KOSOVO'S NON-SERB MINORITIES LOOKING FOR MORE CLOUT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000240

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TAGS: PREL KCRM PGOV PINR KDEM UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO'S NON-SERB MINORITIES LOOKING FOR MORE CLOUT

REF: PRISTINA 1219

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PROTECT ACCORDINGLY


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Kosovo's non-Serb minorities are trying to
increase their role in the new Kosovo government and solidify
their participation on Kosovo's delegation to status
negotiations. Non-Serb minorities currently control the
health ministry, fill a rotating seat in the Assembly
Presidency, and were - albeit at the last minute - afforded a
place on the Pristina negotiating team at the first round of
status negotiations. They want to increase their influence
with additional high-level government positions, including
deputy interior minister and advisors to the Prime Minister
and to the education minister. END SUMMARY.

NON-SERB MINORITIES WANT GREATER ROLE IN GOVERNMENT
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2. (SBU) The recent establishment of the new Kosovo justice
and interior ministries has created key new positions, and
the confirmation of Agim Ceku as Prime Minister on March 10
has created the potential for a possible shakeup of the
cabinet. (NOTE. Ceku said he will review all ministerial
positions within 30 days of taking office. END NOTE.)
Kosovo Assembly Presidency member and President of the Kosovo
Democratic Turkish Party (KDTP) Mahir Yagcilar told PolOff
and PolFSN on March 7 that members of the "Six Plus"
Prizren-based Turkish/Bosniak coalition voted as a block for
Agim Ceku to become the new Prime Minister on March 10, and
hope to play a greater role in the new government. (NOTE.
The "Six Plus" coalition, with six assembly seats, is part of
the LDK/AAK governing coalition. The four non-Serb minority
MPs who are not in "Six Plus" (Gorani, Ashkali, Roma and
Bosniak representatives) abstained from that vote. END
NOTE.)


3. (SBU) Yagcilar said that "Six Plus" is lobbying for
Turkish "Six Plus" member Altay Suroy, public district
attorney in Prizren, to become the new deputy minister of
justice. He said that "Six Plus" would also like to see
designated positions created for non-Serb minorities to serve
as advisors to the Prime Minister and the education minister.
(NOTE. Dejan Jankovic, a high ranking Kosovo Serb from the
Kosovo Police Service (KPS) (who was injured in a shooting
incident in September 2005) was approved by the assembly as
the deputy interior minister on March 10. END NOTE.)
Yagcilar also said that "Six Plus" supports Health Minister
Sadik Idrizi, a Bosniak, to continue in office in PM Ceku's
new government. (NOTE. The position of deputy returns
minister is held by Egyptian community leader Ibush Bajrami,
but he says that he has been completely sidelined by ethnic
Serb minister Slavisa Petkovic. END NOTE.)

NON-SERB MINORITIES WANT ONGOING PARTICIPATION ON STATUS TEAM
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4. (SBU) Members of the "Six Plus" coalition met with UN
Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari on March 2 and reasserted
their desire to participate constructively in the status
process. Yagcilar said that he was encouraged that Idrizi
was named to the Kosovo delegation to the February 20-21
talks in Vienna on decentralization. However, he was
disappointed by the last minute manner in which Idrizi was
selected by the team, without consulting the non-Serb
minority leaders as to who would be the best candidate.


5. (SBU) Yagcilar said that "Six Plus" supports Idrizi to
continue as its representative on the Kosovo negotiating team
for the March 17 meeting in Vienna, and for all future
meetings on decentralization. He said that they would like
to have the opportunity to choose different representatives
for subsequent meetings, depending on the topic. In addition
to decentralization, non-Serb minorities are particularly
interested in talks on property rights and cultural heritage.
Bosniak Dzezair Murati, previous "Six Plus" representative

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on the assembly presidency and head of "Six Plus," told
PolFSN that "it is now obvious" that Albanian leaders see the
advantage of including non-Serb minorities on the team, both
to inform substance and to improve the optics of minority
inclusion.


6. (SBU) Yagcilar told PolFSN that he is satisfied with the
progress of the Turk-majority Mamusha decentralization pilot
project and said he supports the creation of additional new
municipalities as part of the status process. For example,
he supports Bosniak proposals for new municipalities in the
ethnically-mixed Zupa valley near Prizren (15,000
inhabitants) and in Vitomirica near Peja/Pec (7,000
inhabitants).

DEVELOPING A JOINT PLATFORM FOR NON-SERB MINORITIES
-------------- --------------


7. (SBU) Yagcilar said that Veton Surroi's Consultative
Council for Minority Communities (which met in late February)
has the potential to become a useful entity, but needs to be
more concrete (Reftel). He said that it should work to
institutionalize minority participation in status talks in
Vienna. Yagcilar is taking an active role in his new
position as a member of the assembly presidency by working
with all ten non-Serb minority MPs to develop a joint
platform for status negotiations. He said that this work
will continue at a planned meeting of the Council in Kukes,
Albania on March 26, which the COM has confirmed he will
attend. (NOTE. If successful, it will be the first time
that Kosovo's notoriously fractious non-Serb minorities will
be able to unite around a common platform. END NOTE).


8. (SBU) COMMENT. Kosovo's non-Serb minorities are trying
to take advantage of the recent changes in Kosovo's
government and strong ties with the new leadership to expand
their role in both the government and on Pristina's status
negotiating team. If they succeed in developing a joint
negotiation platform supported by all of Kosovo's non-Serb
minorities, it would be a significant step forward in
bringing together non-Serb minorities and, they believe,
greatly strengthen their claim for a seat in the status
talks. More substantive participation by non-Serb minorities
will also serve as a positive example to Kosovo Serbs of the
benefits of engagement and participation. END COMMENT.


9. (U) Post clears this message in its entirety for
release to Special Envoy Ahtisaari.
GOLDBERG