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DE RUEHBW #0587/01 1651511
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 131511Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0044
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0003
RHEHNS/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RXFEAA/AFSOUTH NAPLES IT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BELGRADE 000587 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KPAO SR KV
SUBJECT: SERBS WILL ANSWER UN SYG BAN'S LETTER WITH A "SOFT NO" ON 
SUNDAY, JUNE 15 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) President Tadic will likely respond on June 15 with a 
"soft no" to UN SYG Ban's letter on UNMIK (UN Mission in Kosovo) 
reconfiguration.  Prime Minister Kostunica has already responded 
publicly, calling the Ban proposal unacceptable for Serbia.  Kosovo 
Minister Samardzic publicly said UN SYG Ban had overstepped his 
mandate and that Serbia would respond in accordance with its Kosovo 
policy. End Summary. 
 
Tadic's Response 
---------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Foreign Minister Jeremic told Ambassador on June 12 that 
he had advised President Tadic to answer UN SYG Ban's letter 
outlining the reconfiguration of UNMIK with a "soft no" on Sunday, 
June 15.  Jeremic said that the text of the letter Tadic has tasked 
him with drafting will emphasize Serbia's commitment to stability in 
Kosovo, willingness to work with the UN and European Union (and 
acknowledging the important role to be played by the EU Rule of Law 
Mission - EULEX), and interest in discussing with all parties 
practical mechanisms to ensure cooperation and safety for all people 
living in Kosovo.  But, he added, the letter will end with an 
insistence that such a way forward be blessed by the UN Security 
Council -- that is, with a rejection of Ban's actions unless they 
are agreed upon in New York. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Jeremic explained that he had just come from a meeting 
with Tadic, at which Tadic had thrown an ashtray at him -- not, 
Jeremic said, because of the content of the letter from the SYG, 
which Jeremic admitted was not unacceptable to the Serbs, but 
rather, because of Tadic's frustration with the SYG.  Tadic had 
called Ban and pleaded for 40 minutes for a delay in the delivery of 
Ban's letter, but to no avail.  Tadic had sought the delay in order 
to complete his formation of a new government which, Jeremic 
claimed, would be clearly pro-European and thus more flexible in its 
approach to Kosovo issues.  Now, in the middle of very tense 
government formation negotiations, Tadic was faced with the letter 
and had to respond.  Jeremic claimed he had been able to talk Tadic 
out of making an immediate (angry) response, and that despite 
efforts by hard-line nationalists in the government like Kosovo 
Minister Samardzic, Jeremic would likely be able to delay the 
response until Tadic returned from a  trip to Athens (Tadic departs 
Friday June 13 and returns Sunday June 15).  Jeremic said he and 
Samardzic had been charged with drafting the response to be 
presented to the President, and that he would ensure that it would 
not be complete until the President returned to Belgrade. 
 
Upcoming Events 
--------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Jeremic noted that the EU had scheduled senior-level 
meetings during the week of June 16, and it would be important that 
Serbia come across to the EU as cooperative, even as it must protect 
its legal and diplomatic commitment to its territorial integrity. 
Jeremic said it was his understanding that the United States has 
planned a meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday, June 20, and 
asked that the United States consider delaying that meeting until 
Tadic had formed a government.  Ambassador answered that USUN had 
not informed him of any such meeting scheduled for June 20, and that 
Tadic should simply form his new government regardless of any 
potential meeting of the UNSC. 
 
EU Gets Same Message from Jeremic 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Ambassador left the meeting with Jeremic only to run into 
Peter Sorenson, a senior EU representative in Belgrade, who was on 
his way in to see the Foreign Minister.  Sorenson later confirmed to 
Ambassador that Jeremic had given him the same message:  the Serbs 
would answer the Ban letter with a "soft no" on Sunday, June 15. 
 
DSS Response 
------------ 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The UN SYG proposal was contrary to UN Security Council 
Resolution 1244 and as such could not be accepted by Serbia, Prime 
Minister Vojislav Kostunica said in a brief statement to Tanjug News 
Agency on June 12.  He said that the Serbian Parliament had adopted 
a resolution in December 2007 which stated that the deployment of 
EULEX to implement the Ahtisaari plan would undermine Serbia's 
sovereignty, territorial integrity and the Serbian Constitution. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Serbian Kosovo Minister Slobodan Samardzic said at a June 
 
BELGRADE 00000587  002 OF 002 
 
 
13 press conference that UN SYG Ban had overstepped his competencies 
in planning to reconfigure UNMIK.  Serbia could not allow the UN SYG 
"to smuggle in" the EULEX mission "through the back door," Samardzic 
said.  He said President Tadic, together with the technical 
government would prepare a response in accordance to the 
government's current Kosovo policy. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Asking for delays for domestic political reasons is 
Tadic's trademark.  The Ban letter and Serbia's reply are unlikely 
to affect government formation at this advanced stage.  End 
Comment. 
 
MUNTER