KOSOVO: MEDIA CAMPAIGN/PUBLIC OUTREACH ON

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PRISTINA 000161 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/SCE, FOR EUR/PPD - ROXANNE CABRAL, NSC FOR BRAUN, USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KJUS EAID KDEM UNMIK YI KPAO SUBJECT: KOSOVO: MEDIA CAMPAIGN/PUBLIC OUTREACH ON AHTISAARI PLAN KICKS INTO HIGHER GEAR REF: A. PRISTINA 27 ¶B. PRISTINA 118 Sensitive but Unclassified. Please handle accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Since President Ahtisaari's February 2 presentation of the final status settlement package for Kosovo, efforts to explain the package to both Kosovar Albanians and Serbs include a USAID-funded media campaign, televised educational programs, radio call-in shows, community roundtables with local leaders, and large public town hall meetings. Unity Team members, UNMIK, OSCE, the International Civilian Office (ICO) planning team, KFOR, Contact Group members including USOP, and international and local NGOs have all participated. On March 1, the second phase of the media campaign began under the slogan, "Kosovo, For Sure!," providing greater detail to both Kosovar Albanians and Serbs, but with different approaches. For the Albanians, the emphasis is on the attributes of future sovereignty in the package (along with a flashy TV ad featuring a famous international Kosovar football star), while for the Serbs the focus is on the specific rights, including the decentralization concept, that will allow them to live in peace and security. Challenges remain, particularly the skittishness of the Kosovar political leadership to discuss decentralization -- which remains a source of controversy in Kosovo -- in a forthright manner, as well as general ignorance about the concept among Kosovo Serbs, who rely in large part for their information on the anti-Ahtisaari oriented media based in Serbia. The second phase of the Kosovo outreach program will attempt to remedy this ignorance by relying more on expanded radio coverage and use of local TV stations. The media campaign and public outreach has kicked into higher gear and has made a difference already, but more work needs to be done. END SUMMARY. Media-based outreach sets the tone, reveals "the other side's" concerns ¶2. (SBU) The first phase of the USAID-funded media campaign was oriented towards encouraging the Kosovar public to see the Ahtisaari package in a positive light (especially since much negative publicity had been levelled at the document before its presentation) -- without, however, addressing specifics of the package. The first slogan, "Kosovo Welcomes the Future," appeared in two Public Service Announcements (PSAs) and two billboard designs (one each for Albanians and Serbs) and aired through February (Ref A). The second phase, developed after Ahtisaari's visit on February 2, now provides a greater level of detail to assuage fears and counter specific misconceptions about elements of the package. For Kosovo Albanians, the campaign has focused on those aspects of Ahtisaari's proposals that suggest the attributes and responsibilities of future sovereignty (delivered by an international Kosovar football star to make the message compelling for young people). For Kosovo Serbs, the messages have focused closely on the decentralization and security elements of the package that will permit them to live safely and securely in post-status Kosovo. At a March 1 meeting of the Public Outreach Working Group, the local PR firm engaged with this effort presented the final product, noting that it had been focus group-tested in both the Albanian and Serb communities. With the slogan, "Kosovo, Secure" or "Kosovo, For Sure," the campaign began airing on March 1 wtih 3 TV PSAs (2 Albanian, 1 Serb),3 billboard designs (2 Albanian, 1 Serb),and 3 radio ads (all Serb). A website (www.sigurt.info and www.sigurno.info) has all the information about the campaign, copies of the settlement document (as provided and translated by the Unity Team) in Albanian and Serbian, and other useful information that will be up and running by March 2. (Note: The Albanian word "sigurt" is versatile and useful in this context; it can mean safe, secure, certain or sure. End note) ¶3. (U) The TV magazine series, like the media campaign, has PRISTINA 00000161 002 OF 003 been coordinated by the USAID contractor, Academy for Educational Development (AED),and consists of four 27-minute programs dealing with security, community rights, decentralization and cultural heritage, set to begin airing in mid-March. The COM kicked off the series with an interview on February 12. By partnering local TV stations from Albanian and Serb communities, each program highlights the specific concerns communities have about one of these four topics, to enhance Albanian understanding of Serb fears and vice versa. In a separate effort, televised dialogues between Kosovo Albanians and Kosovo Serbs, moderated by the well-regarded Belgrade-based NGO Fractal, also aim to educate each side on the other's feelings about status. KFOR is also sponsoring radio shows (in both Q&A call-in and panel discussion formats) that reiterate KFOR's continuing presence in Kosovo and its commitment to Kosovo's security. These shows are aimed primarily at Kosovo Serbs. Community roundtables and town hall meetings ¶4. (SBU) AED, through a subcontract with the local Advocacy, Training and Resource Center (ATRC),is also conducting 33 community roundtables. After participating in a two-day training session, NGOs from designated municipalities have brought together community leaders to discuss their concerns about the status settlement package and process. Some of the roundtables include international experts on