Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07PRISTINA534
2007-07-10 16:54:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Pristina
Cable title:  

KOSOVO: SCENESETTER FOR CODEL BEAN

Tags:  PGOV PREL UNMIK UNSC YI 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000534 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/SCE, NSC FOR BRAUN, USUN FOR DREW
SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL UNMIK UNSC YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: SCENESETTER FOR CODEL BEAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000534

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/SCE, NSC FOR BRAUN, USUN FOR DREW
SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL UNMIK UNSC YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: SCENESETTER FOR CODEL BEAN


1. (U) Your visit to Kosovo comes at the final phase of a
prolonged period of negotiation over Kosovo's status, a
process led by UN Special Envoy and former Finnish President
Martti Ahtisaari. The status negotiation process began in
January 2006 with the articulation of basic principles by the
Contact Group, a group of countries prominently involved in
the Balkans region (U.S., UK, Germany, Italy, and Russia),
and has continued for over fifteen months, culminating in
Ahtisaari's presentation of a comprehensive settlement plan
to the UN Security Council for its consideration this past
March. Since that time, the UNSC has discussed various draft
resolutions on Kosovo, but has been unable to reach consensus
due to persistent Russian opposition; efforts continue to
find a formulation acceptable to all Security Council
members, including Russia.


2. (U) For the purposes of these status-related
negotiations, Kosovo Albanian governing and opposition
parties managed to come together in a single "Unity Team,"
engaging seriously and constructively with Ahtisaari and his
team over the entire course of the lengthy discusssions, and
offering substantial legal guarantees for the Serb community
in Kosovo as well as other minority ethnic communities. Key
to these guarantees was the concept, embodied in the
Ahtisaari plan, of decentralization, giving robust and broad
authority to municipal leaderships on issues as diverse as
security, education, health and welfare. Albanians also
agreed to the formation of new, Serb-majority municipalities
encompassing close to 90 percent of all Serbs in Kosovo, thus
affording them rights unprecedented elsewhere for minority
populations in Europe. Ahtisaari provided for international
supervision of the implementation of his plan, strong
protections for the Serbian Orthodox church and other Serb
cultural sites, and a continuing NATO military presence in
Kosovo with a mandate to provide a safe and secure
environment.


3. (U) The Unity Team accepted Ahtisaari's plan in its
entirety, as did the Kosovo Assembly, which voted
overwhelmingly in favor. Kosovars remain committed to

implementation of the Ahtisaari plan, and efforts are ongoing
in a variety of working groups to draft legislation that
would codify the protections for minorities envisaged in the
settlement package. Kosovars have also demonstrated
remarkable patience and maturity in accepting successive
delays of the status process, which have postponed the
prospect of a final status resolution well beyond the
initially anticipated timeframe of end-2006. While they are
firm in their resolve to realize Kosovo's independence, they
have accepted that the internationally-led process is the
only way to accomplish this and to ensure full support for
their objectives. Ethnically-motivated crime remains at an
all-time low since the destructive and tragic riots of March
2004, when Albanian anger led to attacks on international and
Serb targets in Kosovo. Anti-Ahtisaari demonstrations by the
so-called "Self-Determination Movement" peaked at a few
hundred activists in February 2007 and have declined
dramatically since then.


4. (U) Protection of Kosovo's Serb population remains a
priority for the international community in Kosovo, and for
the U.S. Office in Pristina in particular. The largest
population of Serbs in Kosovo lives south of the Ibar River
in eastern Kosovo, where U.S. KFOR troops have
responsibility, and they are widely credited with maintaining
peace and stability as well as earning the respect of Serbs
and Albanians alike. U.S. assistance has aided Serb
communities throughout Kosovo with road, water, school, and
other infrastructure projects, with one million dollars being
spent in the last year alone in Kosovo's three overwhelmingly
Serb majority municipalities in the north. The U.S. Office
has become an advocate for Serb causes large and small,
including preservation of the interests of Decani monastery,
a highly symbolic historical and religious site for Serbs the
world over. The U.S. is also a strong supporter of the
efforts of the Reconstruction Implementation Commission, a
Council of Europe-led process that has brought together the

PRISTINA 00000534 002 OF 002


Serbian and Kosovo Ministries of Culture in a successful bid
to restore and rebuild Orthodox churches damaged through
violence.


5. (U) Serb returns to Kosovo have been less encouraging,
for a variety of reasons. Lack of economic opportunity,
fears about security and freedom of movement, dwindling donor
resources, and political sparring over the returns issue have
prevented many Serbs from coming back to their pre-conflict
homes. Kosovo's government is the largest contributor of
funds to reconstruct homes (over $40 million spent in under
five years),but many of these homes stand empty waiting for
their Serb occupants to return. In a small but positive
sign, however, over 100 Serbs recently returned to the
village of Srpski Babush in the Albanian-majority
Ferizaj/Urosevac municipality; U.S. KFOR has been deeply
involved in both safeguarding this community and providing
for basic needs. Other similar returns have been noted in
central Kosovo and western Kosovo.


6. (U) U.S. policy remains supportive of supervised
independence for Kosovo, not least because Kosovo's economic
development can no longer be sustained through small-scale
enterprise and donor largesse. Kosovo will need support from
international financial institutions that can be provided
only to sovereign states, and it will need a level of serious
private investment that is now deterred by the unresolved
question of status. Kosovo's economic prospects hinge
largely on development of its energy sector, as its lignite
deposits are some of the most significant in Europe. It has
one of the youngest populations in Europe, as well, making
employment as a condition for social stability a key issue
for the future.


7. (U) We look forward to your visit and the chance to
answer further questions about Kosovo and its prospects.


KAIDANOW