VISIT OF SENATOR VOINOVICH TO KOSOVO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PRISTINA 000333

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR DRL, INL, EUR/SCE
NSC FOR BRAUN
USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI
DEPT FOR H - PLEASE PASS TO OFFICE OF SENATOR VOINOVICH

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KCRM PGOV PINR KDEM UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: VISIT OF SENATOR VOINOVICH TO KOSOVO

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PROTECT ACCORDINGLY


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. In meetings with Prime Minister Agim Ceku
and President Fatmir Sejdiu during his March 24 visit to
Kosovo, Senator George Voinovich urged the new leaders to
reach out to Kosovo Serbs and to show them and leaders in
Belgrade that Kosovo's government is serious about creating a
Kosovo in which Serbs and other ethnic minorities can live.
In the afternoon he visited US Camp Bondsteel, where he spoke
to soldiers who do community liaison work in Kosovo
communities. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Ohio Senator George Voinovich visited Kosovo on
Friday, March 24. He discussed Kosovo status negotiations,
decentralization and the security situation in Kosovo with
Prime Minister Agim Ceku, President Fatmir Sejdiu, the Kosovo
Unity team (Ceku, Sejdiu, Assembly President Kole Berisha,
opposition leaders Veton Surroi and Hashim Thaci, and
coordinator Blerim Shala),Kosovo Serb leaders Oliver
Ivanovic, Goran Bogdanovic and Randjel Nojkic, as well as
Brigadier General Darren Owens and U.S. soldiers serving at
Camp Bondsteel. The Senator was accompanied by USOP Chief of
Mission Goldberg, legislative aide Jeannie Siskovic and
military escort LT Josh Wellner.

Voinovich Tells Leaders to Convince Serbs of Their Sincerity
-------------- --------------


3. (SBU) In his meeting with Prime Minister Agim Ceku,
Voinovich warned that there are many in Serbia who doubt
Kosovo Albanians are serious about creating the kind of
Kosovo in which ethnic Serbs can stay and integrate. He told
Ceku now is the time to create observable evidence that
things on the ground have changed. Ceku stated
optimistically that he expects more returns in 2006 than in
previous years. Ceku told Voinovich that Kosovo's
Provisional Institutions of Self Government (PISG) views
monasteries and patriarchal sites not as monuments, but
rather as religious communities, and said Kosovo was proud to
have such valuable cultural heritage. Ceku said when KFOR
completes its restructuring from a brigade to a task force it
will be more flexible and able to react better. He also
commended U.S. forces in Kosovo for their work in the local
community, which he referred to as a model that other
constituent forces, especially in northern Kosovo, should
emulate.


4. (SBU) Ceku asked Voinovich to talk to the leadership in
Belgrade and convince them to let Kosovo's Serbs integrate
into Kosovo instead of keeping them as "hostages". He
promised that if Belgrade allows them to participate in
Kosovo society and institutions, the Kosovo government would
take care of them. Voinovich implored Ceku to "treat
Kosovo's Serbs the way they did not treat you" during the
time that Slobodan Milosevic was in power. At the end of
their meeting, Voinovich said both Serbs and Kosovo Albanians
need to realize how sincere Ceku is about protecting the Serb
minority in Kosovo.


5. (SBU) Senator Voinovich told President Fatmir Sejdiu of
his dream that all of the former Yugoslavia join the EU and
NATO, in order to rid the Balkans of the problems of the
past. Voinovich said the leaders with whom he had met the
previous day in Belgrade do not believe the Kosovo government
will follow through on its promises on minority rights. He
added for the success of status negotiations currently
underway in Vienna, Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority must
prove its sincerity. He advised Sejdiu Kosovo's leadership
must also change the hearts and minds of the local
population. Sejdiu responded that set-asides for minority
representation in the Kosovo Assembly and minority hiring in
government institutions gives Kosovo's Serbs and other ethnic
minorities the opportunity for greater influence in Kosovo's
government. Sejdiu added the Kosovo government wants all
those who left after the war to return and rejoin Kosovo

PRISTINA 00000333 002 OF 003


society.


