KOSOVO CHURCH RECONSTRUCTION UNDER ATTACK BY SERB

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PRISTINA 000386

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR DRL, INL, EUR/SCE
NSC FOR BRAUN
USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI
EUR/ACE FOR DMAYHEW

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/11/2017
TAGS: KCRM KDEM PGOV PINR PREL YI UNMIK EAID PHUM
SOCI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO CHURCH RECONSTRUCTION UNDER ATTACK BY SERB
NATIONALISTS

REF: A. 07 PRISTINA 20


B. 06 PRISTINA 495

C. 06 PRISTINA 853

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


1. (C) SUMMARY. The work of Kosovo's highly successful
Reconstruction Implementation Commission for Serbian Orthodox
Religious Sites in Kosovo (RIC) is grinding to a halt due to
attacks from the hardline Serbian government representative
on the commission, in coordination with the intractable Serb
Orthodox church leader Bishop Artemije. The RIC's ability to
continue with this important work now hangs in the balance,
and will depend on whether the Serbian government returns to
the commission and whether the Assembly of Bishops in
Belgrade reaffirms or withdraws its support for the RIC. The
ominous presence of Kostunica advisors at the recent UN
Security Council visit to the Serb Orthodox seat at Gracanica
previewed an increasingly hard and coordinated line on the
part of the Church and the Belgrade regime with regard to
church reconstruction, among other Kosovo-related policy
issues. The politicization of this important process is a
major step backwards in one of the few areas of successful
Pristina/Belgrade cooperation to date. END SUMMARY.

RIC A SOLID SUCCESS IN THE PAST


2. (SBU) The Reconstruction Implementation Commission for
Serbian Orthodox Religious Sites in Kosovo (RIC) is one of
the few examples of successful multi-ethnic cooperation
between Pristina and Belgrade. The RIC is chaired by the
Council of Europe (COE) and includes representatives from the
Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC),the Kosovo Ministry of
Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS),Serbia's Institute for the
Protection of Cultural Monuments (IPM),and Kosovo's
Institute for the Protection of Monuments. In 2005 the RIC
completed emergency interventions on 31 of the 35 Orthodox
sites damaged in the March 2004 riots, and in 2006 it did
extensive reconstruction of eight key sites, including the
Episcopal Church of St. George in Prizren and St. Nicholas
Church in Pristina (Ref A).


3. (SBU) The RIC has ambitious plans to do extensive
reconstruction on 16 sites in 2007, including complex
interior design work such as icon paintings and at least one
iconostasis. The vast majority of its funding comes from the
Kosovo Provisional Institutions of Self Government (PISG),
although the RIC is seeking national donors for specific
projects, including the new iconostasis at St. Nicholas
Church in Pristina. (Note: USOP proposed this project for
the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation. End Note.)
However, RIC Project Manager Francisco Montanes told us on
May 10 that Gordana Markovic, director of the Serbian IPM and
IPM representative to the RIC, announced a boycott of the RIC
meetings one day prior to the February meeting. Montanes
said that the RIC cannot perform its functions without the
Serbian IPM representative, whose presence is needed to
approve tenders. As a result, he said there have been no
official commission meetings since February, and no new
tenders have been approved for 2007.


4. (C) Despite these difficulties, the RIC continues to do
important work. Montanes said the RIC has already started
two new projects in Prizren that are being funded by the
European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR): the Orthodox
Seminary and the Episcopal Residence (the official residence
of hardline Bishop Artemije Radosavljevic, head of the Raska
and Prizren Diocese). Montanes said that the RIC is also
completing 2006 projects, including technical assessments,
the repair of minor defects, and additional reconstruction
work on St. George in Prizren. In addition, the Leposavic
branch of the Serbian IPM has ignored its director's boycott
and continues to cooperate with the RIC by preparing
technical specifications for 2007 project tenders. Montanes

PRISTINA 00000386 002 OF 003


noted that the Serbian Minister of Culture has recently
appointed a replacement for Markovic, and said that the new
representative is scheduled to participate in the next
meeting, which will take place on May 23 in Kosovo. Four
projects will up for approval at that meeting, including one
that has been ready since the February meeting. Montanes
pointed out, however, that the delay has already had a cost:
even if all the projects are now approved, the one-to-two
month tendering timeline means that work will not actually
start until at least July.

