KOSOVO: EUR DAS JONES ATTENDS ISG, DELIVERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 PRISTINA 000497

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/SCE, EUR/ACE,
NSC FOR HELGERSON
USUN FOR GEE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2018
TAGS: PREL KV
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: EUR DAS JONES ATTENDS ISG, DELIVERS
MESSAGE ON TRANSITION, ICJ, MINORITIES

Classified By: Ambassador Tina Kaidanow for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. In a two-day visit to Kosovo September
10-12, EUR DAS Stuart Jones made the rounds of Government and
key international organizations and represented the U.S. at
the International Steering Group (ISG) meeting of the
International Civilian Office (ICO). In general, the
meetings were positive and focused on moving ahead on
transition issues and improving Kosovo's position in the
international community. In separate meetings with the
President, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, and opposition
political leader Ramush Haradinaj, DAS Jones reconfirmed that
Kosovo's independence was irreversible, and he urged the
government and other leaders to reinforce this fact by
pursing economic and commercial policies, particularly the
mammoth Kosovo C energy project, which would put Kosovo on a
sound economic footing. In addition, he emphasized that how
Kosovo demonstrates its commitment to integrating its Serb
and other minorities would be watched with a very critical
eye. The need for more active Kosovo pursuit of recognitions
and the prospect that Serbia's referral to the International
Court of Justice (ICJ) of the question on the legality of
Kosovo's independence might pass in the UNGA were also
discussed.


2. (C) In meetings with international community leaders,
including UNMIK SRSG Lamberto Zannier, International Civilian
Representative (ICR) Pieter Feith, COMKFOR General Giuseppe
Gay, and head of the EU rule of law mission (EULEX) Yves de
Kermabon, conversation focused on transition from UNMIK to
EULEX, which seems to be progressing, with a tentative
transition date of early December. Discussion also focused on
how to extract the maximum cooperation on EULEX from Serbia
by using the EU's considerable leverage on the Stabilization
and Association Agreement, visa regime liberalization and an
EU-consensus abstention on the ICJ referral, if that
develops. These themes were reinforced with European Council
Balkans Director Stefan Lehne in a last-minute meeting the
night before the ISG. DAS Jones met with the leadership of
Decani Monastery, Bishop Teodosije and Father Sava, and
discussed ways of moving ahead to resolve a number of
problems faced by the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) in
Kosovo. He urged them to seek more flexibility from their
leadership to deal directly with local government
institutions and international organizations other than
UNMIK. End Summary.

Recognition


3. (C) In his separate meetings with President Fatmir Sejdiu,
Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and Foreign Minister Skender
Hyseni, EUR DAS Stuart Jones emphasized that given the number
of recognitions of Kosovo, there was no going back, Serbia's
request for a referral of the question of Kosovo's
independence to the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
notwithstanding. All three expressed some frustration on
stymied attempts to gain recognition, particularly from
Islamic countries. Foreign Minister Hyseni said he planned
to try once more during his upcoming visit to Jeddah to meet
with the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)
Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu to secure a meeting in
Riyadh. (Note: We have since learned from Consulate Jeddah
colleagues that despite their best efforts, this did not
happen. End Note.)


4. (C) Closer to home, all agreed that securing recognition
from Macedonia and Montenegro prior to the UN General
Assembly (UNGA) was critical. Having all of Kosovo's
neighbors in the "recognized" column would be a strong
statement of support which would benefit Kosovo's case in
front of the ICJ. On Macedonia, PM Thaci said that Kosovo
had done everything Macedonia had asked, and particularly on
the border demarcation issue, with practically no resistance
and negligible violence. He did not think it was in
Macedonia's interest to "hold Kosovo hostage" on recognition
any longer and hoped for positive news soon. Once Macedonia

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recognizes, all believed that it would be easier for
Montenegro to follow suit. Referring to recent public
statements by Macedonian President Crkvenovski demanding that
Kosovo use the "constitutional" name of Macedonia, Thaci said
he and the government would not respond publicly to this
demand since they have already signed a bilateral agreement
on border demarcation between the Republic of Kosovo and the
Republic of Macedonia.

