US embassy cable - 03ZAGREB2433

C O N F I D E N T I A L  ZAGREB 002433 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/18/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, HR, Political Parties/Elections, Refugee 
SUBJECT: ELECTIONS: OSCE CONCERNS ABOUT REFUGEE VOTING 
 
Classified By: Nicholas M. Hill, Polecon Counselor, for reasons 1.5 (B) 
 and (D). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
1.   (C) Most international and local observers looking at 
preparations for elections in Croatia are generally satisfied 
that the voting on November 23 will be fair and transparent. 
ODIHR is comfortable enough with the process to have decided 
not to bring in short-term monitors for election day.  There 
has been criticism, however, of the GoC for foot-dragging on 
providing the means for ethnic Serbian refugees residing 
outside Croatia to vote.  Croatian authorities have felt the 
heat, including by the OSCE Head of Mission here, for not 
opening up more polling stations in Serbia to enable more 
refugee voting.  The Croatians have rejected proposals to 
open more polling stations -- pleading fiscal constraints and 
lack of interest in the affected refugee population.  End 
Summary. 
 
General Satisfaction, but... 
---------------------------- 
 
2.   (C) Most independent observers give Croatian authorities 
high marks for the preparations involved in making sure that 
elections set for November 23 are fair.  An ODIHR long-term 
observer mission in Croatia has convened a couple of meetings 
of the local diplomatic corps and gone over a laundry list of 
issues that would ordinarily be of concern, including 
election coverage in the media.  Officials are generally 
satisfied (see www.osce.org for more) and the OSCE decided 
after a September visit that election-day monitoring would 
not be necessary.  Similarly, GONG, the leading local NGO 
looking at election procedures, has expressed its 
satisfaction.  Where concerns have been raised and not 
answered by authorities have been over preparations to enable 
voting of ethnic Serb refugees outside of Croatia -- 
particularly in Serbia, where 90 percent of them reside. 
 
3.   (C) At the last ODIHR briefing of the diplomatic 
community on November 13, OSCE Head of Mission Peter Semneby 
went over efforts to get Croatian authorities to expand the 
number of voting stations in Serbia -- it was an issue that 
his mission and not ODIHR was taking the lead on.  Semneby 
told us that he and the EC Head of Mission had jointly raised 
their concerns with a number of people at the MFA and at the 
State Election Commission (SEC) on November 6.  The Head of 
the SEC Election Commission, Ivica Crnic -- who also chairs 
Croatia's Supreme Court -- had sent a letter to the MFA 
requesting that it consider adding more polling stations to 
facilitate easier voting by Serbian refugees, although 
Semneby conceded to us that the request in the letter had 
been fairly general.  Semneby recommended that authorities 
consider adding stations in northern Serbia in Sremska 
Mitrovica, Sombor, and Novi Sad. 
 
4.   (C) For its part, the MFA has resisted adding more 
stations in Serbia, and hidden behind the argument that any 
final determination would be the Election Commission's to 
make.  We have talked to the head of the Neighboring 
Countries Office, Davor Vidis, about the issue several times 
in recent weeks and received the same answer -- that the MFA 
would do whatever the Election Commission requested of it, 
but that so far no precise request had come in.  He told us 
that there would be polling stations at the Croatian Embassy 
in Belgrade, and consulates in Subotica, in Vojvodina, and 
Kotor, in Montenegro.  To the argument that many refugees are 
located over 100 kilometers from any of the planned station, 
he was dismissive: they can "get in their cars and go vote." 
 
Too Costly? 
----------- 
 
5.  (C) On November 7, Semneby and the Head of the local EC 
Mission, Jacques Wunenberger, met with Deputy Foreign 
Minister Ivan Simonovic to push back.  They urged the GoC to 
make more effort to assist Serbian refugees, who constituted 
the "most disadvantaged" part of Croatia's electorate.  If 
the GoC would be willing to open more polling stations, the 
EC would be prepared to contribute 100,000 Euro to help get 
out the refugee vote.  (Nobody knows precisely, but there are 
over 200,000 refugees still living in Serbia, a good 
percentage of which would be eligible to vote.)  Simonovic 
resisted.  While he thanked the OSCE and EC for their efforts 
to get out the vote, the number of likely voters to turn out 
did not justify the resources required to open more polling 
stations.  In the last national elections in 2000, only 1,500 
people voted in Serbia, even fewer of those were refugees. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
6.  (C) Adding more polling stations in Serbia would not 
likely have affected the results of Croatian elections.  But 
 
 
the posture taken by authorities -- sometimes obfuscatory -- 
will invite criticism, and certainly rate a mention by ODIHR 
in what will otherwise be a fairly positive report of 
election procedures.  When we made this point with the acting 
head of the MFA's Americas Desk, she was dismissive: "If it's 
not this issue, OSCE will find something else to complain 
about."  We heard all sorts of excuses why no polling 
stations would be added.  Primarily, the Croatians complained 
that adding more stations would just cost too much money. 
And at least until last week, Vidis said defensively, the 
Election Commission had not requested more stations.  When it 
finally did, the request was too vague -- and, more to the 
point, too late.  He did not say it, but under the election 
law, the deadline to add polling stations passed last week. 
FRANK 
 
 
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