Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07PRISTINA186
2007-03-12 11:37:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Pristina
Cable title:  

KOSOVO: ON THE HUSTINGS FOR THE PACKAGE: ALL

Tags:  PGOV PREL PHUM SOCI 
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DE RUEHPS #0186/01 0711137
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 121137Z MAR 07
FM USOFFICE PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7126
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1085
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK PRIORITY
RHFMISS/AFSOUTH NAPLES IT PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR TF FALCON PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEPGEA/CDR650THMIGP SHAPE BE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUFOANA/USNIC PRISTINA SR PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L PRISTINA 000186 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/08/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM SOCI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: ON THE HUSTINGS FOR THE PACKAGE: ALL
POLITICS TEND TO BE LOCAL


Classified By: COM Tina Kaidanow for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L PRISTINA 000186

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/08/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM SOCI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: ON THE HUSTINGS FOR THE PACKAGE: ALL
POLITICS TEND TO BE LOCAL


Classified By: COM Tina Kaidanow for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)


1. (C) Summary: USOP outreach efforts to encourage
understanding of the Ahtisaari package have uncovered some
interesting trends, particularly with regard to Kosovar
Albanian perceptions of the document. By far,
decentralization as it affects southern Kosovo has proven to
be the most contentious aspect of the Ahtisaari package, with
many hard-line Kosovo Albanians labeling it a "land giveaway"
to Serbia. Overall, we have found in our discussions that
perceived "concessions" to the Kosovo Serbs continue to
engender resentment -- not because most moderate Kosovar
Albanians object to addressing Serb concerns, but because of
the deeply-held belief that all of these benefits have been
given without the Serb side offering any compromises of its
own. Concerns about municipal links to Serbia, the future of
the security force, and the Macedonian border have struck us
as ventilation more than genuine disgruntlement, and in fact
do not come up much in discussions with average Kosovars. In
specific locales, the stresses are deeper: the Albanians of
Peja, for example, clearly view the Pec Patriarchate with
deep resentment, a longer-term problem we will need to
address through mediation and close contacts. The USOP
public outreach effort continues and intensifies through
March and April, with both Serb and Albanian communities
scheduled for town hall meetings in tandem with OSCE and UK
efforts. End summary.


2. (SBU) As part of our Public Outreach Working Group
initiative, USOP officers have been speaking throughout
Kosovo, explaining the Ahtisaari package and giving Kosovars
a chance to air their views. The events are organized by
USAID grantee AED, working with community-based NGOs. The UK
Office has joined with us in this campaign, in addition to a
related program sponsored by OSCE. We are intensifying our
outreach in the next few weeks, particularly utilizing USOP

and UK personnel who speak Serbian and Albanian. This past
week in Peja/Pec, we were joined by AAK MP Gylnaze Syla; in
Novo Brdo, we were joined by Counselor to the Deputy Prime
Minister Naim Behlolu.

Decentralization


3. (SBU) Without question, in all these meetings and
discussions, decentralization has emerged as the key theme of
Kosovar Albanian attention. We spent March 8 in Novo Brdo,
Kosovo's poorest municipality and one of its most ethnically
mixed, though most participants who turned out were ethnic
Albanian. Every single question over a three-hour meeting
was about what the plan meant for Novo Brdo. Responding to
our opening position that decentralization was about bringing
government closer to the people and improving the quality of
governance at the local level, an exceptionally skeptical
(but polite) resident asked if decentralization were "real"
or "political." We noted that decentralization was a
political concept in that it was the foundation for political
systems in the U.S. and elsewhere designed to devolve
authority downward, but added that it was also necessary in
Kosovo to demonstrate that minority communities would enjoy
robust -- and real -- rights in the overall context of a
majoritarian state. USOP reps pointed out to town hall
participants that Novo Brdo and the surrounding area would be
the most affected -- in a positive sense -- by the
implementation of the Ahtisaari package, and noted that we
are gearing up our assistance programs to work with new and
newly-reconfigured municipalities.

"Giving too much to Serbs"


4. (SBU) Beside decentralization, other themes -- notably
the "lack of concessions" by the Serb negotiating team --
have arisen as problematic for Kosovar Albanians. At a
discussion at the Kosovo Institute of Journalism, this topic
came up, with students arguing that the Serbs were both a
numerically small part of the population and had refused to
negotiate in good faith. We pointed out (a case
unfortunately supported by the March 4 disruption by Serb

hardliners of the moderate Serb meeting in Gracanica) that
Serbs in Kosovo are not empowered to present alternate views,
but that this only increases the need for Kosovar Albanians
to demonstrate their willingness to reach out to Serbs.
Every church desecration, USOP reps noted, every stoning of a
school bus, every crossing out the Serbian name of a town on
a road sign, and every angry word hurts Kosovo and undermines
the work of those who are supporting its development.


5. (C) By far the most strident anti-Serb rhetoric came in
Peja/Pec, and took the form of opposition to the provisions
on the protection of religious sites, particularly the
special protective zones that prohibit some forms of
development. Citizens of Peja expressed ill-founded concerns
that the Pec Patriarchate would cut off the city's supply of
drinking water or would bar access to the road leading into
the Rugova Gorge. The difficulties of reconciliation in
Peja/Pec are magnified by historical bad blood -- Serbs set
fire to the historical center of the town in 1999 -- and the
fact that the staff and nuns who run the Patriarchate are
isolated and hardcore in their nationalist views. (USOP will
attempt to do some fence mending between patriarchate staff
and town officials, using the good offices of Father Sava
from Decani, though the hurdle is significant. USOP recently
succeeded in urging Peja major Lajci to lift a building
restriction on construction at the Patriarchate, one step in
the right direction.)


6. (SBU) A lack of understanding of the double-majority
provisions of the document has also been a constant since
Ahtisaari's initial presentation on February 2. While the
provision is limited to eight types of legislation dealing
exclusively with minority rights, we have been asked
repeatedly whether the provision means that Serbs can veto an
Assembly declaration of independence. We have also been
asked whether this means the minority can amend the
constitution over the will of the majority. Our public
outreach events provide an opportunity to refute these basic
misinterpretations of the package.

Things that have not come up


7. (SBU) Notably, in all these discussions and many more, no
Kosovar Albanian has asked about the three northern Serb
municipalities. No one has raised the status of north
Mitrovica, nor has anyone questioned the provisions for the
north Mitrovica university or hospital. No one has
questioned KFOR and no one has expressed concern about
possible Belgrade attempts to block or undermine the process.
Also, we have never been asked publicly about a possible
Russian veto of a Security Council resolution. Although our
Kosovar counterparts have used the "i" word freely, no one
has asked us when and if independence is coming. Only one
self-proclaimed war veteran said that he objected to the
disbanding of the KPC, saying that it should become the new
national army. That does not mean that these issues have no
place in Kosovar thinking, only that ordinary citizens appear
more drawn to addressing their local concerns than these
larger, global ones.

Comment:


8. (SBU) The outreach campaign continues, providing useful
insight into Kosovar Albanian and Serb thinking about the
Ahtisaari plan and giving us the opportunity to correct
misperceptions about key provisions. There is still a
considerable amount of work to be done; March and April will
see an intensification of our efforts, in tandem with OSCE
and others (COMKFOR, SRSG Ruecker, Kosovar officials
including the Prime Minister and opposition leader Thaci)
engaged in the outreach program. End Comment.


9. (SBU) USOP clears this message in its entirety for
release to UN Special Envoy Ahtisaari.
KAIDANOW