VZCZCXRO6817
PP RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHVB #0688/01 2760809
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 020809Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB
TO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8653
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS PRIORITY 0231
RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PRIORITY 0019
RUEHLJ/AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA PRIORITY 6424
RUEHVJ/AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO PRIORITY 0297
RUEHSQ/AMEMBASSY SKOPJE PRIORITY 2606
RUEHTI/AMEMBASSY TIRANA PRIORITY 0836
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 3468
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0070
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 ZAGREB 000688 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE AND EUR/RPM 
ALSO PLEASE PASS TO EUCOM PLANS AND ANALYSES STUTTGART GE 
OSD FOR POPOVICH 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/29/2018 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KPAO MOPS MARR NATO HR DEFENSE REFORM
SUBJECT: CROATIAN LEADERS FOCUS ON REGIONAL ISSUES DURING 
DEPUTY SECRETARY ENGLAND'S VISIT TO CROATIA 
 
Classified By: Peter D'Amico, Political Officer, for Reasons 1.4 B/D. 
 
¶1. (C) Summary:  During his September 29 visit to Zagreb, 
Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England discussed regional 
and military issues with Prime Minister Sanader, President 
Mesic, Foreign Minister Jandrokovic, and Defense Minister 
Vukelic.  Sanader thanked the USG for its help on NATO 
accession.  Sanader also discussed a recent private meeting 
with Serbian President Tadic in which Sanader emphasized that 
Belgrade needed to accept reality on Kosovo.  Tadic 
complained that Croatia's decision to recognize Kosovo's 
independence had made relations between the two countries 
"tough" and warned of possible consequences.  On Bosnia, 
Sanader stressed that he wanted to preserve Bosnia's 
territorial integrity, but that Bosnian Croats needed a 
greater voice.  In a separate meeting, Mesic also raised 
concerns about the potential for future conflict in Bosnia 
and called for the international community to do more to rein 
in Republika Srpska Prime Minister Dodik.  Over lunch, FM 
Jandrokovic said that Serbian FM Jeremic remained focused on 
trying to maintain Serbia's claims to Kosovo.  DefMin Vukelic 
praised the excellent bilateral military cooperation between 
the U.S. and Croatia and thanked the USG for its support. 
End Summary. 
 
Sanader Gives Overview of Region and Thanks to USG 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶2. (C) Thanks for U.S. Support: PM Sanader appeared upbeat 
and satisfied with his just completed trip to New York for 
the UN General Assembly (UNGA).  He noted that he had many 
meetings with a number of international leaders on the 
margins of UNGA and stated that he had made a special effort 
to reach out to regional leaders.  The PM thanked Deputy 
Secretary England for his personal efforts on behalf of 
Croatia as well as the great support of the USG.  President 
Bush's visit in April and the U.S. Senate's quick approval of 
Croatia's NATO accession protocol demonstrated the strength 
of the relationship between the two countries.  The strong 
signal from the Senate would encourage other NATO allies to 
move quickly to ratify.  England replied that the USG was 
delighted to support Croatia and that he hoped Croatia would 
become a full member of NATO at the April 2009 summit in 
Strasbourg and Kehl.  The rapid progress that had taken place 
was a testament to the solid leadership in the country. 
 
¶3. (C) Serbia: Sanader said in a private one-on-one meeting 
in New York he delivered three key messages to Serbian 
President Boris Tadic:  1.   Kosovo's independence is a 
reality.  2.  Kosovo's independence was irreversible.  3. 
Croatia wanted Serbia to be a member of Euro-Atlantic 
institutions.  Sanader encouraged Tadic to let go of Kosovo. 
While Tadic was in a tough situation politically he was also 
in a strong position following his election wins.  The best 
time to take a courageous move would be now, Sanader told 
Tadic.  Belgrade needed to decide about the future direction 
of the country, and selling large amounts of Serbia's energy 
infrastructure to the Russians sent mixed messages about 
which side Serbia wanted to join. 
 
¶4. (C) Tadic told Sanader that the GoC had made bilateral 
relations tough by recognizing the independence of Kosovo and 
that Belgrade could still create problems in Croatia.  Tadic 
noted that there will still members of the so-called 
"government" of the "Republic of Serb Krajina" in Serbia, 
whose members had recently recognized the independence of 
South Ossetia and Abkhazia.  Sanader said that he did not 
necessarily take this comment seriously.  Sanader responded 
by telling Tadic they were both modern politicians and should 
deal with issues in that way and not by acting like Slobodan 
Milosevic. 
 
