the Czech MFA Department of Common Foreign and 
Security Policy prior to the April 29 EU General Affairs and 
External Relations Council (GAERC).  Of note were her 
comments on the Balkans, Zimbabwe and Burma.  Although Iran 
has been a topic of discussion in many other EU channels, we 
understand from the Czechs that no GAERC conclusions on Iran 
have been drafted or circulated.  End Summary. 
 
---------- 
Western Balkans - Bosnia and Kosovo 
---------- 
2, (SBU) Sequensova noted that the Czechs share our pleasure 
with the progress made by Bosnia on police reform and 
indicated that they would like to see a Stabilization and 
Association Agreement signed as soon as possible.  She did 
flag, however, that the agreement needs to be translated into 
all of the official EU languages and so far the Czechs (and 
several other nations) have yet to see anything other than 
unofficial texts.  Thus, the Czechs are not optimistic that 
this agreement will be ready for signing at Tuesday's GAERC. 
 
¶3. (SBU) On Kosovo, Sequensova spoke first and foremost about 
the outstanding question of recognition.  The GOCR still 
plans to recognize Kosovo next month, at a date to be 
determined "very soon" after the May 11 elections in Serbia. 
According to Sequensova and Czech MFA desk officer for 
Kosovo, Josef Zrzavecky,  the Czechs remain committed to 
participating in the International Steering Group (ISG), 
although they have taken a relatively low profile for the 
moment, given the fact that they have not officially 
recognized Kosovo yet.  The Czech MFA noted that they have 
allocated financial resources (approximately 200,000 euros) 
to support the smooth functioning of the International 
Civilian Office (ICO) and that they plan to attend and 
participate in the next ISG meeting tentatively scheduled for 
the second or third week of May.  They also plan to attend 
the upcoming Kosovo Donor's Conference this summer and they 
are currently exploring what types of contributions (be it 
financial or personnel with specific expertise) they may be 
able to provide to the cause. 
 
---------- 
Zimbabwe - Increasing Concern 
---------- 
¶4. (SBU) The EU member states are united in their concern 
about the lack of official election results in Zimbabwe and 
they plan to emphasize this in the EU conclusions, according 
to Sequensova.  She noted that these conclusions have not 
been fully drafted at the moment since the member states are 
waiting to see if there are any developments over the weekend 
which will need to be addressed.  The Czechs have every 
expectation that the EU will speak forcefully about the 
gravity of its concerns. 
 
 
---------- 
Burma - Considering Further Measures 
---------- 
¶5. (SBU)  On Burma, Embassy officials understand that there 
will be a discussion of strengthening sanctions and that in 
the conclusion the EU will indicated that they are "willing 
to consider further restrictive measures," given the current 
situation in Burma.  Sequensova did not address exactly what 
the EU is considering in terms of further measures, nor what 
would trigger their implementation.  We know from our 
contacts in the Czech MFA Department of Human Rights and 
Transition Policy that the Czechs have been actively engaged 
within the EU over the last few weeks to press for more to be 
done in the area of sanctions.  The Czechs also have been 
engaging other EU member states to outline Czech concerns 
related to the upcoming Burmese constitutional referendum  - 
specifically intimidation by the Burmese regime, the regime's 
lack of engagement with ethnic minority representatives and 
the planned use of separate "yes or no" ballots, which could 
scare voters into casting their ballots a certain way if 
voters fear others would be able to easily determine how they 
voted. 
 
Graber