Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07PRISTINA694
2007-09-19 13:09:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Pristina
Cable title:  

KOSOVO: USOP INTERVENTION STOPS SERB PROPERTY

Tags:  KDEM PGOV PINR PREF PHUM SOCI KV UNMIK 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PRISTINA 000694 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2017
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PINR PREF PHUM SOCI KV UNMIK
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: USOP INTERVENTION STOPS SERB PROPERTY
CRISIS IN KLINA - AGAIN

REF: PRISTINA 616

Classified By: Chief of Mission Tina Kaidanow for reasons 1.4 (b),(d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PRISTINA 000694

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2017
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PINR PREF PHUM SOCI KV UNMIK
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: USOP INTERVENTION STOPS SERB PROPERTY
CRISIS IN KLINA - AGAIN

REF: PRISTINA 616

Classified By: Chief of Mission Tina Kaidanow for reasons 1.4 (b),(d)


1. SUMMARY (C) Despite USOP's recent intervention in a pair
of property disputes involving Kosovo Serbs in Klina
(reftel),the municipal government has since attempted to
repossess the property known as the "Youth Center." After
initial attempts to use expropriation (similar to eminent
domain in U.S. law),the municipality declared the building
illegally constructed and ordered it demolished on September

3. After heavy pressure from USOP and senior Albanian
politicians acting at our request, the municipality agreed to
halt its attempt to demolish the building, but additional
pressure from USOP was then required to stop yet another
action - the charging and arrest of the Serb occupant for
"forgery." We will continue to monitor the situation to make
certain the municipality respects the property rights, as
recognized by the Kosovo Property Agency (KPA),of the Kosovo
Serb in question, especially in this sensitive time of final
status resolution. END SUMMARY.

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE "YOUTH CENTER"


2. (SBU) The property in question has been at the center of
several legal disputes going back for the last 13 years.
Sasa Radosavljevic, the current occupant of the property,
attempted to build upon it in both 1994 and 1996, but was
prevented from doing so by the municipality. In 1998, he
secured possession rights and a construction permit, and
began building a house, which he abandoned half-finished in
1999 during the NATO air campaign. According to UNMIK
Peja/Pec Regional Hub Director Luis Perez-Segnini, the
municipality occupied the property in 2002 and transformed it
into the "Youth Center," allowing an Italian NGO
("Movimondo") to set up an office there in 2006.

THE PROPERTY CLAIM


3. (SBU) Radosavljevic filed a claim with UNMIK's Housing
and Property Directorate (HPD) in 1999; he and his family
were then staying in a refugee center in Nis, Serbia. The
Housing and Property Claim Commission (HPCC) ruled in
Radosavljevic's favor on February 13, 2004. The municipality
had the opportunity to appeal; it did, and the HPCC again
found in Radosavljevic's favor on March 19, 2007. Soon
after, Radosavljevic asked the Kosovo Property Agency (KPA),
the successor organization to the HPCC, to enforce the
decision. After a drawn-out process and several public
refusals to allow him back into the property, USOP pressure
helped convince the municipality to hand over the keys on
August 14, 2007 (reftel). The municipality, however,
continues to claim that Radosavljevic forged his building
permit from 1998. (Note: The KPA saw all documents relating
to this property, and took them into account before issuing
both the initial decision and the refusal of the
municipality's appeal. End Note.)

ROUND TWO


4. (C) Despite the pressure it had received from the PISG,
the international community, and USOP, the municipality
renewed efforts to take control of the property on August 10,
even before Radosavljevic reoccupied it, attempting first to
employ expropriation. Similar to eminent domain under U.S.
law, expropriation cases in Kosovo often take a long time to
complete and require compensatory payment to affected
property holders. In mid-August, the municipality changed
tack, and began a separate effort to demolish the building.
Only one day after the Klina mayor and CEO assured poloff
that they were committed to the "legal process" of
expropriation, municipal building inspectors visited the site
August 24, demanding to see building permits and other
documents. Radosavljevic refused to deal with them; when he
failed to produce documentation, they then wrote a report

PRISTINA 00000694 002 OF 003


declaring the property illegally constructed and recommending
demolition. Subsequent to this, the municipality said it was
abandoning its expropriation case and going forward with
demolition; a demolition order was filed on September 3,
giving Radosavljevic 15 days to demolish the building or face
action.

USOP INTERVENES AGAIN...AND AGAIN


5. (C) After COM weighed in with Assembly Speaker Kole
Berisha, who is from Klina, and LDK General Secretary Rame
Manaj (a former mayor of Klina) to ask them to intervene with
the municipality, USOP met Klina Mayor Prenke Gjetaj and CEO
Shpen Trdevaj on September 6 to request that they again cease
efforts to control the property. They promised to drop the
demolition order, but "only until the resolution of Kosovo
final status." Despite this, on September 11, USOP received
word that the municipality had charged Radosavljevic with
forgery and was threatening to arrest him; during a
subsequent USOP phone call to the mayor inquiring about this
(and warning him against such an action),the mayor told us,
incredibly, "we only had an agreement about the building
itself," before agreeing to refrain from arresting
Radosavljevic.

BAD TRENDS


6. (C) In a separate development in this case, the Danish
Refugee Council (DRC),an NGO active in assisting Serb
returnees in Klina, told us September 11 that they had
decided against the planned return of Radosavljevic's wife
and children to Klina because of security concerns. This
decision was made after consultation with municipal CEO
Trdevaj, who reiterated the municipality's assertion that
Radosavljevic's documents were forged. The general security
situation for Serbs living in the town center of Klina has
deteriorated in recent weeks; in August, unknown assailants
stoned the home of a recently-returned Serb family (on August
23, the owner showed poloff a pile of rocks he collected
after the attack),and on September 5 unknown assailants
threw stones at an elderly Serb woman outside her home. In
both cases, the KPS responded, but no assailants have been
identified to date.


7. (C) These cases continue a pattern of violence against
Serbs in the town of Klina; in December 2006, a grenade and
firearm attack damaged the home of a elderly Serb woman;
another Serb returnee living in Klina and awaiting
enforcement of a KPA decision was staying with her at the
time. (Note: While the municipality itself has not, of
course, been linked to these attacks, the Mayor and CEO
warned USOP September 6 that they will find it difficult to
restrain local residents from responding with anger, if these
outstanding property cases are not "decided fairly." We
pushed back on this strongly. End Note.)


8. (C) Comment: The municipal authorities in Klina have
consistently claimed that they are only trying to uphold the
law and act in the best interests of their constituents, but
their actions have been very damaging to Kosovo's image
during the critical period of Troika-led negotiations. The
municipality's relentless effort to drive out Radosavljevic
was initially framed in the context of saving the "Youth
Center," but the true goal appears to be control of this
property by any means. While this is only one case in one
municipality, it does have an effect on Serbs seeking to
reoccupy their properties through the KPA process. USOP
continues to be at the forefront, with our ICO partners, in
fighting back against unjust and illegal attempts by Kosovar
Albanian authorities to expropriate Serb property or to
violate the Ahtisaari-delineated "Special Protection Zones"
around Serb cultural monuments and religious sites. We will
continue to follow this case in particular to make certain
that KPA decisions are respected and Serb families receive
their due. End comment

PRISTINA 00000694 003 OF 003


KAIDANOW