VZCZCXRO1891
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBW #0603/01 1700826
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 180826Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0075
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0007
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 000603 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KPAO SR KV
SUBJECT: SERBIA:  PRIME MINISTER LOSES BID (FOR NOW) TO HAVE 
PARLIAMENT REJECT KOSOVO CONSTITUTION AND EU MISSION 
 
REF:  A) BELGRADE 587, B) 07 BELGRADE 218 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) In contrast to President Tadic's "soft no" to UNSYG Ban's 
letter on UNMIK reconfiguration, Prime Minister Kostunica and his 
Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) sought a special session of 
Serbia's new parliament to declare Kosovo's new constitution illegal 
and reject the EU's plan to send a Rule of Law Mission to Kosovo. 
The June 17 decision by the acting speaker not to convene an 
extraordinary session drew strong criticism from Kostunica. 
Ultimately, Kostunica's actions were predominantly for public 
consumption and were a last ditch effort to destabilize government 
formation talks between President Tadic's Democrats (DS) and the 
Socialists (SPS).  End Summary. 
 
Kostunica's Response to Constitution and EULEX 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶2.  (U) Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on June 15 called 
for parliament to convene in order to declare Kosovo's new 
constitution illegal and to clearly reject the EU plan to send its 
Rule of Law Mission (EULEX) to Kosovo.  He said the EULEX mission 
would contravene UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and the Serbian 
Constitution since the goal of EULEX was to help implement the 
Ahtisaari Plan, which Serbia previously rejected.  The parliament, 
Kostunica said, should take such actions prior to the expected June 
20 UN Security Council session on UNMIK reconfiguration. 
 
¶3.  (U) On June 16, Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and 
its New Serbia (NS) coalition partner submitted to the new 
parliament a draft motion which would declare the Kosovo 
Constitution null and void and reject the deployment of the EULEX 
mission to Kosovo. The Radical Party (SRS) immediately supported the 
DSS/NS draft motion and also urged additional parliamentary debate 
on whether President Tadic had exceeded his constitutional authority 
by responding to UNSYG Ban's letter on UNMIK reconfiguration without 
consulting the technical government (Ref A). 
 
 
Acting Speaker Declines to Convene Parliament 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) According to Serbia's constitution, parliament can hold an 
extraordinary session with a previously determined agenda if 
one-third of its members (84 MPs) demand it.  The new Serbian 
parliament is not yet fully formed, however, as at its June 11 
constitutive session it succeeded only in verifying members' 
mandates but did not complete the additional steps of electing a 
Speaker and deputy speakers, working bodies and a secretary.  In the 
interim period, the oldest Member of Parliament -- currently 
Pensioners' Party (PUPS) leader Jovan Krkobabic -- serves as acting 
Speaker. 
 
¶5.   (SBU) The Constitution and the Parliamentary Operating 
Procedures do not specify whether the parliament can convene an 
extraordinary session before it is fully constituted.  There is a 
precedent for doing so, however; in February 2007, after 
verification of the mandates the acting speaker immediately 
adjourned the session and called an extraordinary session where MPs 
adopted a resolution rejecting then-UN Special Envoy Martti 
Ahtisaari's plan for Kosovo (Ref B). At that time, however, there 
was general consensus among the parties to call the extraordinary 
session. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Despite this precedent and the apparent flexibility of 
parliamentary bylaws, on June 17 Krkobabic announced that he did not 
have the legal authority to call an extraordinary session of 
parliament.  Prime Minister Kostunica immediately condemned 
Krkobabic's decision, claiming that the PUPS leader had acted 
without consulting parliamentary parties and had "prevented the 
Serbian Parliament from giving a legitimate response to the Ban 
Ki-moon proposal."  Kostunica asserted that, in the absence of a 
functioning government, only the parliament had the authority to 
respond to the UNSYG's letter. 
 
DS Opposed Extraordinary Session 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (U) Perhaps strongly influencing Krkobabic's decision, President 
Tadic's Democratic Party (DS) publicly rejected the DSS motion for a 
session.  Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told the daily "Vecernje 
Novisti" that because the Parliament has already rejected Kosovo's 
unilateral declaration of independence, it was not necessary to 
 
BELGRADE 00000603  002 OF 002 
 
 
adopt separate resolutions rejecting all subsequent acts. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) In his June 13 response to UNSYG Ban's letter, President 
Tadic said reconfiguration of the international presence in Kosovo 
must be decided by the UN Security Council.  Tadic stated that the 
EU had a significant role to play in overcoming the obstacles 
related to Kosovo and expressed his willingness to work together 
with the UN to "arrive at a satisfactory arrangement."  (Post sees 
the Tadic letter as a "soft no," in contrast to Prime Minister 
Kostunica's harsher public response.) 
 
Socialists on the Fence 
----------------------- 
 
¶9.  (U) To obtain a majority of 126 votes in favor of the 
resolution, the DSS and its allies -- who control 108 votes -- 
needed the 20 votes controlled by the Socialists (SPS) and their 
coalition partners United Serbia (JS) and the Pensioners' Party. 
Krkobabic's decision not to hold the extraordinary session thus 
relieved his coalition partner, Socialist party leader Ivica Dacic, 
of the need to side publicly with either Tadic or Kostunica on the 
issue. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶10.  (SBU) Domestic political considerations undoubtedly prompted 
the decision not to hold an extraordinary session of parliament on 
Kosovo.  Kostunica may well continue to push for the session, in his 
effort to disrupt government coalition negotiations between the 
Socialists and the DS.  Given that all indicators are still pointing 
toward a DS-SPS coalition agreement in the near future, we believe 
that Krkobabic and Dacic will continue to stymie Kostunica's 
initiative.  Although Kostunica has outmaneuvered his opponents many 
times in the past, for the moment he seems to have hit a dead end. 
End Comment. 
 
PEDERSON