¶5. (C) Sanader did suggest that a letter released in 
 
ZAGREB 00000688  002 OF 005 
 
 
September by Serbian Democratic Forum (SDF) in Croatia, which 
heavily criticized the GoC, might be part of an effort by 
Belgrade to create problems in Croatia.  While the Serbian 
community in Croatia had some problems, the GoC was trying to 
resolve those issues.  Sanader noted that the Independent 
Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), the SDF's rivals, were part of 
the government and one of its members was a Deputy Prime 
Minister. 
 
¶6. (C) Sanader stated that the GoC would continue talks with 
Belgrade.  Once Serbia returned its ambassador to Zagreb, a 
delegation of Croatian parliamentarians from the Foreign 
Affairs Committee would go to Belgrade to share experiences 
from Croatia's EU bid.  The GoC would also continue to remain 
involved in the region as a whole, with the main goal being 
stability and prosperity for all of Southeastern Europe. 
England stressed that it was important for regional leaders 
to stay focused on the future well-being of their citizens 
and not get caught up on the problems of the past. 
 
¶7. (C) Bosnia and Herzegovina: Sanader stressed that Bosnia 
and Herzegovina (BiH) needed to be preserved as a whole.  BiH 
was like a stool with three legs.  Each of BiH's constituent 
people represented a leg and if any of them were cut then the 
country would topple.  The Republika Srpska (RS) should not 
even think about accession to Serbia as RS PM Milan Dodik had 
mentioned.  The RS needed to remain part of BiH for regional 
stability, otherwise a war would likely breakout.  Sanader 
also emphasized that he wanted Bosnian Croats to stay in BiH 
to keep the country stable and to prevent a wave of refugees 
to Croatia. 
 
¶8. (C) Sanader said that in his meetings with international 
leaders he repeatedly stressed that the Bosnian Croats were 
dominated by the Bosniaks in the Federation and they should 
have a more equal position.  One way to achieve this would be 
to give the Bosnian Croats the same number of minister 
positions as the Bosniaks since they shared common interests. 
 He expressed concern that when Croatia joins NATO and the EU 
that many Bosnian Croats would leave BiH if they continued to 
feel powerless.  Sanader emphasized that he did not want a 
massive influx of Bosnian Croats.  Bosnian Croats were part 
of BiH and should remain that way, as should the Bosnian 
Serbs.  England stressed that the USG wanted to preserve 
BiH's territorial integrity and that the possibility of RS 
separating threatened regional stability. 
 
¶9. (C) Macedonia: Sander reported that he discussed the name 
issue with Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski and Greek 
FM Dora Bakoyannis in New York.  While praising the work of 
UN Negotiator Nimetz, Sanader believed that a solution was 
unlikely anytime soon.  The positions of both sides were 
hardening and becoming less rational.  When Sanader told 
Crvenkovski that Nimetz's pre-Bucharest offer had been a good 
one, Crvenkovski replied that the name New Macedonia would be 
an unacceptable since it did not imply a continuation of 
Macedonian identity.  England expressed hope that a 
compromise could soon be found on the name issue since it was 
important to have a unified front on larger issues such as 
Russia's aggression in Georgia. 
 
¶10. (C) Non-Aligned Movement and Mesic: Echoing his comments 
to the press in New York, Sanader said that it might be 
useful to weigh in with President Mesic that Croatia's future 
was with NATO and the EU and not the Non-Aligned Movement 
(NAM).  Some of Mesic's advisors' still believed that Croatia 
needed to be part of NAM like in the old Yugoslav times. 
This sometimes led to disagreements between Sanader and Mesic 
over Croatia's policy positions in the UN Security Council. 
Sanader wanted Croatia to stand with the United States and EU 
members of the Security Council.  However, some of Mesic's 
advisors felt they had a debt to NAM counties since they 
believed that Croatia owed its membership on the Security 
 
ZAGREB 00000688  003 OF 005 
 
 
CQcil to their support.  Qader recognized that NAM 
countries' votes had been important, but they also knew at 
the time that Croatia was in the process of joining NATO and 
the EU.Q 
¶11. (C) Croatia EU Bid:  Sanader stated that Croatia had 
achieved its goals on the path to the EU and would 
successfully overcome the remaining challenges such as the 
privatization of shipyards.  The Prime Minister noted that in 
his recent meeting with EU Commission President Barosso, the 
two expressed the hope that Croatia would finish technical 
negotiations with the Commission by September or October of 
¶2009.  Barosso wanted to finish the negotiations before the 
end of his term in October 2009.  Sanader said he was aiming 
for Croatia to join the EU by the end of 2010.  It would take 
a little over a year's time from the end of negotiations 
since the necessary documents would need to be translated 
into all official EU languages and the EU member countries 
would then have to ratify Croatia's candidacy. 
 
