KOSOVO: PUBLIC OUTREACH CAMPAIGN ON AHTISAARI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000051

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
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: PUBLIC OUTREACH CAMPAIGN ON AHTISAARI
SETTLEMENT TARGETS KOSOVO SERBS

REF: PRISTINA 27 AND PREVIOUS

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In its work to garner public support for
the final status package in advance of the expected February
2 visit of UN Special Envoy Ahtisaari, the Public Outreach
Working Group, composed of OSCE, USOP/USAID, UNMIK, ICO, the
Kosovo government and governing and opposition political
parties, has made it a priority to include Kosovo Serb input.
Through the participation of Kosovo Serbs in the group and
through focus groups conducted by USAID, we have determined
that security is the number one issue for Kosovo Serbs and
that messages which focus on the future resonate best. This
first phase in the outreach strategy -- which includes PSAs
and a billboard campaign specifically targeting Kosovo Serb
communities -- will be followed by an effort to explain in
detail the contents of the final status package. Part of
this strategy is the use of OSCE town hall meetings in Serb
enclaves throughout Kosovo. USOP will look for appropriate
opportunities to reinforce this effort and to support the
overriding goal of keeping Serbs in Kosovo. END SUMMARY.

Serb Participation in Content Generation -- Stress on Security


2. (SBU) The Public Outreach Working Group, chaired by OSCE
Amb. Wnendt and made up of key internationals, Kosovo
government figures and governing and opposition parties, has
made it a priority to include Kosovo Serb input in its effort
to garner support for the final status package. Kosovo Serb
Petar Miletic, Secretary General of the Independent Liberal
Party (SLS),actively participates in both the larger group
and a sub-group developing messages. On January 18 in a
private meeting before the group met, we emphasized to
Miletic the importance of Serb participation in the group and
the value of his and other Kosovo Serb input into message and
strategy. Miletic responded that the most important issue
for Kosovo Serbs was security -- a sense borne out by focus
group testing of Kosovo Serbs conducted by our USAID
contractor, Academy for Educational Development (AED). He
also highlighted the need to separate Kosovo Serb messaging
into three categories: messages for small enclaves, messages
for large enclaves, and messages for the three Serb-majority
municipalites in the north. He suggested coupling the
expected billboard and PSA campaign with visits by KFOR
representatives to reinforce the importance of security for
Kosovo's Serbs. Miletic told us he is enthusiastic about
helping this effort and that his aim and ours is the same:
to reassure Serbs to stay in Kosovo.

Serb Input in Testing


3. (SBU) As part of the first phase of the outreach campaign
-- in advance of the expected February 2 visit of UN Special
Envoy Ahtisaari -- AED, which has contracted with a local PR
firm, is currently testing messages in both Albanian and Serb
communities. In Serb areas, messages that focus on future
("Building Our Future Together") resonate better than those
which sound triumphalist or fail to reflect realities on the
ground. Indeed, Serb participants have commented that
messages must recognise that many Serbs still do not feel
safe in Kosovo and that certain conditions need to be met
before all Kosovars can live together.

Longer-term Serb Outreach


4. (SBU) At the January 18 working group meeting, Amb. Wnendt
rightly reiterated the point that messages targeting
Albanians must not alienate Serb or other minority
populations. He explained the importance of the second phase
of the campaign in reaching out to Serbs, saying Kosovo
Serbs, more so than Kosovo Albanians, need detailed
information about what status will mean for specific aspects
of their daily lives and for their safety. This
informational phase of outreach will be done via fact sheets,
fliers, town hall meetings and perhaps even hotlines. To

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support this approach, the OSCE plans to hold town hall
meetings in February, after the expected delivery of the
final status package, in the Serb communities of Strpce,
Ranilug, Caglavica and Velika Hoca, as well as in a number of
Albanian municipalities. Topics will include security,
community sustainability, competencies of new municipalities
and their responsibilities toward Albanians. All of these
events will be recorded and excerpts will be broadcast on
local radio and TV.


5. (SBU) COMMENT: Kosovo Serb buy-in to this outreach effort
is key and we will continue to press for their participation
and will look for ways to reinforce the OSCE/Public Outreach
Working Group effort to explain the benefits of the final
status package. Any substantive input regarding the
provisions of the settlement that the Department or UNOSEK
can provide to add content to these messages would be
welcome. END COMMENT.


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