Economy


5. (C) In his meeting with all three government leaders as
well as opposition leader Ramush Haradinaj (AAK),DAS Jones
urged that more attention be given to developing a strong
economic framework for Kosovo that would ensure prosperity
and growth. Now that Kosovo's independence is a fact, it had
to start confirming the wisdom of the support it receives
from the world's most influential nations by demonstrating a
capacity to govern transparently and by developing a viable
economy. Critical to this endeavor, among other key efforts,
is the launch of the Kosovo C power project. PM Thaci
assured us that the government, with the assistance of the
World Bank, was ready to move ahead on this in the very near
future, and that once the project was under way, the people
of Kosovo would have "an address for hope" since all of
Kosovo's economic future hinged on the reliable supply of
energy that Kosovo C would bring. PM Thaci also acknowledged
the importance of listening closely to the advice of the IMF
and maintaining appropriate fiscal restraint, and reiterated
his government's commitment to close cooperation on financial
and budget issues.

Minorities


6. (C) On the topic of support and integration of the Serb
minority, in particular, DAS Jones emphasized that Kosovo's
success would be determined both by the reality of Serb
rights being respected and the perception within the
international community that Kosovo was living up to its
Ahtisaari commitments. He commended the Prime Minister on
maintaining stability and security in the months since
independence and urged him to keep a steady hand going ahead,
as there would be new challenges to face in this arena. The
PM said that it was his government's policy to support the
reintegration of Serbs into Kosovo, and to that end he had
opened an office dedicated to minorities within the Prime
Minister's office. He had also recently broken ground on an
apartment block not far outside of Pristina which would house
up to 60 Serb returnee families. (Note: President Sejdiu
also has a role to play and chairs the Government's Council
on Minority Rights, which recently had its inaugural meeting.)

Serbian Orthodox Church


7. (C) Bishop Teodosije and Father Sava of Decani Monastery
traveled to Pristina to meet with DAS Jones and offered their
views on Belgrade's tactics in Kosovo. Both expressed hope
that Serbian President Tadic represented a stronger
commitment to the welfare of Kosovo Serbs, especially those
in enclaves south of the river Ibar. They were also feeling
more confident about their support from the Synod after the
ruckus earlier this month at the Monastery when hardline
Bishop Artemije attempted to remove Bishop Teodosije from his
position in Decani. Bishop Teodosije expressed the hope that
they would get some positive guidance from Belgrade allowing
them to deal openly and directly with local Kosovo
authorities in solving their problems.


8. (C) On issues involving property around the Monastery and
Church property in Gjakove/Djakovica, Bishop Teodosije
acknowledged the difficulty of the constraints placed on him
by the Synod not to deal with local authorities or even
internationals, apart from UNMIK. He admitted that they
ignore this instruction by working closely with the Embassy
and even, in a limited way, with the ICO. Otherwise, any
favorable resolution to these problems would be impossible.

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DAS Jones and the Ambassador urged Bishop Teodosije to work
with his leadership to relent on their restrictive engagement
policy so that the Monastery, and the Church in general,
would be able to benefit fully from the work and good offices
of the ICO and EULEX in the future.

Haradinaj


9. (C) In a meeting with opposition political party leader
(AAK),former Prime Minister and acquitted ICTY indictee
Ramush Haradinaj, DAS Jones and the Ambassador took him to
task on the lack of cooperation shown by AAK mayors all
Serb-related problems in the AAK's western strongholds of
Decani and Djakova/Djakovica. In particular, the Ambassador
raised the problems that a group of potential Serb returnees
had encountered during a visit to Decani a week earlier, when
the Mayor had abruptly ended the meeting and the group was
verbally harassed on its way out of the building. Ramush
promised to talk again with the mayor and ensure a better
reception the next time a group returned. He also committed
to ensuring that the Decani mayor and the mayor of
Gjakova/Djakovica fully cooperated with us and the ICO as we
try to resolve the two property cases involving the Church.

