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DE RUEHC #7749/01 3482117
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O 142115Z DEC 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHVB/AMEMBASSY ZAGREB IMMEDIATE 3616
INFO NATO EU COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 STATE 127749 
 
SIPDIS 
NOFORN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2019 
TAGS: OVIP CLINTON HILLARY PREL NATO CR
SUBJECT: (U) Secretary Clinton's December 10, 2009 
Meeting with Croatian Foreign Minister Jandrokovic 
 
¶1.  (U)  Classified by:  EUR A/S Philip Gordon, Reason 
1.4.(d) 
 
¶2.  (U)  December 10, 2009; 10:30 a.m.; Washington. 
 
¶3.  (U) Participants: 
 
U.S. 
The Secretary 
A/S Philip Gordon, EUR 
A/S Philip Crowley, Public Affairs 
Toby Bradley, NSC Director for NATO and Western European 
Affairs 
Joe Macmanus, Executive Assistant to the Secretary 
Cathy Westley (Notetaker) 
 
Croatia 
 
Gordan Jandrokovic, Foreign Minister 
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, Ambassador to the U.S. 
Mario Dragun, MFA Spokesman 
Goran Stefanic, MFA Director 
Betty Pavelich Sirois, MFA Director 
Dario Mihelin, Embassy Acting DCM 
 
¶4.  (C/NF) SUMMARY. Croatian Foreign Minister 
Jandrokovic strongly supports the strategy for 
Afghanistan.  He pledged to continue strong domestic 
reform efforts with the aim of completing European Union 
negotiations by mid-2010 and asked the Secretary for 
help with Slovenia, the United Kingdom, and the 
Netherlands regarding unblocking progress on specific EU 
negotiation chapters.  The Minister gave assurances of 
continued positive engagement in the region, 
particularly with Bosnia.  The Secretary expressed 
strong support for Croatia's EU aspirations, as well as 
appreciation for Croatia's ISAF contributions, regional 
engagement, and Prime Minister Kosor's increased anti- 
corruption actions.  She urged Jandrokovic to increase 
ICTY cooperation and maintain Croatia's commitment to 
regional stability.  They also discussed possible 
visits, progress with Croatia's qualifying for the visa 
waiver program, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? 
offer to host an American as part of the Transatlantic 
Diplomatic Fellowship program.  END SUMMARY 
 
------------------------------------- 
Croatia Committed to Afghanistan/ISAF 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C/NF) Responding to Secretary Clinton's 
appreciation for Croatia's commitment to Afghanistan and 
its focus on training Afghan forces, Foreign Minister 
Jandrokovic said Croatia strongly supports the 
President's strategy.  Croatia plans to strengthen its 
commitment to ISAF by five percent to approximately 315 
troops, but needs to hold off on a public announcement 
until after Croatian presidential elections are 
completed in January. 
 
------------------------------------- 
EU Accession: Slovenia, ICTY, Reforms 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C/NF) Thanking the Secretary for strong U.S. 
support for Croatia's Euro-Atlantic aspirations, 
Jandrokovic mentioned that Slovenia failed to lift its 
hold on three EU negotiating chapters that were ready to 
be opened this month.  He asked if we could check with 
Ljubljana because the delay means Croatia loses another 
month after 10 months of a previous Slovenian blockade 
due to their bilateral border dispute.  The Secretary 
said we would follow up. 
 
¶7. (C/NF) On Croatia's cooperation with the 
International Criminal Tribunal for the former 
Yugoslavia (ICTY), Jandrokovic said the police task 
force seeking documents needed for the ICTY trial of 
three Croatian generals conducted massive raids this 
week that turned up more than 10,000 documents, but it 
remains to be seen if any are the documents sought by 
the ICTY prosecutor.  These efforts demonstrate 
 
STATE 00127749  002 OF 003 
 
 
Croatia's commitment to full cooperation with the ICTY 
and are very important for both EU accession and the 
rule of law in Croatia.  Jandrokovic continued that he 
had discussed the efforts with the British and Dutch 
foreign ministers, but that their reservations on 
opening the EU judiciary chapter were not lifted at the 
EU General Affairs Council this week.  The Secretary 
said that a vigorous and transparent effort is the best 
message to the British and Dutch, lauding recent actions 
as an important step forward.  Foreign Minister 
Jandrokovic said Croatia is also eager to continue anti- 
corruption, judicial, economic, agricultural and other 
reforms, with the aim of completing EU negotiations by 
mid-2010. 
 
