KOSOVO PRESIDENT SEJDIU REACHES OUT TO MINORITIES

UNCLAS PRISTINA 000285 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR DRL, INL, EUR/SCE NSC FOR BRAUN USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KCRM PGOV PINR KDEM UNMIK YI SUBJECT: KOSOVO PRESIDENT SEJDIU REACHES OUT TO MINORITIES REF: 04 PRISTINA 753 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PROTECT ACCORDINGLY ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. President Fatmir Sejdiu visited Dragas/Dragash and Orahovac/Rahovec municipalities and discussed (in Serbian) standards implementation, freedom of movement, inter-ethnic relations and economic development in public meetings with minorities. He plans to make more outreach trips in the coming weeks. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) On March 23, Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu visited minority communities in Dragas/Dragash and Orahovac/Rahovec municipalities. During both visits he refused an interpreter and spoke to minorities in Serbian, a rare effort by a Kosovo Albanian public figure. In Rahovec, Sejdiu met with Kosovo Serbs in the "upper part" of Rahovec town, where according to OSCE estimates, approximately 550-600 Kosovo Serbs live. In May 2004 former Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi also visited Rahovec during a similar outreach program to build confidence with minorities (Reftel). ¶3. (SBU) Ethnic-Serb Rahovec deputy mayor Ljubisa Djuricic told PolFSN on March 28 that he was encouraged by Sejdiu's flexibility and his willingness to accept the use of the Cyrillic alphabet on road signs in Serb-inhabited areas of Rahovec. He said that in response to a Kosovo Serb request for assistance in locating pre-war employment documents, Sejdiu agreed to serve as a mediator with the now privatized, former socially owned enterprises (SOE's) which the Serbs believe can access those documents in their archives. Djuricic said that the Kosovo Serbs lost their documents when they fled their homes in 1999, and now need them to prove their eligibility for former Yugoslavia state pensions administered by Belgrade. ¶4. (SBU) Dragash deputy mayor Sabidin Cufta told PolFSN that he was satisfied with Sejdiu's March 23 visit, during which Kosovo Albanians, Gorani and Bosniaks participated in a joint public meeting. In addition to discussing standards implementation, freedom of movement and inter-ethnic relations, Dragash municipal leaders raised the issue of infrastructure and roads that they say are needed to promote economic development and access to education. (NOTE. Cufta approached USOP on March 3 to request assistance with a road infrastructure project, and said that his requests for assistance from UNMIK, the PISG and the OSCE have all been unsuccessful. END NOTE). ¶5. (SBU) Sejdiu's advisor Samet Dalipi told PolFSN on March 29 that Sejdiu plans to engage in further outreach to minorities in the coming weeks. He said that Sejdiu plans to visit Shtime and Lipljan on one trip (with Roma and Serb populations respectively),and Kacanik and the pilot project municipality of Hani I Elezit on another. ¶6. (SBU) COMMENT. President Sejdiu's first visits to minority communities were a success. Kosovo Serbs have long said that Kosovo Albanian leaders need to do more to reach out to them publicly and to set an example for ordinary Kosovo Albanian citizens that it is acceptable and even encouraged to engage with Kosovo Serbs and welcome them into Kosovo society. Follow-up efforts by the president, for example in facilitating access to SOE records as requested, would reinforce the message that minorities really are welcome in Kosovo, and have officials from the majority who are responsive to their needs. END COMMENT. ¶7. (U) Post clears this message in its entirety for release to Special Envoy Ahtisaari. GOLDBERG