KOSOVO SERB PUBLIC SERVANTS FORCED TO CHOOSE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PRISTINA 000290 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 SERB PUBLIC SERVANTS FORCED TO CHOOSE BETWEEN BELGRADE AND PRISTINA REF: A. 05 BELGRADE 1646 ¶B. 04 PRISTINA 1006 ¶C. 05 PRISTINA 01113 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PROTECT ACCORDINGLY SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. On March 21, Belgrade-based chief of the Kosovo Coordination Center (CCK) Sanda Raskovic-Ivic told public sector Kosovo Serbs that Serbia will no longer pay salaries to employees who also receive salaries from Pristina. Many Kosovo Serbs believe that if they choose Pristina, they will lose their jobs, pensions and possibly be black-listed for future employment in Serbia. Many have closed their Kosovo bank accounts in order to stop direct deposit payments from Pristina, while others have sent letters to their local municipalities requesting that Kosovo salary payments be discontinued. Moderate Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic criticized the move by the CCK, saying that it will only encourage Serbs to leave Kosovo. Prime Minister Ceku and SRSG Soren Jessen-Petersen have both urged Kosovo Serbs to continue to accept their Kosovo salaries. The CCK order is making an already difficult situation for Kosovo Serbs worse, and is creating confusion and resentment among the very population CCK purports to serve. END SUMMARY. CCK TELLS SERB SERBS TO CHOOSE BETWEEN SERBIA AND PRISTINA -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) During a March 21 visit to the large Kosovo Serb enclave of Velika Hoca in Rahovec/Orahovac municipality, Kosovo Coordination Center (CCK) chief Sanda Raskovic-Ivic (Ref A) told Kosovo Serbs that health and education workers must choose between receiving salaries from Serbia or from Kosovo. Many Kosovo Serbs (especially in those fields of employment) receive double salaries ) one from the Serbian government in Belgrade (up to 400 euro per month depending on qualifications) plus a lower one from the Kosovo Consolidated Budget (KCB) of Kosovo's Provisional Institutions of Self Government (PISG) (130 - 250 euro per month). Kosovo Albanians only receive the lower KCB salary for the same work. ¶3. (SBU) Serbian parallel institutions (including most healthcare facilities and schools in Serb majority areas and enclaves) are run and financed by Belgrade via the CCK. ;Although UNMIK and the PISG exercise little or no authority over these parallel institutions, the PISG nevertheless pays salaries to their employees. (NOTE. On March 10 UNMIK civilian police (CivPol) officers seized two million undeclared euros at the boundary between Kosovo and Serbia proper, sent by the Serbian Government to finance parallel institutions. UNMIK returned the money several days later, via an intermediary, after Serbia agreed to respect UNMIK law and regulations on money transfers in the future. END NOTE.) SERBS TAKE ACTION TO HALT SALARY PAYMENTS -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Rahovec CCK coordinator Dejan Baljosevic told PolFSN on March 28 that in response to Raskovic-Ivic's ultimatum, many Kosovo Serbs have already taken action to prevent receipt of the next payment of their KCB salary, due to arrive in the coming days. (NOTE. Salaries are paid at the end of the month for work done in the preceding month. END NOTE.) ¶5. (SBU) A Raiffeisen bank contact told EconFSN on March 30 that out of about 550 accounts held by Kosovo Serb education workers in Gracanica, about 250 have been closed since Raskovic-Ivic's edict. The contact said that dozens of Kosovo Serbs in Gjilan/Gnjilane and Lipjan/Lipljan have also closed their accounts, and closures are ongoing. ProCredit PRISTINA 00000290 002 OF 004 Bank in north Mitrovica said Kosovo Serbs there have closed 50-60 accounts, while Raiffeisen said that it has not experienced closures in north Mitrovica and or in the three northern municipalities. Raiffeisen in the north is issuing confirmations to bank account holders whose accounts cannot be closed due to outstanding loans. ¶6. (SBU) Baljosevic said that the directors of all