RIC WORK UNDER THREAT FROM BELGRADE AND CONSERVATIVE KOSOVO
CLERICS


5. (C) Montanes expressed his concern that Gordana Markovic,
in an unholy alliance with Bishop Artemije, is attempting to
influence the SOC Assembly of Bishops taking place this week
in Belgrade to withdraw its support from the RIC. Markovic
recently published a report sharply criticizing the work of
the RIC. Montanes said the report focuses on minor
imperfections in the reconstruction work and criticizes the
RIC for failing to reconstruct all sites. He commented on
the irony of this, saying that her Markovic's own institute
has been closely involved in every element of the RIC's work,
including proposing projects, approving tenders, and
providing technical expertise and oversight of all of the
reconstruction work.


6. (C) For his part, Bishop Artemije has long opposed any
efforts at church reconstruction, insisting that churches
should not be reconstructed until their security can be
ensured and Serb internally displaced persons (including
himself) can return to their homes (Ref B). Artemije has
used sporadic incidents of theft and vandalism at
reconstructed churches, including St. Nicholas in Pristina,
as proof that Albanians cannot be trusted to have a hand in
church reconstruction (Ref C). In often contradictory
statements to the Serb media, Artemije has insisted that the
reconstruction must stop, complaining that the process
started too late and was progressing too slowly. He has also
expressed his opposition to the "way in which the
reconstruction is being done" (meaning that some Kosovo
Albanian contractors are involved).


7. (C) Montanes said that although the RIC continues to have
the strong support of the SOC through its representative to
the RIC, moderate Bishop Teodosije Sibalic of Decani
Monastery, he is very worried that the Assembly of Bishops
might be swayed by Artemije's and Markovic's arguments and
withdraw SOC support, which would be fatal to the
reconstruction process. Montanes added that he is working
closely with Bishop Teodosije to provide comprehensive
documentary evidence of the RIC's substantial achievements
progress to date, in order to avert such an outcome.


8. (C) Montanes told us that he believes that Markovic is
motivated by her own hard-line Serbian nationalism and
political ambitions, and said she is taking advantage of
divisions and disarray within the Serbian government to push
her own agenda at this particularly sensitive moment.
Markovic has proposed that the MOU underpinning the work of
the RIC be re-written to give the Serbian government the lead
role in the reconstruction process, changes that would
probably be unacceptable to the CoE and other partners.
Montanes maintained that Markovic's ultimate objective was to
consolidate Serbian government control over the entire
reconstruction process, retaining access to Kosovo government
funding while preventing the PISG from being able to point to
this as an example of successful multi-ethnic cooperation.

KEY ORTHODOX SUPPORTERS OF THE RECONSTRUCTION PROCESS ALSO
UNDER THREAT


9. (C) Moderate SOC leaders Bishop Teodosije and his

PRISTINA 00000386 003 OF 003


assistant Father Sava Janjic have expressed similarly deep
concerns to us over the attacks both on the church
reconstruction process and on Teodosije himself, for his role
as the officially designated SOC representative to the RIC.
Sava told us that, "objectively speaking...reconstruction
(under the RIC) is going well and satisfactory." He also
said plainly that some of the Kosovo Albanian contractors
have done such a good job and worked so professionally that
they have been employed on separate projects (outside the RIC
process) at Decani Monastery and the Patriarchate at
Peja/Pec. Sava agonized that the reconstruction process was
becoming a victim to the political fight over Kosovo's
status, and added that halting this process would send a
negative signal to Kosovo Serb internally displaced persons
(IDPs) who might be contemplating a return to Kosovo. Sava
noted that Teodosije has quietly initiated proposals to
improve security at reconstructed sites, including the
positioning of fixed security guards and surveillance cameras
at sensitive sites.

COMMENT


10. (C) The RIC has been one of the most successful joint
Pristina/Belgrade efforts to date, and it has made a real,
highly visual impact on the ground with the reconstruction of
destroyed churches and religious sites. The further
disruption of this process would be a major setback. Its
opponents claim to want a better, faster reconstruction
process, but halting the efforts overseen by the RIC would
achieve neither of these objectives. The reconstruction of
Serb religious sites is an important part of the overall
process of peace and reconciliation in Kosovo, and
contributes tremendously towards creating an environment
favorable to the return of Serb IDPs. We will continue to
support the RIC to the extent possible, although it appears
that the ultimate decisions on the future of the commission
lie in the hands of government and church officials in
Belgrade, a daunting and rather depressing prospect. END
COMMENT.
KAIDANOW