Cablegate: Zagreb Daily Report - January 27, 2010

VZCZCXRO9352
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHVB #0059 0271250
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 271250Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9859
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000059

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL HR
SUBJECT: Zagreb Daily Report - January 27, 2010

1. (U) Chief ICTY Prosecutor Brammertz Comments on Missing Artillery
Logs: Addressing the European Parliament on January 26, the Hague
Tribunal's Chief Prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, said that so far the
desired results have still not been achieved from Croatia's efforts
to cooperate in the matter of the requested artillery logs from
1995's Operation Storm, as the documents have still not been
received. The ICTY Chief Prosecutor praised the efforts of the
Croatian government's working group established to determine the
fate of the missing logs, said he believes those efforts must
continue, and hopes that they will produce more positive results.
Brammertz also noted that the GoC and his office continued to
disagree on some of the issues surrounding the documents,
particularly on which specific documents did or did not get produced
during Operation Storm. FM Jandrokovic, in discussing Brammertz's
testimony on Croatian TV, noted that Brammertz had not given an
overall assessment of Croatia's cooperation with the ICTY.
Jandrokovic added that he hoped Chapter 23 in EU accession
negotiations, which has been stalled by this issue, could be
unblocked soon, and opened for negotiation in April.

2.(U) Ambassador Foley Contributes Haiti Op-Ed to Leading
Newsweekly: Drawing on his experience as Ambassador to Haiti from
2003 to 2005, Ambassador Foley wrote an op-ed for Globus, Croatia's
leading weekly news magazine. In the article, the Ambassador
emphasized key U.S. public diplomacy themes regarding our relief
efforts, strengthening the message with personal observations on the
tragedy and the situation in the country. He praised the generosity
of public and private support in Croatia for earthquake victims.
The article serves to reinforce the generally accurate and
overwhelmingly positive media coverage in Croatia on the crisis so
far.

3. (U) Croatia Designated Eligible for H-2A-H-2B Nonimmigrant Visa
Programs: Croatian media reported on this week's decision by DHS
Secretary Napolitano to designate Croatia as one of 11 new countries
eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B nonimmigrant visa
programs. The H2-A (temporary agricultural workers) and H2-B
(temporary nonagricultural workers) visas are petition-based, for
which the US employer must apply with DHS. The US employer must
establish the temporary nature of the alien's proposed employment,
that alien workers will not occupy a permanent position, and that
there is a shortage of US workers to do the job in question.
While the H2A is strictly for agricultural jobs (picking, canning,
packaging, etc.), the H2B jobs are more varied (ski instructors,
life guards, spa employees, etc.). The H-2A program is new to
Croatia, while H-2Bs have been previously issued, although
sparingly. Residents of other countries in the region, notably
Serbians, have for years been eligible for H2B visas.

WALKER

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