6. (SBU) Sejdiu told Voinovich Kosovo must be given the
chance to show that it will care for its historic and
cultural heritage after final status, and said that before
Milosevic came to power, ethnic Albanians had protected the
churches and patriarchal sites for hundreds of years. Sejdiu
admitted after the war there had been a breakdown of this
protection, culminating in the riots of March 2004, but
quickly added those events are not indicative of the views of
the majority of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian population. He said
Kosovo's Albanian majority is disquieted by the March riots
and said he is sure such events will not be repeated. He
told Voinovich there have been arrests and people have been
convicted for their participation in the riots. (NOTE. SRSG
Jessen-Petersen told Contact Group representatives on April 7
there have been 420 prosecutions, 240 sentences, 100
acquittals and 90 cases pending resulting from the March 2004
riots. END NOTE.)


7. (SBU) Sejdiu promised to continue his outreach efforts in
Serb communities. He recounted the day before he met with
Serbs in Rahovec/Orahovac who expressed their concerns about
economic growth and jobs -- concerns common to everyone in
Kosovo. He said the ethnic Albanian majority must create
conditions for minorities to have a normal life in Kosovo
and, paraphrasing Senator Voinovich's own comments, said
minority communities should not experience the same treatment
as ethnic Albanians endured during Milosevic's rule. Sejdiu
added it is very clear Kosovo is committed to moving forward,
noting that while the government put aside five million euros
to rebuild Serbian Orthodox churches, it had to rely on
international donors for assistance in rebuilding 130 mosques
destroyed during the war. He concluded that Kosovo Serbs
must return to their homes and join Kosovo society and
decision-making.

"Treat the Serbs Better than They Treated You"
-------------- -


8. (SBU) Senator Voinovich told the members of the Kosovo
Albanian final status negotiating team (aka the "Unity Team")
that he had told Kosovo Albanian leaders in 2001 the best
"guarantee" they could have of getting independence was to
avoid "treating minorities the way they treated you when you
were the minority," adding, "I wish you had listened more at
the time; you would be further along." The senator
applauded the "eloquent statements" of new President Sejdiu
and new Prime Minister Ceku but warned there is "a lot of
skepticism on whether what you say you are going to do will
be done."


9. (SBU) Voinovich advised the Kosovo Albanian leaders to
adopt a delicate manner in dealing with Kosovo Serbs so
moderate leaders in Serbia would not be undermined by
radicals who could take over Serbia by alleging things aren't
getting better for Kosovo Serbs. He asked them to work to
convince Kosovo Serbs and Belgrade that there will be a
change.


10. (SBU) Blerim Shala replied frankly that, "our focus is
the status of Kosovo, not the status of Serbia. We are
concerned with Kosovo Serbs, not Serbian Serbs." The senator
suggested understanding the role of the Serbian Orthodox
Church would prove key to the final status process because
the church influences Kosovo Serbs and Serbian Serbs alike.
Noting the church had initially refused to cooperate with
restoring churches damaged in the 2004 riots because the PISG
was also involved, the senator said he had intervened with
church leaders and they had responded. The senator urged the
Kosovo Albanian leaders to consider that the final status
process might go a lot more smoothly "if the church feels
comfortable and influences the Serb side of the table."



PRISTINA 00000333 003 OF 003



11. (SBU) Voinovich,s message over lunch with Kosovo Serbs
was simple: you can only benefit from participating in
Kosovo,s governmental institutions. The current uncertainty
that plagues the Kosovo Serb political landscape came to the
fore as Goran Bogdanovic, a member of Belgrade's negotiating
team, and Randjel Nojkic expressed different views on the
future of Kosovo Serbs. Bogdanovic stressed Belgrade's
desire that Kosovo not become independent; Nojkic countered
by saying no one was asking what Kosovo Serbs wanted. To
Voinovich's call for an end to the Serbian List for Kosovo
and Metohija,s (SLKM) boycott of Kosovo's government
structures, SLKM head Oliver Ivanovic said they need to be
supported (by Belgrade) to participate, or will be called
&traitors."


12. (SBU) Voinovich said it was more important than ever for
Kosovo Serbs to specify what they would like the Kosovo
government to do for them, but Ivanovic said the situation
varies too greatly between those Serbs north of the Ibar
River and those living in isolated ethnic Serb communities
elsewhere in Kosovo. On decentralization, the Kosovo Serbs
pressed Voinovich to comment on Belgrade's funding of
municipalities. Voinovich said any funding should be
welcomed to ameliorate economic conditions in Kosovo.
Ivanovic replied by saying: &What is decentralization going
to get us? Segregation or integration? We're not sure what
we want.8


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