Kosovo Serb schools and healthcare facilities had received forms from the CCK on which individual employees must circle whether they wish to receive Serbian or Kosovo salaries. PolFSN obtained a copy of the form that was given to teachers at Primary School Vuk Karadzic in Rahovec/Orahovac, on which employees must also state which employer they wish to remain employed with: the Republic of Serbia, or "an institution out of the Republic of Serbia system." The form clearly implies that if they choose Pristina, then they no longer work for Serbia. Baljosevic said the forms must be filled out and returned to the school or hospital directors, who will then forward them to the municipal officials responsible for salary payments. ¶7. (SBU) Livingston said that municipal signs on schools in upper Rahovec and Velika Hoca, two large Serb enclaves in Rahovec municipality, were taken down on March 28. ¶8. (SBU) Permanent secretary to the Kosovo ministry of education Fehmi Ismajli told PolFSN on March 28 that the ministry received a letter from Kosovo Serb teachers in Obilic municipality asking that the ministry stop paying them "UNMIK salaries." Ismajli said that the ministry wants Kosovo Serbs employed in the public sector to continue to work, but he added that the government cannot "compete" with the enormous pressure exerted by the CCK on Kosovo Serbs. ¶9. (SBU) Mitrovica regional CCK coordinator Momir Kasalovic told PolFSN that he and the other four regional CCK coordinators expect to meet with Raskovic-Ivic to discuss the difficult logistics of further implementation of the CCK order. He said that he expects that Kosovo Serbs will be turning to local CCK officials for advice on how best to implement the request logistically. Kasalovic said that ethnic Serb public employees should receive only one salary and must choose to receive it either from Kosovo or Serbia. SERBS FEAR LOSS OF BENEFITS OR BLACKLISTING -------------- ¶10. (SBU) CCK's Baljosevic said that he warned Raskovic-Ivic that this plan will be difficult to implement because "Kosovo Serbs south of the Ibar River live among Albanians and depend on them," but Raskovic-Ivic was determined to force events. He said that many Kosovo Serbs fear that they might lose their right to Serbian pensions if they do not choose to receive Serbian salaries. ¶11. (SBU) A Kosovo Serb teacher from an enclave near Gracanica told PolOff that her school director made it clear that teachers will lose their jobs if they do not provide proof that they have closed their Kosovo bank account. She said that one of her colleagues quickly borrowed money from friends to pay off a loan to the bank in order to be able to close her account on March 29. The Serb teacher said that Kosovo Serbs also fear that if they choose Pristina salaries, they could be black-listed and unable to obtain employment in Serbia in the future. ¶12. (SBU) In an indication that the CCK edict may move beyond the health and education sectors, the Serb teacher added that two young Serb neighbors - one who works at the Pristina airport and one who works for the returns ministry - were told by the CCK that they will lose their social assistance payments from the Serbian government if they do not quit their jobs. She said that despite the fact that their salaries are higher than the 65 euro a month assistance PRISTINA 00000290 003 OF 004 payments (for Kosovo Serbs who worked at the Obilic mines before the war),they plan to quit their jobs because they also fear being black-listed. DESPITE EXEMPTION FOR THE NORTH, SERBS THERE COMPLYING -------------- -------------- ¶13. (SBU) Baljosevic said the CCK order does not apply to the three northern Serb-majority municipalities (Leposavic, Zubin Potok and Zvecan) or north Mitrovica, because those areas have "legitimate" elected Serbs serving as municipal leaders who are recognized by both local Serbs and UNMIK. Therefore, it does not apply to the hospital in north Mitrovica run by hard-line EO-listed Serb National Council (SNC) Mitrovica chief Milan Ivanovic (Ref B). ¶14. (SBU) While not being forced by the CCK to choose, some Kosovo Serbs in the north are refusing their Kosovo salaries anyway. Head of OSCE