VZCZCXRO0377
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBW #1169/01 3181946
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 131946Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0628
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHEHNS/NSC WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0028

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BELGRADE 001169 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SR KV
SUBJECT: SERBIA STANDS FIRM ON EULEX CONDITIONS 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) While talks on EULEX deployment and the upcoming report to 
the Secretary General continue in Pristina, Serbian leaders are 
making daily public statements emphasizing that the language they 
have agreed to should not be changed and reiterating their three 
conditions for EULEX deployment:  Security Council approval, status 
neutrality, and no connection to the Ahtisaari Plan.  The 
opposition, meanwhile, is equating acceptance of EULEX with 
recognition of Kosovo's independence, and calling for a 
parliamentary debate on the issue.  End summary. 
 
Tadic in Warsaw: No Changes 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) During a November 12 trip to Warsaw, President Boris Tadic 
told the press that "any change to the agreement that Serbia has 
reached with the UN on the reconfiguration of the civil mission is 
unacceptable, regardless of Pristina's expectations."  Tadic said 
that Serbia is not opposed to the deployment of EULEX as long as it 
is status neutral and approved by the UN Security Council.  He 
underscored that Serbia would not give up defending its territorial 
integrity in order to achieve EU membership. 
 
Jeremic: "Final Word" 
--------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) On November 10, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic announced that 
the UN had "accepted the [Six Point] text that was Belgrade's final 
offer."  He said that the document would permit special arrangements 
in Serb-majority areas, and claimed it was proof that the Ahtisaari 
plan had been "put aside."  "We have said our final word on the 
subject," the Foreign Minister stated, adding that "Serbia's 
conditions are known and they will not change." 
 
¶4.  (U) During a November 12 visit to London, Jeremic told the 
Economist magazine that "Serbia insists on the provision of neutral 
status being put on paper.  If the Security Council adopts that 
provision, Serbia is ready to engage fully over that issue and help 
the EU and the rest of the international community in the province." 
   Jeremic stressed that Serbia shared the EU's view of the need to 
preserve peace and stability in the region:  "We have a common 
problem.  We have to stabilize Kosovo." 
 
¶5.  (U) After returning to Belgrade, Jeremic told Pink TV on 
November 12 that Serbia held to the three conditions and said that 
Pristina would have to accept the agreement that Serbia had reached 
with the UN.  Jeremic commented that the authorities in Pristina 
were "used to achieving their interests unilaterally, through 
unilateral declarations, threats of violence and by violent means. 
They are not used to resolving problems through agreement.  This 
time, Belgrade has resolved the problem through agreement and I 
think that the Pristina authorities will have no alternative but to 
accept this agreement between Serbia and the members of the UN." 
 
Opposition Cries Foul 
--------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) Former Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, head of the 
opposition Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), has accused the 
government of indirectly recognizing Kosovo's independence by 
accepting EULEX.  In a November 13 interview with daily "Press," 
Kostunica accused the Serbian government of working to end the UN 
Mission which "respected Serbia's territorial integrity" in favor of 
a EULEX mission that will implement the "constitution and laws of 
the false state of Kosovo."  He claimed that the West has a 
three-stage plan for forcing Serbia to recognize Kosovo:  the 
signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, the 
acceptance of EULEX, and finally the acceptance of the Ischinger 
plan on good neighborly relations.  Kostunica criticized the 
government for failing to consult and inform the National Assembly. 
 
¶7.  (U) Several opposition leaders have called for a parliamentary 
debate on EULEX deployment.  On November 12, DSS party whip Milos 
Aligrudic said that members of parliament had the right to know with 
whom Serbian authorities were negotiating, and claimed that EULEX 
would work to establish Kosovo's independence.  New Serbia leader 
Velimir Ilic said that acceptance of EULEX would be tantamount to 
recognizing Kosovo's independence, while Serbian Progressive Party 
(SNS) leader Tomislav Nikolic maintained that the government needed 
parliament's consent before agreeing to EULEX deployment. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Although the opposition does not have the votes to take 
any action on the EULEX question, the Serbian government is 
 
BELGRADE 00001169  002 OF 002 
 
 
nevertheless clearly concerned with managing public reaction and 
minimizing the far right's ability to capitalize on any perceived 
concessions to the international community over EULEX.  End 
comment. 
 
MUNTER