US embassy cable - 04BRUSSELS4317

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 004317 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2009 
TAGS: PREL, EFIN, ZL, ICTY, EUN, USEU BRUSSELS 
SUBJECT: EU ASSET FREEZE ON FUGITIVE ICTY INDICTEES 
 
REF: USEU BRUSSELS 903 
 
Classified By: Rick Holtzapple, PolOff, Reasons 1.4 (B/D) 
 
1. (C) The Dutch Presidency has told us that an EU Regulation 
enacting an asset freeze against the three most prominent 
ICTY fugitive indictees, Mladic, Karadzic and Gotovina, will 
be adopted at the October 11 General Affairs and External 
Relations Council (GAERC) meeting.  As reported reftel, this 
measure has been under development by the EU since early in 
2004, in response to a USG request. 
 
2. (C) The Dutch Presidency is also investigating whether, 
once the Regulation is adopted, the EU can ask the countries 
of the Western Balkans (Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia 
and Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania) to "align" themselves 
with the EU's decision, as they do with many of the EU's 
Common Foreign and Security Policy instruments.  The Dutch 
hope this would help increase pressure on these states to 
take measures against the indictees. 
 
3. (C) At the October 4 EU Balkans Working Group (COWEB) 
meeting, the Dutch also secured political agreement from all 
EU Member States to extend the asset freeze to cover the 
other fifteen fugitives under public ICTY indictments.  The 
legal procedure to do that should begin a few days after 
GAERC adoption of the original Regulation.  If Balkan states 
have aligned themselves with the original Regulation, they 
would then be asked to adapt to the expanded list, which 
would include several individuals living openly in Serbia. 
 
SCHNABEL