US embassy cable - 00THEHAGUE1879

C O N F I D E N T I A L THE HAGUE 001879 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/23/2010 
TAGS: PREL, SR, NL, UNSC 
SUBJECT: FRY RIGHT TO ADDRESS THE UNSC: DUTCH WILL ABSTAIN 
 
 
REF: SECSTATE 119702 
 
 
Classified by A/Polcouns Eric Lundberg, Reasons 1.5 b/d 
 
 
1.(C) The Netherlands will abstain if the motion to allow the 
FRY Permrep to address the UN Security Council is brought to 
a vote.  Responding to reftel demarche, MFA Balkans 
Coordinator Remmert Cohen told A/Polcouns on June 23 that the 
Dutch preferred abstention to a no-vote since it would help 
deny Belgrade a forum while minimizing the ire of the 
Russians, whose continued cooperation in Kosovo was important 
to preserve.  The Dutch also did not wish to flaunt the 
principle that UN members had a right to address the UNSC, he 
said, a point emphasized to A/Polcouns by MFA acting head of 
UN Political Affairs Marcel van der Kolk. 
 
 
2.(C) Noting that London and Paris had both signaled their 
intention to abstain, Cohen said that the Dutch Mission in 
New York was confident the pro-FRY motion would fail to win 
the nine affirmative votes necessary.  Cohen could not see 
how Milosevic could garner any propaganda victory from the 
failure of NATO Allies on the UNSC to vote no, rather than 
abstain, since the end results were identical. 
SCHNEIDER