President Mesic Raises Red Flag about BiH 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶12. (SBU) President Mesic presented England with a decoration 
for promoting bilateral ties between the U.S. and Croatia. 
England thanked Croatia for its contributions and sacrifices 
for peace and stability around the world.  In a private 
meeting following the awards ceremony, Mesic began by 
expressing thanks to England and through him to the American 
people for supporting Croatia in achieving its strategic 
goals of NATO and EU membership. 
 
¶13. (C) Bosnia:  Mesic expressed deep concerns about the 
future of BiH.  Dayton stopped war but did not create a 
mechanism for governing BiH effectively.  The root of the 
problem was that the RS was founded on a policy of ethnic 
cleansing and was opposed to the very existence of a B-H 
state.  The architects and ideologues of the RS from the war 
might be in the Hague, but their creation and policies still 
lived on.  There was a great danger in the leadership of the 
RS arguing that BiH was not a permanent arrangement, but that 
the RS was.  These statements seriously undermined BiH's 
territorial integrity.   The High Representative Miroslav 
Lajcak, whom Mesic would be seeing immediately afterwards, 
needed more help.  Mesic also implied that the Russian 
ambassador in Bosnia was actively encouraging Dodik's 
irresponsible policies. 
 
¶14. (C) Dodik presented a serious threat to peace and Mesic 
pleaded for the international community to be more engaged. 
Mesic recalled his days of warning the international 
community about Milosevic and said that he is now delivering 
a similar warning about Dodik.  Dodik acted as though the 
only part of Dayton that counts is the part that established 
the RS and he was not living up to the other commitments of 
Dayton.  For example, Dodik had not permitted enough returns 
of Bosnian Croats to areas of the RS.  200,000 Bosnian Croats 
fled from Posavina area and only 10,000 had returned after 
war.   Mesic said Dodik needed to be told to adhere to all 
parts of Dayton and be given a firm deadline.  If he doesn't, 
then there should bQ "new Dayton," althQh Mesic did not 
specific on what he meant by a &new Dayton." 
 
¶15. (C) Mesic predicted that if a solution was not found and 
BiH collapsed, then Qwould go to Serbia, and Bosnian Croats 
would come to Croatia.  Left with a rump Islamic state in 
Europe, the Bosniaks would likely seek friends in 
fundamentalist Islamic countries.  This would make Bosnia a 
potential haven for terrorists in the center of Europe. 
England stressed the need to preserve BiH territorial 
integrity and that the USG was opposed to Dodik's attempts to 
undermine BiH.  He said the USG would work to try to 
strengthen Lajcak. 
 
ZAGREB 00000688  004 OF 005 
 
 
 
¶16. (C) Kosovo: Mesic stated that Kosovo's independence 
completed the "final architecture of the region."  Mesic 
supported the USG view that Kosovo was a different case than 
South Ossetia and Abkhazia.  Serbs were both unable to govern 
Kosovo and unable to negotiate its separation.  Kosovo 
independence was now a reality and Belgrade had only itself 
to blame.  England agreed that an independent Kosovo was a 
reality that Serbia needed to come to terms with. 
 
FM Jandrokovic on FM Jeremic's Plans for Kosovo 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶17. (C) During an informal conversation over lunch, Foreign 
Minister Jandrokovic said he had a private one-on-one with 
Serbian FM Jeremic in New York.  Jandrokovic came away from 
that meeting very discouraged about Serbia moving forward 
from Kosovo.  Jeremic had maintained that "no Serb politician 
could ever accept the independence of Kosovo."  Jeremic was 
counting on the UN General Assembly voting to send Serbia's 
case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).  He then 
hoped for a positive judgment by the ICJ, and that Serbia 
would be able to use this judgment to resist pressure from 
the EU to recognize Kosovo as a condition for membership in 
the EU. 
 