----------------- 
Kosovo and Serbia 
----------------- 
 
¶8.  (C/NF) The Secretary said Croatia's efforts on 
Kosovo, including early recognition of independence and 
supportive oral arguments at the International Court of 
Justice this week, were very important and appreciated. 
Jandrokovic noted Croatia's strong interest in regional 
stability and Euro-Atlantic integration, but lamented 
that Serbia's stance on Kosovo undermines these goals. 
Still, he said he felt the Kosovo issue was the last big 
political issue preventing better relations between 
Croatia and Serbia.  The countries already enjoy good 
cooperation in the economic, judicial and law 
enforcement fields, and hopefully, once Serbia is able 
to get past its anger with Croatia over Kosovo, progress 
can be made on the political front as well. 
 
------------------------------------- 
Croatia Will Remain Engaged on Bosnia 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (C/NF) The Secretary urged sustained Croatian 
engagement in support of the U.S.-EU "Butmir" effort to 
promote reform in Bosnia and sought Jandrokovic's 
assessment of the situation.  The FM said the situation 
in Bosnia is very difficult, but pledged Croatia's full 
support for the Butmir process, noting that Zagreb had 
urged the Bosnian Croats to focus on the benefits of 
Bosnia's progress towards the EU and NATO even if they 
were not 100% satisfied with all of the elements in the 
proposed package. The FM stressed that Belgrade needs to 
put more pressure on Republika Srpska Prime Minister 
Dodik, whose rhetoric indicates he does not support 
Bosnia as a state, but it is not clear how much 
influence Serbia really has over Dodik. Jandrokovic 
assessed prospects for success were low, but that the 
best chance required the international community to work 
together. 
 
¶10. (C/NF) The Foreign Minister lamented Bosnia's 
exclusion from the EU's recent visa liberalization 
decisions and argued that NATO's  decision not to invite 
Bosnia into the Membership Action Plan (MAP) gave a 
victory to those in Bosnia like Dodik who are unhelpful. 
A/S Gordon made clear that the United States will 
support Bosnia's MAP application once it makes required 
reforms, noting that the positive language in the 
December 4 NATO Ministers? statement is intended to be 
encouraging. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Anti-Corruption/Economic Reform and Visits 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶11. (C) The Secretary applauded the efforts of Prime 
Minister Kosor and the government on fighting 
corruption, stating that vigorous actions can produce 
results.  Economic reform is also important and welcome, 
she added.  A fair playing field is vital to improving 
the investment climate.  Jandrokovic said Kosor has 
surprised the Croatian public with her success and 
willingness to take on tough challenges.  Extending an 
invitation from the Prime Minister to visit Croatia, the 
Secretary responded that she would be pleased to go. 
The Foreign Minister asked whether a meeting with PM 
Kosor and President Obama would be possible soon, noting 
that recognizing her reform efforts would send a 
powerful signal to the region.  The Secretary said it 
would certainly be considered. 
 
 
STATE 00127749  003 OF 003 
 
 
------------------------ 
Visa Waiver Program (VWP) 
------------------------ 
 
¶12. (C) The Foreign Minister said Croatia is very close 
to reaching the visa refusal rate needed for 
consideration for VWP at 4-5%.  The Secretary responded 
that the United States would like to help Croatia get 
under 3% and would continue bilateral security 
cooperation efforts. 
 
----------------------------------- 
Transatlantic Diplomatic Fellowship 
---- ------------------------------ 
 
¶13. (SBU) Minister Jandrokovic repeated the offer first 
made by his Deputy, Davor Bozinovic, to invite an 
American diplomat to serve in the Croatian Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs.  The Secretary said she thought it 
sounded like an excellent idea and pledged to follow up. 
CLINTON