EULEX Transition


10. (C) The topic of EULEX transition dominated the meetings
with international community leaders. New COMKFOR General
Gay and ICR Pieter Feith, though not directly involved in the
process, both expressed concerns about the lack of clarity in
this transition and how their operations might be affected.
Feith was particularly nonplussed by the EU's attempt to
create a facade of neutrality for EULEX and the recent trend
of pulling back on cooperation with the ICO. General Gay
remarked that while there was as yet no formal arrangement
between KFOR and EULEX, since KFOR was usually the first on
the scene of most disturbances, it would engage early if
necessary and attempt to find practical modalities for
cooperation with EULEX.


11. (C) SRSG Lamberto Zannier told DAS Jones and the
Ambassador that UNMIK downsizing was on track and he expected
to hand over the keys to several UNMIK buildings and about
180 vehicles to EULEX in the next few days. Zannier agreed
with DAS Jones that Serbian President Tadic would do only
what was demanded of him on EULEX deployment, no more and no
less, and therefore the EU needed to drive a hard bargain and
extract commitments using its significant leverage.
Elaborating on the downsizing of UNMIK, Zannier said that he
did not want UNMIK's mission to be redefined too narrowly,
and asserted that there would be a place for UNMIK in the
protection of religious and cultural heritage. He added that
he hoped the OSCE field presence would strengthen and take up
some of the slack left by UNMIK's closing of its department
of community affairs, though he did not address how and
whether this might overlap or interfere with ICO's mandate.


12. (C) In a dinner with EULEX head de Kermabon, EC Mission
head Renzo Daviddi and British Ambassador Andrew Sparkes, the
group agreed that for a successful EULEX deployment, the EU
would have to use all available tools to secure Belgrade's
acceptance. De Kermabon reported that EULEX would begin
deploying at the rate of 80-100 people per week for four
weeks, to start. He said he was committed to deploying in
the north, agreeing that non-deployment would convince the
Kosovars that partition was imminent, but he acknowledged
that the likelihood of EULEX deployment in the north under
adverse or conflictual circumstances was almost nil.


13. (C) European Council Balkans Director Stefan Lehne in a
separate meeting said he would take a firm approach with
Serbian FM Jeremic when he saw him the following week. He
planned to tell him that the EU had made its decision on
EULEX and it was not negotiable. Lehne said he would explain
that this deployment is about rule of law and that all 27
states of the EU support its mission. He would also question

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how Belgrade could pursue closer relations with the EU while
rejecting EULEX. ICR Feith, who was also present, pressed
Lehne to get a public confirmation of Belgrade's support for
EULEX deployment, as he remained skeptical that verbal
agreement would be enough if trouble developed around
deployment. The Ambassador stressed the need to tell Belgrade
what the EU wants rather than allow Belgrade to dictate the
terms of deployment, and DAS Jones also encouraged Lehne to
ensure his message to Belgrade was coordinated with the ICO
and EULEX to ensure a consistent approach.

Internationals on Economy


14. (C) Also at the dinner with internationals, the issue of
Kosovo's cooperation with the IMF and the critical need for
it to maintain fiscal discipline were raised. Participants
agreed that new demands for increased salaries and pensions
could potentially become a serious problem. EC rep Daviddi
concurred that everyone was looking for the IMF seal of
approval on Kosovo's economic policy and said that he thought
it would be possible to design a budget with flexibility in
public sector salaries. Increases could be very modest and
spread out over three years, he went on, but it might be
enough to give PM Thaci the necessary political cover he
needed, while still maintaining IMF approval of the budget.
In addition to fiscal pressures, discussion also touched on
concerns about the supply of energy and water throughout
Kosovo.


15. (U) DAS Jones has cleared this cable.


KAIDANOW