VZCZCXRO7286
OO RUEHPOD
DE RUEHC #0723/01 2632108
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O P 192104Z SEP 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE IMMEDIATE 0745
RUEHPOD/AMEMBASSY PODGORICA IMMEDIATE 1378
RUEHVJ/AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO IMMEDIATE 9856
RUEHSQ/AMEMBASSY SKOPJE IMMEDIATE 5815
RUEHTI/AMEMBASSY TIRANA IMMEDIATE 2068
RUEHVB/AMEMBASSY ZAGREB IMMEDIATE 1563
INFO RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 9051

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 STATE 100723 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MARR NATO PREL MK HR AL SR MW BK
SUBJECT: EXPANDING THE ADRIATIC CHARTER 
 
REF: A. STATE 85946 
     ¶B. ZAGREB 620 
     ¶C. SKOPJE 519 
     ¶D. TIRANA 649 
 
¶1. (U) This is an action request cable.  Please see paragraph 
¶8. 
 
¶2. (U) Objective: To capitalize on Albania, Croatia and 
Macedonia's affirmation that the Adriatic Charter should be 
expanded to include Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro by 
outlining a process by which they will offer them full 
participation in the near-term while leaving the door open to 
Serbia to join at a later date. 
 
¶3. (SBU) BACKGROUND:  In response to our recent demarche (ref 
A), Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia confirmed they see 
continued value in the Adriatic Charter mechanism and support 
expansion to include Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and 
eventually Serbia.  The Adriatic Charter (A3) - signed on May 
2, 2003 in Tirana - has played an important role in promoting 
regional cooperation and furthering the Euro-Atlantic 
integration efforts of Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia.  The 
Charter, modeled on the Baltic Charter from 1998, has 
institutionalized peace and stability within the framework of 
joint efforts to fulfill NATO aspirations. It helped 
transform the A3 nations from consumers to producers of 
security by promoting reforms and supporting the efforts of 
state institutions, particularly in times of crises.  In 
addition, A3 exercises, deployments, and training activities 
have served as a litmus test for multinational 
interoperability, a core principle of NATO membership.  A 
joint A3 medical team has been deployed as part of ISAF in 
Afghanistan. 
 
¶3. (U) Since the Charter's inception, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
Montenegro, and Serbia have participated as informal 
observers at Ministerial meetings and joint activities. 
Paragraph 13 of the Charter explicitly recognizes that the 
A3's efforts at Euro-Atlantic integration will be enhanced by 
the participation of all neighbors in regional and 
multilateral institutions. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Specifically in response to our demarche, Croatia 
noted that it was already cooperating with Montenegro and has 
near-term plans to consult with Bosnia (ref B), and agreed 
that Macedonia could still serve as a mentor to new 
countries, even though it technically remains a NATO 
aspirant.  Albania raised concern about Macedonia's difficult 
position should its dispute with Greece not be resolved 
before the April summit and felt the time may not yet be 
right to invite Serbia, but still supported expansion to 
include the first two (ref C).  Macedonia stated willingness 
to support new Adriatic Charter participants but fretted 
about keeping Croatia and Albania fully engaged in the 
process (ref D).  END BACKGROUND. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Allies intrinsically acknowledged the A3's 
successes at NATO's Bucharest Summit.  Invitations were 
granted to Albania and Croatia, but Macedonia was held back 
solely due to a bilateral issue with Greece over its name. 
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro moved into Intensified 
Dialogue (ID) with NATO, while the door remains open for 
Serbia to do the same. 
 
¶6. (SBU) In a region that recently experienced acute violence 
and dysfunctional institutions, the Charter has helped to 
amplify and concentrate NATO's effects on reforming military 
capabilities and building democratic institutions.  The U.S. 
participation helped guarantee the positive reform efforts of 
the A3, especially under difficult circumstances in each 
country.  The USG now places the emphasis on the A3 to work 
together and guarantee the pace and quality of reforms among 
its neighbors.  The Charter has been an effective forum for 
aspirants to share best practices, build trust, and further 
cooperation on common goals. We foresee the original A3 
countries would play a mentoring role to new participants. 
 
¶7. (SBU) As a next step, we envision a way to expand the 
Adriatic Charter would be an exchange of diplomatic notes, 
followed by a meeting of the expanded five countries before 
the end of 2008.  First, Bosnia and Herzegovina and 
 
STATE 00100723  002 OF 003 
 
 
Montenegro should be encouraged to formally request 
participation via diplomatic note.  Macedonia, as the 
rotating A3 chair, should coordinate with Croatia and Albania 
a response via diplomatic note extending the invitation to 
join.  This note could reference paragraph 13 of the Adriatic 
Charter, in which the A3 affirmed "their determination to 
further enhance bilateral, regional and multilateral 
relations between themselves and Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia 
and Montenegro and with other neighbors."  It might also note 
that the A3 countries would assist the new participants to 
pursue their NATO aspirations.  After Bosnia and Montenegro 
positively respond via diplomatic note, Macedonia should 
organize a meeting of the expanded Adriatic Charter countries 
before the end of 2008.  While we believe this process would 
be sufficient to make Adriatic Charter expansion official, it 
is possible the countries would prefer to formalize the 
expansion via a simple joint declaration at the expanded 
meeting or perhaps an addendum to the original Charter, to 
possibly include a signing ceremony. 
 
