KOSOVO: KFOR RE-ESTABLISHES PERMANENT PRESENCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L PRISTINA 000519

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR DRL, INL, EUR/SCE, AND EUR/SSA, NSC FOR BRAUN,
USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/16/2016
TAGS: MARR PREL PGOV UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: KFOR RE-ESTABLISHES PERMANENT PRESENCE
NORTH OF THE IBAR RIVER

Classified By: CDA KIRK MCBRIDE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) SUMMARY: On June 13 the French contingent in charge
of Multi-National Task Force-North (MNTF-N) reactivated a
former Belgian KFOR camp in the northern Kosovo municipality
of Leposavic. The camp will be manned by different national
contingents on two-week rotations, beginning with the French.
Responsibility for overall control and oversight for the
base remains with the French, who are in charge of KFOR's
northern sector, although each contingent will be responsible
for sustaining its own TDY troops. The French commander
reported to COMKFOR local reluctance regarding the stationing
of U.S. troops in the north. The earliest U.S. troops from
Camp Bondsteel could be stationed there is late-July. KFOR
has not yet given clear instructions about the mission of
troops stationed at the re-opened base. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) In response to ongoing concerns about the removal of
the last fixed KFOR point north of the Ibar River, KFOR has
reopened a former Belgian base in the northern, Serb-majority
municipality of Leposavic. USKFOR's Deputy Commander for
Civil Military Operations (DC-CMO) told USOP on June 15 that
the French contingent in MNTF-N took possession of the camp
on June 13. USKFOR's Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) contractors
completed work to reopen the camp using KFOR funding and it
has been affectionately named "Nothing Hill," descriptive of
the area's desolation. It is located approximately 400
meters off the main north-south highway through the northern
municipalities connecting Kosovo with Serbia and is designed
to house one company (roughly 100 soldiers) although it has
capacity to accommodate an additional company, if ever
needed. It will be manned by different national KFOR
constituent forces on two-week rotations. According to Camp
Bondsteel's DC-CMO, U.S. troops are scheduled there for two
weeks in late July. Responsibility for overall control and
oversight will be in the hands of the French who are in
charge of Kosovo,s northern sector, although each contingent
will be responsible for sustaining its own TDY troops.


3. (C) Regional UNCIVPOL Commander Gary Smith told E/P Chief
and PolOff on June 15 that some local Serbs in Leposavic see
the reopening of the camp as an employment opportunity, while
northern leaders complain that the international community is
trying to surround and control them. According to USKFOR's
DC-CMO, local Serbs complained when KBR brought ethnic
Albanians in to re-open the camp. She also said that the
French commander of MNTF-N expressed concern from the local
population about the stationing of U.S. troops in his sector
in a video tele-conference with COMKFOR.


4. (C) The DC-CMO noted that neither NATO nor KFOR have given
any clear instructions as to the mission (deterrence or
outreach) of troops stationed at the camp. She noted that,
in general, the U.S. contingent in Kosovo does more
civil-military operations than others stationed here, and
much more than the French, who prefer more traditionally
static operations. She hoped that tactical orders for the
mission will be given before U.S. troops are stationed there.


5. (U) U.S. Office Pristina clears this cable for release in
its entirety to U.N. Special Envoy for Kosovo Martti
Ahtisaari.
MCBRIDE