US embassy cable - 05BRUSSELS1649

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001649 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/27/2015 
TAGS: PREL, HR, ICTY, EUN, USEU BRUSSELS 
SUBJECT: EU'S CROATIA TASK FORCE REAFFIRMS ZAGREB MUST 
IMPROVE COOPERATION WITH ICTY 
 
 
Classified By: Rick Holtzapple, PolOff, Reasons 1.4 (B/D) 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1. (C) The EU's ad hoc "task force" on Croatia met in 
Luxembourg April 26 with ICTY Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte and 
then with Croatian PM Sanader.  Based on Del Ponte's 
assessment that  Croatia is still failing to fully cooperate 
with the ICTY, the task force took no further action on 
Croatia's EU bid.  Although the task force agreed it should 
not meet again until there were significant enough 
developments to merit such a meeting, the Luxembourg 
Presidency told EU ambassadors in Brussels (COREPER) the 
morning of April 27 that they expected Croatia would be back 
on the agenda at the June 13 GAERC. END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (SBU) The EU, at its March 16 General Affairs and External 
Relations Council (GAERC), postponed opening of accession 
negotiations with Croatia, due to the GoC's failure to fully 
cooperate with the ICTY.  On March 23, EU leaders orally 
agreed, after heavy lobbying from Austria, to establish an ad 
hoc task force to examine the issue and report back to the 
Council.  The task force consists of the Luxembourg, UK and 
Austrian Foreign Ministers (current and next two EU 
presidencies), together with High Rep Solana and Enlargement 
Commissioner Rehn. 
 
3. (C) The task force's first meeting was held April 26 in 
Luxembourg, just after a regularly scheduled session of the 
EU-Croatia Stabilization and Association (SA) Council, which 
follows the broader issues related to implementation of 
Croatia's SA Agreement with the EU.  Mia Asenius, chief 
advisor to Rehn on Croatia, told us April 27 that the task 
force meeting had gone "much better than I feared it might." 
Despite being attended at ministerial level by all sides, it 
was a "very low-key" event.  ICTY Prosecutor Del Ponte gave a 
very straightforward report in which she said her assessment 
was basically unchanged.  Del Ponte reportedly did make 
reference to some positive steps, including the retirement of 
150 police officers and a crackdown on the issuance of false 
passports.  With the press, Del Ponte was reported to have 
said, "there will be full cooperation when Croatia delivers 
Gotovina to ICTY or when Croatia informs about his 
whereabouts." 
 
4. (C) The task force then met with Croatian PM Ivo Sanader. 
He handed over a list of achievements since March as well as 
an action plan to improve cooperation with ICTY.  The 
Luxembourg Presidency has distributed the Croatian papers 
(but not Del Ponte's presentation) to the EU Member States. 
We have not seen a copy, but Asenius told us the plan 
contained six parts: 1) a public relations campaign to inform 
the Croatian public about the importance of ICTY compliance; 
2) improving the credibility and effectiveness of Croatia's 
intelligence services, including two new laws on intelligence 
reform and on protection of sensitive information; 3) 
addressing "support networks"; 4) coordinating efforts with 
foreign intelligence services; 5) working toward a 
multilateral network to fight organized crime; and 6) 
preparing domestic judicial capacity to try war-crimes cases, 
particularly those that might be referred by ICTY. 
 
5. (C) Asenius said the task force told Sanader the EU would 
follow with interest the implementation of this action plan, 
but what would matter were results.  They also noted that 
several of the action plan's steps were clearly not short 
term projects.  Sanader himself had acknowledged that the 
intelligence laws could not be adopted before June. 
 
6. (C) Asenius was particularly pleased that with both the 
Croatians and the press, Luxembourg FM Asselborn was very 
clear EU policy was unchanged, that ICTY cooperation is "an 
unavoidable precondition" before accession negotiations can 
begin, and that such cooperation goes through the Hague, not 
Brussels.  Asenius added that Austrian FM Plassnik had also 
behaved well during the task force, not taking any overtly 
pro-Croatian spin.  Asenius noted that Commissioner Rehn had 
repeatedly stressed during the task force's private sessions 
the need for the EU to send a unified message to Zagreb. 
Plassnik claimed that the GoA was giving Croatia the same 
message in Zagreb as the rest of the EU, "you have to do your 
homework." 
 
7. (C) In a debriefing by the Luxembourg Presidency to 
COREPER on April 27, EU member states were told the task 
force had decided not to set a date for any further meetings, 
but to report orally to the Council, following consultation 
with ICTY, when there had been significant further 
developments.  But, in a Presidency initiative that took our 
UK and Commission contacts a bit by surprise, the Luxembourg 
ambassador added that the Presidency judged it would be 
appropriate to return to the dossier at the June 13 GAERC. 
(NOTE: June 13 is also the date that Del Ponte is scheduled 
to make her next presentation to the UNSC in New York.  Due 
to time differences, any GAERC discussion would likely take 
place before Del Ponte's report.  END NOTE.) 
8. (C) COMMENT:  So far the EU is holding firm with Croatia 
that ICTY cooperation is a precondition.  Just as important 
are the references, such as Asselborn's above, that full 
cooperation means satisfying the Hague, because implicit in 
that message is that, if Del Ponte says full cooperation 
means Gotovina in the Hague, then for the EU full cooperation 
will mean Gotovina in the Hague.  Having been surprised at 
COREPER by the Luxembourg Presidency, we expect that the UK 
and the Commission will now seek to ensure that any June 13 
GAERC discussion of Croatian will be as banal as possible, 
unless significant developments occur in the meantime.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
MCKINLEY 
.