US embassy cable - 05ZAGREB716

C O N F I D E N T I A L  ZAGREB 000716 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SECDEF FOR OSD/ISP/EURASIA - ANDREW WINTERNITZ 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2015 
TAGS: PREL, MARR, HR, Defense Reform (Mil & NATO) 
SUBJECT: A/ASD RICARDEL MEETINGS WITH CROATIAN PRIME 
MINISTER SANADER AND SABOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT BEBIC, APRIL 28 
 
REF: ZAGREB 590 
 
Classified By: JUSTIN FRIEDMAN, POLMIL OFF: REASON: 1.4 (B) AND (D) 
 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
 
1. (C) On April 28, Assistant Secretary of Defense for 
International Security, Ms. Mira Ricardel, accompanied by 
Ambassador Ralph Frank, met with Ivo Sanader, Prime Minister. 
 In addition to a tour of regional issues, Croatian Prime 
Minister Ivo Sanader asked for U.S. support both in delaying 
the expansion of the Adriatic Charter to (non-PfP members) 
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro and on 
reconsidering awarding the Legion of Merit to former Chetnik 
leader Draza Mihailovic.  She later met with Deputy President 
of Parliament Luka Bebic to discuss bilateral defense 
cooperation and legislative changes in support of defense 
reform and NATO aspirations. 
 
--------------- 
SANADER MEETING 
--------------- 
 
2. (SBU) PM Sanader began the meeting by stressing the 
leading role Croatia plays in Southeastern Europe.  He ran 
through a list of unresolved regional issues of concern to 
Croatia ranging from Kosovo final status to a likely 
Montenegrin referendum to an upbeat assessment on Macedonia. 
Sanader said a &Turkish scenario8 whereby Croatia is kept 
waiting indefinitely for EU membership would discourage not 
just Croatia but the entire region. 
 
3. (C) A/ASD Ricardel praised Sanader for Croatia,s third 
MAP and the MOD,s effectiveness in presenting reforms. 
Thanking Croatia for its contributions in Afghanistan, A/ASD 
Ricardel said the U.S. would like Croatia to consider 
participating in a Lithuania-led Provisional Reconstruction 
Team (PRT) in Chaghcharan citing needs in explosive ordinance 
disposal (EOD), engineering elements, force protection, and 
air traffic control.  She also thanked Sanader for Croatia,s 
contribution to the training of Iraqi police in Jordan.  She 
suggested Croatia send a trade representative to Iraq. 
Sanader noted that he had visited Jordan in February 2005 and 
was very impressed with the American-built training facility. 
 A/ASD Ricardel listed ramping up participation in the 
Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) as another useful 
contribution that would receive recognition. 
 
4. (C) Sanader asked for U.S. support for Croatia,s view 
that Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro remain 
observers to the Adriatic Charter until they become part of 
PfP and the current A-3 receive a formal invitation to join 
NATO.  Repeating his expectation that Croatia, Macedonia, and 
Albania should receive that invitation at the next NATO 
summit, Sanader noted that his Bosnian and Serbian 
counterparts are unofficially asking if they might join an 
expanded A-5 as full members instead of as observers. 
Sanader,s best case scenario would be if Bosnia-Herzegovina 
and Serbia and Montenegro apply for Adriatic Charter 
membership at the next NATO summit, presuming their inclusion 
in PfP, while the current A-3 simultaneously graduate to full 
NATO membership.  Sanader raised two objections to an 
enlarged A-5: politically, the move would be perceived in 
Croatia as reviving the former Yugoslavia and more 
importantly, the move would slow down the A-3 countries, MAP 
progress. He noted the importance of a common approach to 
Bosnia-Herzegovina,s and Serbia and Montenegro,s interest 
in full Adriatic Charter membership ahead of next week,s A-3 
meeting in Tirana. 
 
5. (C) A/ASD Ricardel responded that any decision about 
expansion of the Adriatic Charter should not be made by the 
United States but by the Charter,s sovereign three members. 
As the U.S. is not a member of the Adriatic Charter, it will 
not take a position on A-3 expansion. She cited the 
importance of maintaining PfP conditionality for 
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro.  Croatia should 
encourage Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro to 
meet the conditions for PfP membership and focus limited 
resources on meeting its MAP goals, adding that meeting the 
NATO target for defense spending of two percent of GDP was 
important.  In deciding on further NATO expansion, the allies 
would also consider whether a country was a net contributor 
to regional security or a net consumer.  A/ASD Ricardel 
suggested Croatia look for mentors among current NATO 
members, highlighting the Danes as an excellent example for 
defense transformation.  Additionally, full cooperation with 
the Hague tribunal will be important not just for Bosnia and 
 
 
Serbia,s applications for PfP, but also for Croatia's NATO 
and EU aspirations. 
 