¶18. (C)  Jandrokovic said he is headed for Skopje on 
September 30 and that he would urge the Macedonians to make a 
deal on the name issue.  However, he saw little prospect of 
that happening any time this year.  On Bosnia, Jandrokovic 
was also concerned about the direction that Dodik was taking 
in BiH.  He argued that the international community needed to 
find a solution and that more needed to be done to protect 
the rights of all the constituent peoples of BiH.  He was 
pessimistic that EU countries were paying enough attention to 
BiH or that they would be resolute in standing up to Dodik. 
 
DefMin Vukelic/CHOD Lucic Praise Cooperation with US 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶19. (C) Strong Bilateral Relations:  Defense Minister Branko 
Vukelic thanked England for the excellent cooperation between 
Croatia and the United States on military matters.  He noted 
that there was extensive cooperation on a number of issues 
and that the MoD wanted to continue and expand bilateral ties 
as appropriate. 
 
¶20. (C) Region:  The Chief of the General Staff of the 
Croatian Armed Forces (CHOD) Josip Lucic said Croatia was 
committed to working with all the members of the Adriatic 
Charter, new and old, in building ties with NATO.  The 
Croatian Armed Forces (CAF) wanted to cooperate with Serbia 
whenever Belgrade was open to it. England praised the 
decision of GoC to recognize Kosovo, which added to the 
region's stability.  England added that the USG supported the 
Adriatic Charter on the highest levels. 
 
¶21. (C) Peacekeeping:  England praised Croatia for having its 
forces in peacekeeping missions around the world including 
ISAF and noted that the Croatia contribution was especially 
valuable.  Vukelic said the CAF had elements involved in 
thirteen UN peacekeeping operations around the globe.  The 
most recent deployment was of 98 CAF personnel to the UN 
mission in the Golan Heights.  The CAF would soon deploy 15 
soldiers to the EU-led mission in Chad as well as sending two 
helicopters and twenty soldiers to Kosovo to participate in 
KFOR in 2009. 
 
¶22. (C) Education/Training:  One key area of interest was in 
education and training.  Vukelic said the joint military 
training exercises held with the U.S. had great value for the 
CAF.  Lucic also emphasized the importance of educational 
exchanges with the U.S. military, especially expert level and 
 
ZAGREB 00000688  005 OF 005 
 
 
language training.  England agreed that that training and 
educational exchanges were important and that the USG would 
look into increasing the number of opportunities for such 
exchanges. 
 
¶23. (C) F-16s: Lucic said the MoD wanted to replace its 
MiG-21 aircraft with a similar number of advanced fighters 
for domestic air policing.  He assured England that three 
different offers that the U.S. made to Croatia regarding the 
purchase of F-16s would be carefully considered.  England 
assured Vukelic that the USG would continue to work with the 
GoC on this issue, but also noted Croatia would need to 
budget a significant amount of money to purchase and maintain 
advanced fighters. 
 
¶24. (C) MANPADs /Munitions: The agreement that the MOD signed 
with the Embassy about regarding the destruction of MANPADs 
was another excellent example of cooperation, Vukelic said. 
The million dollars in assistance was appreciated and the MoD 
also wanted to receive training about how to improve security 
munitions warehouses as well as how to prevent accidents. 
England suggested that the CHODs in the region might want to 
look into cooperation between the armed forces regarding the 
destruction of ordnance since it might be beneficial to 
achieve economies of scale. 
 
¶25. (C) Cooperation with Minnesota National Guard: Vukelic 
praised the excellent cooperation with the Minnesota National 
Guard.  The combined combat-support Operational Mentoring and 
Liaison Team (OMLT) Croatia was preparing to send to 
Afghanistan with the Minnesota National Guard illustrated the 
strong ties.  England said he was pleased that the National 
Guard cooperation was going well. 
 
¶26. (C) Foreign Military Financing (FMF): Vukelic noted that 
FMF had been suspended in July 2003 due to ASPA sanctions, 
and would be starting up again in FY09.  He noted that FMF 
was very helpful in getting the CAF prepared for NATO. 
England replied that FMF was projected to increase in the 
upcoming years and noted that the State Department had a 
major role in determining the levels of FMF spending. 
 
¶27. (U)  Deputy Secretary England has cleared this cable. 
Bradtke