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