6. (C) Sanader noted that he led the Croatian delegation that 
met with the EU Task Force to discuss the outstanding 
Gotovina case.  Sanader asserted that the GoC is strongly 
committed to locating, apprehending, and transferring 
Gotovina to The Hague.  He cited nine indictees transferred 
to The Hague in 2004 plus one other in 2005. While the GoC 
has no reason not to send Gotovina to The Hague, all 
information Sanader has leads to the conclusion that Gotovina 
is not in Croatia.  Sanader said that he presented a 
six-point plan on what Croatia would do in the next two to 
three months to the ICTY Chief Prosecutor.  While Gotovina in 
The Hague is the best option, if he is not in Croatia, the 
GoC should show that it is doing its maximum to resolve the 
case.  Sanader pointed out that out of 626 requirements set 
by the tribunal, 625 have been fulfilled.  Sanader realizes 
the importance of the issue and hopes to finish EU membership 
negotiations within his mandate, which ends in 2007. 
 
7. (C) Sanader repeated his &consistent8 position on 
Article 98.  He has full understanding for the U.S. position 
and the reasons for it.  As a candidate country for EU 
membership, Croatia must adopt the EU position. 
Hypothetically, if Sanader asked Parliament to consider an 
Article 98 agreement, the EU would forget Gotovina and say 
Croatia is not ready for membership because of Article 98. 
A/ASD Ricardel responded that the International Criminal 
Court remains a serious concern for the U.S.  On Gotovina, 
A/ASD Ricardel observed that sometimes the last thing is the 
hardest to accomplish.  She noted the recent progress in 
Belgrade on transferring indictees and the political maturity 
reflected by Haradinaj,s voluntary resignation and surrender 
to the Hague tribunal.  Unfortunately, an individual 
portrayed by some as a patriot in Croatia is holding back an 
entire country; a true patriot acts like Haradinaj. 
 
8. (C) Sanader welcomed developments in Belgrade concerning 
the transferring of indicted generals to the Hague tribunal. 
He noted that during his visit to Belgrade ) the first by a 
Croatian Prime Minister ) that Prime Minister Kostunica 
praised the Croatian model for ICTY cooperation and said 
Serbia and Montenegro would also turn over lower-level 
indictees as soon as possible.  Sanader believes this is 
quite an achievement for Kostunica. 
 
---------------- 
Mihailovic Medal 
---------------- 
 
9. (C) Sanader raised one final issue: the proposed awarding 
of the Legion of Merit award for Draza Mihailovic (see also 
reftel).  Sanader strongly asserted that Croatia and 
Bosnia-Herzegovina interpreted this move as unhelpful for 
those countries seeking to overcome the past.  Sanader noted 
that from 1942 Mihailovic was the leader of the Chetnik 
movement which was fascist and associated with the Nazis like 
the Ustashe were.  His understanding was that the award would 
now be presented in Belgrade to Mihailovic,s grandson. 
Croatia is shocked that the U.S. would take this action at 
this time. He continued that the Chetnik movement is 
associated with Greater Serbia ideology.  Sanader criticized 
the timing of the award, coming on the heels of the decision 
by the Serbian parliament to grant the same status to the 
Chetniks as Tito,s Partisans.  A/ASD Ricardel and Ambassador 
Frank told Sanader that this issue is still under 
consideration in Washington. 
 
------------- 
SABOR MEETING 
------------- 
 
10. (SBU) Deputy President of the Sabor, Luka Bebic, began 
the meeting with background information on the role of the 
Sabor in defense issues.  Joining Bebic was Kresimir Cosic, a 
former Deputy Defense Minister and current member of the 
Sabor influential on military issues.  Bebic characterized 
the bilateral defense relationship with the United States as 
very good and highly valued by the Croatian people.  Bebic 
hoped that Croatia would receive an invitation for NATO 
Membership in 2006 and noted that the Sabor is looking at 
legislation to reach NATO standards for Peace Support 
Operations. 
 
11. (SBU) A/ASD Ricardel noted the important role of the 
legislature and thanked Bebic for the Sabor,s role in 
supporting the GWOT through Croatia,s contributions to ISAF. 
 She also stressed the importance of the legislature in 
 
 
assisting the transformation of the military noting that the 
flexible, expeditionary nature required by conditions in the 
21st century is impeded if approval is needed for every 
change to deployments.  A/ASD Ricardel related that she hoped 
Bebic and Cosic could use their position to build public 
support for NATO. 
 
12. (C) Cosic remarked that a team from the Sabor would be 
part of a delegation visiting Afghanistan in May to survey 
the activities of the Croatian contingent with ISAF.  He also 
presented a paper on the upcoming conference hosted by 
Croatia and in conjunction with Walter Reed Medical Hospital 
on Post-traumatic Stress Disorder impact on peacekeepers. 
Cosic stressed that transformation entails a change in 
mentality.  A/ASD Ricardel concurred.  Cosic also briefed his 
efforts to improve coastline protection from trafficking, 
especially during the tourist season, by integrating all 
radar and sensor data into a single, real-time database. 
A/ASD Ricardel noted DOD support for border security and the 
International Counter-Proliferation Program. 
 
13. (U) A/ASD Ricardel cleared this message. 
FRANK 
 
 
NNNN