KOSOVO: PM CEKU "LOOKING TOWARDS STATUS" WHILE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000846 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR DRL, INL, AND EUR/SCE, NSC FOR BRAUN, USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL UNMIK YI SUBJECT: KOSOVO: PM CEKU "LOOKING TOWARDS STATUS" WHILE MANAGING EXPECTATIONS Classified By: COM TINA KAIDANOW FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku briefed Pristina liaison office heads October 5 on his plans over the next several months for managing Kosovo Albanians' expectations for, and Kosovo Serbs' fear of, final status. Ceku said that implementation of Standards for Kosovo, particularly the Contact Group's 13 priorities, will be key. Next steps, Ceku outlined, would include visits throughout Kosovo by the PM and other government officials, media events and other forms of confidence building outreach. Minister of Environmental and Spatial Planning Ardian Gjini told participants that the Kosovo government welcomed an international presence after status. Ceku's briefing came on the heels of recent well-publicized statements by UN Special Envoy for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari and EU High Representative Javier Solana that a decision on Kosovo's final status may be delayed because of proposed elections in Serbia. Ceku asked liaison office heads to continue their support for Kosovo and the process begun by Ahtisaari. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Kosovo PM Ceku convened Pristina-based liaison office heads to update them on Standards implementation and his government's plans to shape public perceptions on final status over the coming months. Originally scheduled as a meeting with only the Contact Group, Ceku expanded it to include all liaison offices. Ceku said that Standards implementation remains his government's top priority and that by his count, nine of the Contact Group's 13 priorities have been fulfilled. ¶3. (SBU) Ceku noted that after Standards implementation, his next priority is to manage the expectations of Kosovo Albanians and assuage the fears of Kosovo's Serbs over the outcome of final status negotiations. He said that after consultations with UNMIK and KFOR, his office has developed an action plan for an information campaign which will include visits throughout Kosovo, media events and other confidence building measures. Ceku added that since July he has participated in 16 visits and meetings throughout Kosovo at which he opened minority housing and multi-ethnic schools. He also said specifically that he would fulfill requests for small infrastructure projects in two Serb-majority areas relayed to him by Serb SLKM leader Oliver Ivanovic. Ceku described plans for an additional six visits over the next two weeks, and said he had reached out to the leader of a new Kosovo-based political party which he claimed has 3,000 members. (NOTE: This is a reference to his meeting with Slobodan Petrovic, president of the Autonomous Liberal Party, a new Kosovo-based ethnic Serb party. END NOTE). ¶4. (SBU) Reflecting on news reports and statements by Solana and Ahtisaari that the status process might be delayed as a result of the Serbian electoral calendar, Ceku asked liaison office heads to continue the momentum of last month's Contact Group meeting in Sofia and its stated aim of achieving a decision on Kosovo's status by the end of 2006. If Kosovo's final status is to be delayed, he argued, it would be better to consider delaying implementation rather than the actual decision. He also asked liaison office chiefs to pressure Belgrade to stop forbidding Kosovo Serbs from engaging with the Kosovo institutions. He reminded those present that Kosovo's future lies with membership in the European Union. ¶5. (SBU) Environment and Spatial Planning Minister Ardian Gjini spoke in his capacity as the Kosovo negotiating team's representative in discussions on the future international presence in Kosovo post-status. Gjini noted that the Kosovo government understood it was not in a position to negotiate over the size and scope of any future international presence and desired close cooperation with the EU and other participants in planning the proposed International Civilian Office. He asserted that Kosovo has a highly-motivated population and would aim to enhance its capacity quickly to reach its two ultimate targets -- EU integration and NATO membership -- in a realistic timeframe. PRISTINA 00000846 002 OF 002 ¶6. (C) COMMENT: With speculation swirling on the likelihood of a delay in the status process, the Prime Minister and others will be under increasing pressure to advocate the year-end deadline more assertively. COM met October 4 with Ceku, October 5 with opposition leader Thaci, and October 6 with President Sejdiu (reported septel) to urge them to keep their public comments measured and constructive and avoid "year-end" ultimata to the international community. Ceku's presentation was reassuring in that it represented a moderate response to recent statements by Ahtisaari and Javier Solana, reported prominently by Kosovo media, about the possibility of delaying a status resolution until after elections in Serbia. The presentation also contained welcome elements of forethought with regard to selling the decentralization concept to Kosovar Serbs and Albanians alike, something we have been encouraging for a long time. END COMMENT. ¶7. (SBU) U.S. Office Pristina clears paras. 1 through 5 for release to U.N. Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari. KAIDANOW