KOSTUNICA VISIT TO KOSOVO SPARKS ONLY ISOLATED

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PRISTINA 000564

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: KOSTUNICA VISIT TO KOSOVO SPARKS ONLY ISOLATED
PROTESTS ON VIDOVDAN


PRISTINA 00000564 001.2 OF 003


SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PROTECT ACCORDINGLY


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica
visited Gracanica monastery in Kosovo on June 28 to
commemorate Vidovdan. Despite receiving UNMIK permission to
visit Kosovo only for personal, religious reasons, Kostunica
used the opportunity to make a provocative speech in which he
said Kosovo will always be part of Serbia. His visit
provoked only a minimal reaction from Kosovo Albanians.
Other than the arrest of Albin Kurti and over 100 of his
supporters for attempting (unsuccessfully) to block main
roads from Serbia into Kosovo, Vidovdan commemorations across
Kosovo passed without major incidents. END SUMMARY.

THREE DAYS OF VIDOVDAN FESTIVITIES
--------------


2. (SBU) On June 28 Kosovo Serbs celebrated the 617th
anniversary of Vidovdan, commemorating the defeat of Serbs
and their allies by the Turks in the Battle of Kosovo Field
in 1389. The festivities lasted for three days, and in
addition to the main celebrations in Gracanica and
Gazimestan, police report there was a peaceful gathering of
500 - 700 people on June 28 in Kamenica, in eastern Kosovo.
Among the participants were Kosovo Serbs currently residing
in Serbia who returned to Kosovo for Vidovdan celebrations.
On June 27 Patriarch Pavle arrived from Belgrade and attended
a poetry reading and competition at Gracanica Monastery. In
his sermon that day, hard-line Gracanica-based head of the
Raska and Prizren Diocese Bishop Artemije Radosavljevic
reportedly said that, "Serbia is one temple and Kosovo is its
altar," adding that "there is no temple without an altar."


3. (SBU) On June 28 Patriarch Pavle, accompanied by Bishop
Artemije, led the Vidovdan liturgy at Gracanica monastery.
Afterwards Patriarch Pavle lead the memorial service
dedicated to Serb heroes and martyrs at the war memorial at
Gazimestan, on Kosovo Field, five kilometers north of
Pristina. PDFSN said the crowd at Gazimestan numbered
500-700 people, making it the largest since 1999. Moderate
Kosovo Serb leader Randjel Nojkic of the Serbian List for
Kosovo and Metohija (SLKM) told PolFSN on June 28 that he was
at Gazimestan, along with SLKM colleagues Oliver Ivanovic,
Goran Bogdanovic, Vesna Jovanovic and Gojko Savic. He said
other participants included Serb leaders from Belgrade,
including the head of the Kosovo Coordination Center (CCK)
Sanda Raskovic-Ivic, Serbian Minister for Capital Investments
Velimir Ilic, Serbian Minister of Religion, chairman of the
Serbian negotiating team for economics Nenad Popovic,
Slobodan Vucetic of the Serbian Radical Party (SPS),and
representatives of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) and the
Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS). Also present were hard-line
leaders of the Serb National Council (SNC) Rada Trajkovic,
Milan Ivanovic and Marko Jaksic (the two former are
E.O.-listed) and deputy head of the Russian Duma Sergey
Baburin, a nationalist former Russian general in Afghanistan.

KOSTUNICA VISITED GRACANICA AMID TIGHT SECURITY
-------------- --


4. (SBU) Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica entered
Kosovo from Serbia through Gate 5 in Kamenica (in between
Bujanovac in Serbia and Gjilan/Gniljane in Kosovo) at 11:15
on June 28. He went directly to Gracanica monastery, where
he attended a lunch hosted by Bishop Artemije. Kostunica
told assembled Kosovo Serbs, many of whom had waited for
hours, that Kosovo will always be part of Serbia. Kostunica
left Kosovo via Gate 3 at Merdare (the most direct route
between Pristina and Belgrade) at approximately 17:00.


