US embassy cable - 04ZAGREB2013

C O N F I D E N T I A L  ZAGREB 002013 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE - KABUMOTO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, SR, HR, Regional Issues 
SUBJECT: SANADER'S BELGRADE VISIT HAILED AS HISTORIC, 
COURAGEOUS 
 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Tom Selinger for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) 
. 
 
1. (U) SUMMARY AND COMMENT: Politicians and analysts from 
across nearly the entire political spectrum have praised PM 
Ivo Sanader's November 15 visit to Belgrade and his meetings 
with SAM President Svetozar Marovic and PM Vojislav Kostunica 
as a key step forward in post-war reconciliation.  According 
to the MFA, concrete results from this visit include an 
agreement on the protection of minority rights (septel) and a 
joint statement recognizing the two countrie' shared goal of 
Euro-Atlantic integration and highlighting the importance of 
regional cooperation.  In Croatian political circles, the 
substance of the trip is far outweighed by the magnitude of 
the visit itself, the first of a Croatian head of government 
to the SAM capital. 
 
2. (C) The visit is also a reassuring sign of Sanader's 
control over the right wing of his party, particularly in the 
run-up to presidential elections expected in early January. 
The PM continues to succeed in his pro-integration and 
pro-reconciliation foreign policy, keeping the ruling 
Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) squarely in line with the 
expectations of the international community.  Only the far 
right Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) opposed the Belgrade 
trip, saying it was poorly timed, three days before the 
anniversary of the fall of Vukovar.  END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. 
 
 
DOCUMENTS HIGHLIGHT COMMON EUROPEAN GOALS 
----------------------------------------- 
 
3. (U) In a now familiar refrain, Damir Kusen, Assistant 
Minister in the MFA for EU, NATO and member states, told the 
DCM that both sides were committed to addressing their 
differences in a "European spirit."  Kusen said during the 
visit the GoC announced its intention to withdraw all 
military forces from along the SAM border by the end of 2004, 
and hoped their neighbors would reciprocate.  The GoC will 
also extend its visa exemption for SAM citizens by 6 months, 
with the possibility of making the policy permanent 
(presumably after the border is completely de-militarized). 
SAM's deliverables, according to Kusen, included support for 
Croatia's bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security 
Council, and the return of land registries and books from a 
monastic library taken by the JNA during the war.  The GoC 
hopes to focus an expected Kostunica visit to Zagreb in the 
spring on trade and economic cooperation. 
 
4.  (U) Minority issues dominated much of the visit.  MOJ 
Vesna Skare-Ozbolt signed an agreement on the protection of 
national minorities with the SAM Minister of Human and 
Minority Rights Rasim Ljajic.  Kusen emphasized that the GoC 
sees the final phase of refugee returns as a bilateral issue 
with SAM, and hopes to speed up the resolution of missing 
persons cases.  Kusen noted that the GoC's budgetary 
challenges will temporarily delay resolution of the return of 
property to Serbs, but said SAM officials understand this. 
Several days before the Belgrade visit, according to Kusen, 
the GoC provided the Serbian government with a 
much-publicized list of war crimes indictments (a version of 
which has since appeared on the internet) in an effort to 
address concerns that fear of arrest prevents some Serb 
refugees from returning. 
 
MINORITIES AND OPPOSITION AGREE ON SIGNIFICANCE OF VISIT 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
5. (C) SAM Ambassador to Croatia Milan Simurdic, who 
accompanied Sanader on the entire Belgrade visit, called it 
truly historic.  He told the DCM that the Serb minority in 
Croatia was very satisfied with Sanader's decision to make 
the trip and he viewed it as very productive. 
 
6. (C) Furio Radin, an Italian minority MP who chairs the 
Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Rights of 
National Minorities, told PolOff that PM's visit was 
"necessary and courageous, particularly just before the 
presidential elections."  Radin praised Sanader's foreign 
policy, calling it the best part of the current government. 
He noted that the real proof of the PM's success was his 
support among minority MPs, and all have praised his Belgrade 
visit. 
 
7.  (C) Professor Damir Grubisa, a left-wing political 
scientist who left the Tudjman government in protest over its 
expansionist policy toward Bosnia, said the visit shows that 
Croatia and SAM are pushing the war into the past.  Grubisa, 
who does not often agree with the PM, called Sanader a 
"shrewd statesman," and commended his "business-like 
approach" to regional relations.  The Belgrade visit, Grubisa 
told PolOff, showed real leadership on Sanader's part and 
 
 
will open a dialogue that will make all future cooperation 
easier. 
 
DELAWIE 
 
 
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