COM URGES MODERATE KOSOVO SERB LEADERS TO ENGAGE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000639

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SUBJECT: COM URGES MODERATE KOSOVO SERB LEADERS TO ENGAGE
IN STATUS NEGOTIATIONS

REF: (A) PRISTINA 352 (B) PRISTINA 614

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1. (SBU) SUMMARY. During introductory meetings with
moderate Kosovo Serb leaders Oliver Ivanovic, Bishop
Teodosije and Father Sava, COM echoed recent comments by
Ambassador Wisner about the importance of active and direct
engagement in status negotiations during the coming weeks.
Ivanovic, Teodosije and Sava all expressed gratitude for
Wisner's candor, and criticized Belgrade for taking an
"unrealistic and obstructionist" approach to status
negotiations. Ivanovic claimed he is in the process of
registering his own new political party in Kosovo. Teodosije
said UNOSEK's proposal for protection zones for the fifteen
most important Serb cultural heritage sites in Kosovo was
more reasonable than Belgrade's proposal for forty sites,
which he said would cover more than half of Kosovo. END
SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) On July 31, COM urged Oliver Ivanovic, leader of
the Serbian List for Kosovo and Metohija (SLKM),as well as
moderate Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) leaders Bishop
Teodosije Sibalic of Lipljan and Father Sava Janjic, to
engage in the final status process during these crucial final
weeks of intensive negotiations. COM said that now is the
time when moderate Kosovo Serbs must engage to the fullest
extent possible in order for their ideas to be considered.
She encouraged them to continue to submit any proposals
directly to the Kosovo Albanian negotiating team or to the
USG. She also urged them to help build a Kosovo in which
Kosovo Serbs will choose to live regardless of status.
Ivanovic, Teodosije and Sava all agreed that the coming weeks
were critical, and lamented that Belgrade's interests did not
always coincide with those of Kosovo Serbs.


3. (SBU) Ivanovic told COM that he has filed registration
documents with the OSCE to create a new political party,
which he hopes will unify Kosovo Serbs and enable them to
influence policy in Kosovo. Unlike the current SLKM, he
said, his new party would not be directly tied to Belgrade
political parties, although he claimed to have the support of
the Belgrade-based Social Democratic Party (SDP),Nebojsa
Covic. He fretted that Kosovo Serbs were completely
disorganized and averred that Belgrade has long prevented the
establishment of local political elites. He reiterated the
intent of the SLKM Kosovo assembly members to return to
Pristina institutions "as soon as possible," ideally before
status is finalized. However, he caveated heavily, saying
that the SLKM is weak and he still needs at least some
low-profile support from Serbian President Boris Tadic and
from fellow SLKM member Goran Bogdanovic (the Kosovo
representative of Tadic's Democratic Party (DS) and a member
of the Belgrade status negotiating team) in order to return
to Pristina's Provisional Institutions of Self-Government
(PISG).


4. (SBU) Ivanovic expressed concern about possible
political tension in Kosovo this fall, and said the U.S.
should use its influence with Kosovo Albanian leaders to
prevent violence. "Some people," he noted, wrongly believe
that threats will improve their negotiating position.
Ivanovic agreed that a division of Kosovo would be disastrous
for the 60% of Kosovo Serbs who do not live the north, and he
criticized Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica
directly, saying that responsible leaders should have courage
and take more initiative.


5. (SBU) Small but visible infrastructure improvements on
the ground, Ivanovic argued, would help Kosovo Serbs through
these uncertain times if implemented now; current urgent
needs included an access road to Laplje Selo (outside
Pristina) and a small bridge in Ranilug (Kamenica
municipality). He asked for opportunities to align the SLKM
with these projects, noting that the coalition needed to show

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Kosovo Serbs there can be positive results from their
participation in institutions. He also complained that
Pristina leaders make encouraging statements about promoting
multi-ethnicity, but then fail to follow through with
appropriate action. He gave a recent example in which he
successfully urged a Kosovo Serb engineer from Mitrovica to
apply for a position with the Kosovo Ministry of Transport,
but said the applicant never even received a response to his
application.


6. (SBU) At Decani Monastery, Teodosije and Sava told COM
that they and the SOC will stay in Kosovo regardless of the
outcome of status negotiations, and they are therefore able
to take a more realistic approach to finding compromise
solutions. Teodosije said he is pleased with UNOSEK,s
proposal for protection zones for the 15 most important
Serbian cultural heritage sites in Kosovo, but said that the
church wants several more sites that were active monastic
communities prior to 1999 to be added to the list as a sign
of goodwill. Sava said that these sites meet the established
criteria, which include functionality (the nature of the site
as a church or monastery),environment (urban or rural),
visibility (the zone should include what can be seen from the
site),and the degree of vulnerability.


7. (SBU) Teodosije said that he urged Belgrade negotiating
team members who continue to insist on special protections
for over 40 sites (consisting of over half of Kosovo) to
"open their eyes" to the reality of the situation. He
expressed concern that Kosovo Albanians continue to see
Serbian heritage sites as "Trojan horses" of the Serbian
state, and said that Belgrade's proposals do nothing to calm
such fears. Father Sava gave COM several satellite images of
valley surrounding Decani Monastery, color-coded to compare
the current UNMIK protection zone (Ref A) with the Belgrade
proposal and with monastery lands prior to WWII. He said
that the next issue to be resolved is the structure and role
of international commissions which will manage protection
zones around the selected sites, noting that without adequate
international monitoring, the zones themselves would offer
little protection.


8. (SBU) Teodosije praised Serbian President Boris Tadic,
with whom he recently spent three hours at a summer camp for
multi-ethnic refugee children in Serbia. Teodosije said that
Tadic completely shared his own views on decentralization and
the protection of cultural heritage. Teodosije and Sava were
also clear on the need to engage Kosovo Albanians. However,
Sava admitted they are limited by the parameters set by the
church hierarchy in Belgrade, and said he was even worried
that Teodosije might be transferred away from Decani during
the next Synod in November (Ref B).


9. (SBU) COMMENT. Moderate Kosovo Serb political and
religious leaders are becoming more confident about
criticizing Belgrade and stating their own independent
positions. They recognize the need for pragmatism in light
of a looming status declaration. The church leaders at
Decani are taking a realistic view of the minimal concessions
they need to ensure the long term survival of Serb religious
communities in Kosovo. Ivanovic's new Kosovo-based political
party is a positive development, though a small one, which
has some potential to unite those Serbs who want to stay and
help them integrate into post-status Kosovo. END COMMENT.


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