5. (SBU) According to one Kosovo Serb teacher from a village
near Gracanica, Kostunica was well received by the hundreds
who saw him speak on the monastery grounds. Local media
highlighted interviews with several Kosovo Serbs, however,
who expressed disappointment with the visit. One local

PRISTINA 00000564 002.2 OF 003


newspaper quoted Borislav Stevic, a Serb from Gracanica, as
saying, "Kostunica cannot keep his empty promises. He will
leave, while we will remain here and deal with the
consequences with our neighbors who are not very happy with
his visit." According to US Army community liaison officers
stationed at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo Serbs in the Kamenica and
Gjilan/Gniljane regions told them that Kostunica does not
really care about Kosovo Serbs, and only came to Kosovo to
bolster his own political credentials in advance of a
possible upcoming election in Serbia.


6. (SBU) UNMIK, KFOR and the KPS mounted a heavy security
operation on Vidovdan and the days leading up to it. PDFSN
said the road from Pristina to Gazimestan was under tight
traffic controls, UNMIK and the Kosovo Police Service (KPS)
escorted buses carrying Kosovo Serbs from northern Kosovo.
PolOff observed numerous KFOR armored vehicles stationed
along the road from Pristina to Merdare near the time of
Kostunica's departure, as well as hundreds of KPS and CIVPOL
both roving and at checkpoints.

OVER 100 ACTIVISTS ARRESTED, INCLUDING ALBIN KURTI
-------------- --------------


7. (SBU) According to police sources, Albin Kurti and
supporters of his Movement for Self Determination (SDM)
attempted to block main roads leading into Kosovo using their
bodies and vehicles in three locations. Police arrested
Kurti and 30 other in southern Mitrovica; 82 at Gate 3 near
Merdare and 20-25 at Gate 5 near Gjilan/Gniljane. Some of
the activists were found guilty, reprimanded and released,
although Kurti is being held for 72 hours.

"NEXT TIME WITH A VISA"
--------------


8. (SBU) The response of the Kosovo leadership has been
restrained. President Agim Ceku told the media on June 27
that Kostunica's visit was a private one for religious
purposes, and said that if Kostunica "comes to provoke the
feelings of Kosova citizens, I believe the people of Kosova
are mature enough and will not respond to any provocations."
In a June 29 assembly session, Sabri Hamiti, a member of the
Assembly Presidency from the Democratic League of Kosovo
(LDK) condemned the arrest of fellow member of the Kosovo
Assembly and E.O. listed Emrush Xhemajli from the small
People,s Movement of Kosovo (LPK) along with Kurti,s
followers. He asked that the Assembly formally condemn
Kostunica,s visit, saying that UNMIK had permitted his entry
for a private, religious celebration, not a political visit.
A junior member of parliament from Hashim Thaci,s Democratic
Party of Kosovo lauded the efforts of the SDM, insisting that
&those young people did the work our government should have
done.8


9. (SBU) Kosovo Albanian media coverage of the events was
also restrained; one headline concerning the Serbian PM,s
visit even quipped, &Next time with a Visa.8 The Kosovo
Liberation Army (KLA) war veterans association issued a
statement calling the visit a grave provocation and Kostunica
a criminal who, "still keeps bodies of Albanians who were
killed by his state." (NOTE. The final sets of human
remains exhumed from known mass gravesites in Serbia are
scheduled to be repatriated to Kosovo on June 30. END
NOTE.).


10. (SBU) COMMENT. Kostunica's visit comes at a time when
Kosovo Serbs desperately need leadership and guidance. Many
were thrilled that Kostunica came to share this holiday with
them, while others remain skeptical about his motives and
doubt he can carry through on his promises. Kosovo Serbs did
enjoy the opportunity Vidovdan provided as one of the few
times during the year when they can gather freely and
publicly in large numbers and celebrate Serb cultural
traditions. Despite a predictable response by Kurti and his

PRISTINA 00000564 003.2 OF 003


activists, the events took place peacefully and without major
incidents. Most Kosovo Albanians believe they are on track
to get what they want by the end of the year, and believe
that despite Kostunica's nationalist rhetoric, there is
little Serbs can do to stop it. END COMMENT.


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