USOP'S FIRST VISIT TO THE NEWLY RE-ACCREDITED

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000214 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/SCE, EUR/PPD (CABRAL),EUR/ACE (CERIALE),DRL, INL, AND S/WCI, NSC FOR BRAUN, USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER, OPDAT FOR ACKER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO PGOV PREL EAID SOCI SCUL SUBJECT: USOP'S FIRST VISIT TO THE NEWLY RE-ACCREDITED UNIVERSITY OF MITROVICA SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY. ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: UN Special Envoy Ahtisaari,s proposal for Kosovo,s final status calls for the regularization of the university in north Mitrovica as a Kosovar institution of higher learning. On March 11 UNMIK quietly and temporarily extended accreditation to the university. In a March 15 meeting with USOP -- the first since 1999, when Serbian-speaking staff of the University of Pristina established their own ¶llel8 institution in Mitrovica -- Rector Zdravko Vitosevic downplayed the context of the accreditation, saying he was not thinking about relations with Kosovo institutions. More important to him was the need to depoliticize the university, upgrade academic systems to European standards enshrined in the Bologna Agreement, and open relations with foreign institutions. This first meeting was not unfriendly, and the rector left the door open a crack for possible U.S. assistance, but much more needs to be done to encourage a realistic view of the Ahtisaari package and the role of this university in post-status Kosovo. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) Following the Ahtisaari package,s proposal that the university in Mitrovica be recognized as an autonomous Serbian-language institution, SRSG Joachim Ruecker issued Executive Decision No. 2007/17 on March 11, extending to the institution temporary provisional accreditation under the name University of Mitrovica. (Note: the university still claims to be the real University of Pristina, with rights to all property, resources, recognition and agreements that would entail. End Note.) The provisional accreditation is to last until August 2008 or until the university is accredited by the Kosovo Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, whichever comes first. The Executive Decision states that this decision was made in consultation with the Prime Minister and Minister of Education of Kosovo, in consideration of the fact that &international cooperation and support will facilitate integration of University of Mitrovica into the educational system of Kosovo in conformity with applicable law.8 ¶3. (U) USOP PAO met with University of Mitrovica Rector Zdravko Vitosevic on March 15 -- the first such visit by a USOP official since the Serbian-speaking staff of the University of Pristina withdrew to the north in 1999 and established the ¶llel8 institution. Vitosevic, accompanied by vice-rector Jovanovic, mentioned recent meetings with U.S. academics and with Embassy Belgrade DCM to show his openness to U.S. contact. He elaborated at length on a version of the history of the &University of Pristina,8 including showing off the founding documents, which he keeps framed on the wall of his office. According to him, his school currently has 6000-7000 students currently enrolled in 13 faculties split between Mitrovica and branch campuses in the nearby municipalities of Leposavic and Zubin Potok. The University is working on ties with other schools in the former Yugoslavia (Belgrade, Skopje, Sarajevo and Banja Luka),as well as with Patras University in Greece. ¶4. (SBU) Vitosevic stated that his number one priority was to take politics out of the university, and make it more professional. (Comment: Vitosevic should add corruption as well. Local newspapers reported on March 16 that from 1999-2004, before his tenure, the university issued more than 1000 fake diplomas for prices ranging from 1500 to 3000 euro ) a charge that Vitosevic reportedly confirmed to the Serb daily newspaper Blic. End Comment.) According to Vitosevic, the university elections last year that led to his election as rector were certified by OSCE as fair, leading to OSCE,s recommendation to UNMIK that the university be re-accredited. He claimed that this was the reason for the SRSG,s accreditation decision. He denied that the Ahtisaari process had anything to do with it, and rejected the context of the SRSG,s decision ) renaming it the University of Mitrovica and placing it squarely (if autonomously) within PRISTINA 00000214 002 OF 002 the Kosovo higher education system. He also denied that the university leadership was considering establishing relations with the Kosovo Ministry of Education (whether in an independent or an autonomous Kosovo) or what that would mean for his university, saying that this decision could wait. ¶5. (SBU) Vitosevic claimed as his second priority membership in and strict adherence to the Council of Europe/European Association of Universities Standards Regime known as the Bologna Process, and making the academic and management changes that this would require, but didn,t seem to recognize that the central focus of Bologna was to foster &student centered learning8 to prepare them for the modern world. Vitosevic and Jovanovic both seemed startled at the idea that businesses interested in coming to the region would be looking to hire employees who were fluent in both Serbian and Albanian. Neither looked happy at the idea that the next generation of lawyers might need to be able to practice in the new Kosovar legal system as much as the Serb legal system -- but, interestingly, they did not dismiss out of hand the possibility of U.S. assistance to introduce this new legal system into the Mitrovica Law Faculty. They were more circumspect about assistance with English language teaching. ¶6. (SBU) Vitosevic said that there had been no contact with the university located in Pristina &because they have shown no interest.8 In the one concession of the meeting, he offered to use his intercollegiate connections to help Pristina re-establish cooperation with the other former Yugoslav universities, but then commented that that would probably have to wait until final status was settled. He further commented that the final status outcome would be &whatever the Americans wanted it to be.8 ¶7. (SBU) COMMENT: This first meeting in years between USOP and the rector of the University of Mitrovica was not unfriendly, but the rector deflected questions about future operations and left a lot deliberately unsaid. The rector is not ready to concede that anything has changed, or that he needs to plan for the changes that the Ahtisaari package will bring. The message was clear that U.S. contact and assistance would be welcome, but not at the cost, at least at this point, of viewing the Ahtisaari package realistically or establishing relations with Kosovo governmental institutions. We will continue to look for ways to continue the dialogue and establish productive cooperation with the university, in the interest of reaching out to northern Serbs. END COMMENT. ¶8. (SBU) USOP clears this cable in its entirety for release to UN Special Envoy Ahtisaari. KAIDANOW