various issues dealt with in the package. After each roundtable the NGO produces a report outlining that particular community's concerns. In addition, OSCE plans to hold a series of small workshops for university students in Pristina to address their specific questions, concerns and (mis)perceptions. ¶5. (SBU) The most extensive community outreach being done is a series of public town hall meetings. AED, Fractal, UNMIK and OSCE, which keeps a centralized, running calendar of events which all can plug into, have organized public town hall meetings designed to allow citizens to interact directly with their leaders and with international representatives. Regular participants in these town halls include Unity Team Members (President Sejdiu, PM Ceku and opposition leader Thaci),SRSG Ruecker, Municipal Assembly presidents, ICO planning team head Sohlstrom, KFOR representatives, and Contact Group representatives, including COM. AED has 7 regional town halls scheduled for April and will determine the panelists based on concerns expressed in the community roundtables. Fractal, as part of its "Enclavia Project," an effort to foster civic involvement in Kosovo Serb enclaves, has already facilitated one town hall meeting in Gracanica for the local Serb community with the COM as the featured speaker (ref B),and anticipates two more with her as keynote speaker in Strpce and northern Mitrovica. UNMIK and the OSCE have also organized events at the University of Pristina, in Gjilan and in Viti, two municipalities directly affected by decentralization. The OSCE has future town hall meetings planned for Kamenice, Strpce, Decan, Ranilug, Velica Hoca and with the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce. Thus far, these community outreach efforts have revealed that many Kosovars have a very limited understanding of the package. Most have not read the package and some think the UNOSEK fact sheets are actually the complete document. (Note: USOP is also using its FSO Albanian speakers for USOP-sponsored events, which include meetings with students from the University of Pristina, Journalism Institute, and other schools. End Note.) Decentralization: UT member shy away, Kosovo Serbs have little knowledge ¶6. (SBU) While the media campaign and coordinated public outreach effort is promising, challenges remain. Unity Team members tend to shy away from directly addressing what are seen as controversial topics by Kosovar Albanians -- especially decentralization -- and to worry about their image among their constituents. They stop short of discussing the benefits for all, not just for Kosovo Serbs, of a PRISTINA 00000161 003 OF 003 decentralized structure of government. Indeed, they and their representatives on the Public Outreach Working Group, who are an integral part of creating the messages for the media campaign, believe that decentralization is just the bitter pill Kosovo has to swallow in order to be independent, and so have refused to address it directly in the ads that are geared for Kosovo Albanians. That unwillingness to discuss the issue head-on negatively affects public understanding of the concept. To make matters worse, National Democratic Institute focus groups and ATRC roundtables reveal that many Albanians in any event do not believe that decentralization will be implemented. ¶7. (SBU) Regarding Kosovo's Serbs, especially those in the Serb-majority areas of the north, the problem is not so much the message as it is a lack of basic information about what decentralization means. Participants in focus groups in these areas for the second phase of the media campaign revealed how limited their understanding is of decentralization. During the tests, trial ads that explained decentralization and its impact on their daily lives turned out to be the first exposure many of the participants had had to the whole concept. Some were favorably surprised. Many of the participants had not seen the first phase ads on television because they only watch Serbia-based electronic media -- the result of refusal or prohibitive pricing from these media to take part in the campaign. To remedy this, the second phase plans expanded radio coverage and the use of local TV stations to attempt to reach a wider audience. Although operating in a much more constrained and difficult environment than in the Serb enclaves of the south, this media campaign in the north will be supplemented as well by town hall meetings. Current outreach planning includes one ATRC community roundtable, one ATRC town hall, and one Fractal town hall in north Mitrovica. In addition to public town halls, USAID and PD are looking to find local NGOs which would be willing to conduct "micro-level" outreach to Kosovo Serbs throughout Kosovo, going door-to-door to answer questions and concerns. ¶8. (SBU) COMMENT: Media campaign and public outreach efforts to inform the Kosovar public about the final status document and process are making a difference. President Sejdiu, PM Ceku and main opposition leader Thaci, as well as USOP, UNMIK OSCE and the other key internationals here, are on board and have taken on mutually supportive roles to get the word out. The most difficult tasks will continue to be getting the Kosovar political leadership to be more forthright in its support for the Ahtisaari package, as well as educating and reassuring Kosovo's Serbs that the document means a safe and secure life for them in Kosovo. USOP will continue to use its position on the Public Outreach Working Group to push these issues and look for opportunities to use its voice to garner support for the document. END COMMMENT. ¶10. (SBU) USOP clears this cable in its entirety for release to UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari. KAIDANOW