Viewing cable 08REYKJAVIK27, KOSOVO: ICELAND MUDDLING ITS WAY TOWARDS RECOGNITION

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Reference ID	Created	Released	Classification	Origin
08REYKJAVIK27	2008-02-28 18:06	2011-01-13 05:05	CONFIDENTIAL	Embassy Reykjavik

VZCZCXRO0125
OO RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHRK #0027 0591833
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 281833Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY REYKJAVIK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3575
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L REYKJAVIK 000027 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR P, EUR, EUR/NB, EUR/SCE 
ZAGREB FOR BELGRADE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2018 
TAGS: PREL UNMIK UN YI KV IC
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: ICELAND MUDDLING ITS WAY TOWARDS RECOGNITION 
 
REF: REYKJAVIK 23 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified by: Amb. Carol van Voorst for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (C) Ambassador contacted Permanent Secretary of State at the 
Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs Gretar Mar Sigurdsson on 28 
February to query the failure to make good the FM's pledge that 
Iceland would recognize Kosovo on February 22 (reftel).  Sigurdsson 
pointed to the Foreign Minister's statement after meeting UN 
Secretary General Ban in New York on February 26, in which she said 
 
SIPDIS 
that Iceland intends to recognize Kosovo's independence but a final 
government decision on timing has not yet been made.  Sigurdsson said 
that the MFA is releasing a press statement February 28 stating the 
same point.  Although pressed hard on timing for the official 
recognition, he would only repeat "soon," noting obliquely that there 
were "differences in the government" about the best time to announce. 
 Sigurdsson said he had been in contact with the PermSecs for the 
other Nordics, and said that Iceland would not be the last of the 
Nordics to announce. 
 
¶2.  (C) Comment:  Though no government source has directly raised 
this angle, we think it likely that the "differences within the 
government" reflect concerns that Iceland's bid for a UNSC seat in 
2009-10 will be jeopardized if Kosovo recognition greatly irritates 
the Russians, and the vagueness of "soon" and "won't be the last" 
reflects the scramble to arrive at some announcement date which the 
Icelanders somehow hope will least irritate the Russians while not 
overly irritating the U.S. and the other Perm 5 supporters of 
independence. 
 
van Voorst