¶8. (U) The Department requests that Posts deliver the 
following talking points to appropriate officials in their 
host government. 
 
BEGIN TALKING POINTS 
 
Tirana and Zagreb: 
-- Bucharest decision rewarded your efforts and demonstrated 
the value and success of regional cooperation. 
-- You agreed again recently the Charter should be updated to 
include Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro as full 
participants and the door should also be left open for Serbia. 
-- The U.S. believes the Charter can continue to provide a 
useful mechanism and support for developing NATO's 
relationship with the countries of the region, and therefore 
we intend to continue our active support for the Charter's 
activities.  We expect continued, serious participation on 
your part as well, including high-level representation and 
use of the rotating chair position to the fullest extent 
possible. 
-- Your role as a mentor to new participants will be vital to 
their progress. 
-- We believe that expansion of the Adriatic Charter could be 
achieved via an exchange of diplomatic notes and wanted to 
get your views on the way forward. 
-- For example, once Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro 
formally request participation, Macedonia as the rotating 
chair could coordinate the response officially inviting them 
to join. 
-- Once the exchange of diplomatic notes was complete, a 
meeting of the expanded Adriatic Charter countries could be 
held. 
-- While we believe this process would make the Adriatic 
Charter expansion official, we are also open to other 
options, such as having Charter participants make a simple 
joint declaration at the expanded meeting to note the new 
participants.  Another option would be to further formalize 
the arrangement via an addendum to the charter.  We would be 
interested in your views on whether either a declaration or 
an addendum would be useful or necessary, or whether an 
exchange of diplomatic notes and an expanded meeting would be 
best. 
-- We urge that the process be completed by the end of 2008. 
 
Skopje: 
-- USG remains committed to your NATO membership aspirations; 
partnership agreement signed in May demonstrates unwavering 
support of USG. 
-- We are pleased that you agree the Charter should be 
updated to include Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro as 
full participants, and that the door should also be left open 
for Serbia. 
-- Macedonia has made tremendous strides in working toward 
NATO membership; your neighbors need to learn from your 
efforts.  You can further demonstrate that you can shoulder 
the responsibilities of Alliance membership by using enhanced 
Adriatic Charter to mentor other NATO aspirants and advance 
regional stability efforts. 
-- The US believes the Charter can continue to provide a 
useful mechanism and support for developing NATO's 
relationship with the countries of the region, and therefore 
we intend to continue our active support for the Charter's 
activities. 
--- Your role as a mentor to new participants will be vital 
to their progress. 
-- We believe that expansion of the Adriatic Charter could be 
 
STATE 00100723  003 OF 003 
 
 
achieved via an exchange of diplomatic notes and wanted to 
get your views on the way forward. 
-- For example, once Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro 
formally request participants, Macedonia as the rotating 
chair could coordinate the response officially inviting them 
to join. 
-- Once the exchange of diplomatic notes is complete, a 
meeting of the expanded Adriatic Charter countries could be 
held. 
-- While we believe this process would make the Adriatic 
Charter expansion official, we are also open to other 
options, such as having Charter participants make a simple 
joint declaration at the expanded meeting to note the new 
participants.  Another option would be to further formalize 
the arrangement via an addendum to the charter.  We would be 
interested in your views on whether either a declaration or 
an addendum would be useful or necessary, or whether an 
exchange of diplomatic notes and an expanded meeting would be 
best. 
-- We urge that the process be completed by the end of 2008. 
-- We urge you to take the lead as the current chair and look 
forward to working with you closely to make this happen. 
 
Bosnia and Montenegro: 
-- USG welcomes your deeper engagement with NATO and the 
Bucharest decision to start Intensified Dialogue (ID). 
-- The road ahead will be difficult, but your commitment to 
reform and your performance can demonstrate to Allies that 
you are serious about membership. 
-- You have the benefit of neighbors and Allies who have 
traveled this path ahead of you; it is critical that you 
follow their good examples and avoid the pitfalls they 
experienced. 
-- Understand your interest in joining Adriatic Charter as 
full participants; U.S. consulted with A3 to update Charter 
to reflect post-Bucharest situation and they agree that 
expansion is a good idea. 
-- We believe Charter remains useful mechanism for regional 
cooperation toward Euro-Atlantic integration and support your 
request to join. 
-- The door should also be left open for Serbia. 
-- Should the A3 countries agree to your participation in the 
Charter, we would expect serious participation on your part, 
including high-level representation and use of the rotating 
chair position to the fullest extent possible. 
 
Serbia: 
-- USG continues to view Serbia as an important member of the 
Euro-Atlantic community and supports your full integration 
into its institutions. 
-- Bucharest declaration made clear that the door remains 
open for deeper engagement between NATO and Serbia. 
-- The process is demand-driven; Allies recognize that Serbia 
will move forward at its own pace. 
-- We welcome GoS comments on intended further PfP 
engagement. 
-- We are working with participants in the Adriatic Charter 
to update the Charter to reflect post-Bucharest situation. 
-- We believe Charter remains useful mechanism for regional 
cooperation toward Euro-Atlantic integration and we support 
Bosnia and Herzegovina's and Montenegro's request to join the 
expanded A3 within their new status in ID. 
-- We also believe that Serbia should become a full 
participant after the GoS moves forward on its NATO path; 
until then, we look forward to your continued participation 
in observer status. 
 
END TALKING POINTS. 
RICE