Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PRISTINA909
2006-10-30 16:32:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Pristina
Cable title:  

KOSOVO: EUR/SCE DIRECTOR HOH PRESSES KOSOVAR

Tags:  PGOV PREL KDEM UNMIK YI 
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O 301632Z OCT 06
FM USOFFICE PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6632
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0888
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHFMISS/AFSOUTH NAPLES IT
RHMFISS/CDR TF FALCON
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEPGEA/CDR650THMIGP SHAPE BE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUFOANA/USNIC PRISTINA SR
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000909 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/30/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: EUR/SCE DIRECTOR HOH PRESSES KOSOVAR
INTERLOCUTORS TO FOCUS ON TRANSITION ISSUES

Classified By: COM TINA KAIDANOW FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000909

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/30/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: EUR/SCE DIRECTOR HOH PRESSES KOSOVAR
INTERLOCUTORS TO FOCUS ON TRANSITION ISSUES

Classified By: COM TINA KAIDANOW FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Visiting EUR/SCE Office Director Chris Hoh
reassured anxious Kosovo Albanian leaders that the USG still
supports resolution of Kosovo's final status by the end of
the year, but asked them to help manage expectations within
the population if Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari decides a
delay is necessary. UNMIK representatives warned that
Ahtisaari must keep to his original timeline in order to
provide the momentum necessary to stave off destabilizing
actions by extremist fringe groups. Hoh told government and
opposition leaders that after final status is resolved, they
would be judged on how well they are able to govern on
transition day. Moderate Kosovo Serb leader Randjel Nojkic
was upbeat on the possibility of Serbs staying in Kosovo and
entering Kosovo institutions after the decision on final
status. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) EUR/SCE Office Director Chris Hoh met in Pristina on
October 16 with various members of the Kosovo Negotiating
Team's Political Group, Negotiating Team Coordinator Blerim
Shala, SRSG Joachim Ruecker, Kosovo Serb leader Randjel
Nojkic, President Fatmir Sejdiu's principal advisor Skender
Hyseni, local EU representative Torbjorn Sohlstrom and
COMKFOR Chief of Staff General Albert Bryant. Hoh also met
on October 15 with Father Sava at Decani Monastery to discuss
the exclusion zone around the monastery.

Concern over Serbian Referendum, Possible Delay


3. (C) Kosovo Albanian politicians all expressed anxiety over
the proposed referendum on October 28-29 on a new Serbian
constitution containing provisions ostensibly tying Kosovo to
Serbia and the fear that Serbia's internal politics could
cause a delay or postponement in the resolution of Kosovo's
final status. President Sejdiu's Advisor Skender Hyseni said
that the Negotiating Team and the Kosovo government have
managed these two basic concerns publicly, saying that

Serbia's holding of the referendum -- even in Serb enclaves
in Kosovo -- will have no influence on the status decision.
He added that privately, however, most senior Kosovo
politicians consider the referendum to be a serious
provocation by Serbia.


4. (C) Hyseni also noted his belief that, although the Kosovo
government has no concrete information on a delay in the
current plan by Special Envoy Ahtisaari to deliver his
recommendations on Kosovo's status before the end of the
year, a delay may in fact be imminent once the Serbian
electoral calendar is determined. If that happened, Hyseni
said, the Kosovar leadership would find a way to sell it to
the public, provided there are clear statements from the USG
and the Contact Group on the limited nature of any delay.
SRSG Ruecker reiterated this theme, asking that the contact
Group keep to the 2006 timetable, but assuring Hoh that a
short delay could be managed if it were not open-ended.


5. (SBU) Members of the Political Group with whom Hoh met
agreed that implementation of the settlement agreement is the
biggest challenge facing Kosovo. They also expressed
confidence in U.S. ability to lead the final status process
and asked for a strong U.S. presence in the planned
international civilian presence after UNMIK departs. Enver
Hoxhaj from the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo worried
about the fate of the divided city of Mitrovica, but Ardian
Gjini, Minister of Environmental and Spatial Planning from
the junior coalition partner Alliance for the Future of
Kosovo, warned against any artificial attempt to reunite the
divided halves of the city as part of the settlement, arguing
that time would help bring the two sides closer together.

Transition Process, Implementation of Settlement Critical


6. (C) SCE Director Hoh pressed all interlocutors on the
essential need to get the post-UNMIK transition process
underway, and for the Kosovar government to be ready to
accept responsibilities from UNMIK once it departed. Hoh

PRISTINA 00000909 002 OF 002


underscored that the Kosovo government would be judged
harshly by its citizens if it could not provide effective
services in the days immediately following its formal
assumption of new authorities. He used his meeting with SRSG
Ruecker and PDSRSG Schook to stress the need to work closely
with the Kosovo government and the planning team of the
proposed International Civilian Office (ICO) to transfer
UNMIK's remaining competencies over the next several months.
SRSG Ruecker agreed strongly, saying that his emphasis with
the Kosovar leadership was to focus not on status, but on
implementation of the Standards for Kosovo and the eventual
transition from UNMIK to Kosovo government institutions.


7. (C) KFOR COS General Bryant outlined for Hoh KFOR's view
that its primary security concerns are not in the north, but
rather in the southern Serb enclaves. Regarding the upcoming
referendum, Bryant noted that KFOR's posture would be
appropriate to deal with any contingency, but without being
heavy-handed. Bryant noted that post-status, the EU is
planning a smaller police presence than currently exists
under UNMIK CIVPOL, and he warned against a loss of
international law enforcement capacity, saying that KFOR was
not equipped to fill such a vacuum.

Moderate Serb Encouraging on Post-Status Serb Cooperation


8. (C) In an encouraging note, moderate Kosovo Serb leader
Randjel Nojkic insisted to Hoh that Serbs who stay in Kosovo
will participate in Kosovo institutions after status,
although he acknowledged it would be difficult, particularly
if Belgrade withheld its blessing. Nojkic maintained that
most Serbs would stay after status, though, he averred, those
in the north who benefit financially from the current system
of "lawlessness" would be more likely to leave after final
status is determined. Nojkic said he believed that Serb
President Boris Tadic would soon encourage Kosovo Serbs to
participate in Kosovo institutions and that this would be
enough cover for those who wanted to do so. He added that
Kosovo Serbs are very skeptical of Belgrade and will easily
turn to Pristina if they believe they will be protected and
have their basic needs met. Nojkic complained bitterly that
the upcoming referendum was a "big lie" and that Belgrade was
particularly wrong to deny Kosovo Albanians the right to vote
on its provisions.


9. (U) EUR/SCE Director Chris Hoh cleared this cable.


10. (SBU) U.S. Office Pristina clears this cable in its
entirety for release to U.N. Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari.
KAIDANOW