Mitrovica Region Alastair Livingston told PolOff that 285 school employees in Leposavic municipality in northern Kosovo have signed and submitted letters to UNMIK asking to be removed from Kosovo payrolls. BELGRADE ALSO PENALIZING SOME NON-SERB MINORITIES -------------- -------------- ¶15. (SBU) Livingston said that an emissary from the Serbian ministry of education went to Dragas/Dragash municipality to encourage employees at Gorani and Bosniak schools operating under the Serbian parallel system to choose Serbian salaries. Gorani community teacher and activist Abdi Alija told PolFSN on March 30 that 200 Gorani employees at such schools have chosen to continue to receive their Serbian salaries and reject their KCB salaries. He said that the employees felt they had no choice, since the Serbian salaries are higher and also entail other benefits including pensions, children's allowances and health insurance. ¶16. (SBU) There are some 1500 Serbian-speaking Gorani living in the mountainous Dragas municipality in southern Kosovo. The Gorani community there is the only non-Serb community in Kosovo with its own CCK representative. Gorani are seen as closely aligned to Serbs and Serbian-run parallel institutions, partially because they insist their children be allowed to study in Serbian language with a Belgrade-based curriculum. Gorani traditionally send their children on to universities in Serbia, which do not accept students who studied under the UNMIK/Kosovo Albanian curriculum (Ref C). ¶17. (SBU) Dragas deputy mayor Sabidin Cufta told PolFSN on March 28 Bosniak and Gorani municipal leaders met with the local population and urged people not to choose the Serbian salaries, telling the employees that their leaders would distance themselves from any workers who choose Serbia. He said that the local leaders now fear "Albanian vengeance" and don't want to be labeled "Serb collaborators." CCK MOTIVATED BY VIENNA TALKS -------------- ¶18. (SBU) Baljosevic said he expects more Kosovo Serbs to give up their salaries because "Sanda told them Albanians have been waving in Vienna a list of Serb employees paid by the KCB as a main argument to show that Serbs will not leave Kosovo and will accept Kosovo's independence.8 SLKM AND UMIK URGE SERBS TO IGNORE THE ORDER -------------- ¶19. (SBU) Immediately after the statement by Raskovic-Ivic, moderate SLKM politician Oliver Ivanovic spoke out against the move by the CCK, saying that cutting these financial ties to the PISG would further isolate Kosovo Serbs. He said it will only encourage Kosovo Serbs to leave Kosovo, especially since many of them only stay here because they get double PRISTINA 00000290 004 OF 004 salaries. Ivanovic said Kosovo Serbs need to integrate into Kosovo, not cut themselves off further. ¶20. (SBU) On March 28 SRSG Soren Jessen-Petersen issued a press release, stating that Kosovo Serbs are "entitled to salaries from the KCB for the work they are doing." He said financing is one of the issues being discussed in status negotiations, and urged all parties to "refrain from any unilateral measures." Prime Minister Ceku also urged Kosovo Serbs to continue to receive their Kosovo salaries. COMMENT -------------- ¶21. (SBU) COMMENT. The recent move to force Kosovo Serbs to choose between salary payments from Serbia or Kosovo shows just how out of touch the CCK is with the real situation on the ground for Kosovo Serbs. Many of those Serbs rely on both salaries to feed their families in an already dire economic environment, and neither of the salaries alone (or even together) serves as a living wage for Kosovo Serbs who generally lack Diaspora funds available to many Kosovo Albanians. However, many Kosovo Serbs are so confused and worried about their future in Kosovo that they are willing to take this drastic step, even when it goes against their immediate self interest, in order to keep their options open for a possible move to Serbia in the future. The CCK initiative may also amount to a not-so-subtle attempt to consolidate control over Kosovo Serbs and Serb-inhabited areas. END COMMENT. ¶22. (U) Post clears this message in its entirety for release to Special Envoy Ahtisaari. GOLDBERG