KOSOVO: MOMENTUM BUILDING ON DECENTRALIZATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000131 SIPDIS DEPT FOR DRL, INL, EUR/SCE NSC FOR HELGERSON E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2019 TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL KV SUBJECT: KOSOVO: MOMENTUM BUILDING ON DECENTRALIZATION REF: PRISTINA 78 Classified By: Ambassador Tina S. Kaidanow for Reasons 1.4 (b),(d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In a series of recent meetings, Minister for Local Government Administration Sadri Ferati shared his evolving thinking about decentralization and how he sees his role in the process. His fear that the differential pace of decentralization in Kosovo's north and south will lead to perceptions of partition have been somewhat assuaged, but his concern about the overall risk of failure remains. Following a March 10 meeting with the Ambassador, Ferati is now more comfortable with the notion that the International Civilian Organization (ICO) will play a lead role in moving the process forward, while he and his ministry will provide local guidance that ensures a sensible course and the greatest possibility for long-term success. He informed us on March 11 that he will push the ICO to take a phased approach to implementing decentralization that will focus initially on two locations that are primed to embrace decentralization's benefits--local control and increased investment--and that can serve as an example for other, more difficult locations. On March 18, an inter-ministerial working group called by the ICO and chaired by Ferati started the recruitment process for the Municipal Preparation Teams (MPT) that will help set up the new municipalities. Ferati is prepared to accommodate a more expansive ICO approach with symbolic decentralization activities in all of the six planned Serb-majority municipalities, but he wants to protect against failure by focusing implementation initially in those locations where decentralization has the best chance of success now. END SUMMARY ¶2. (C) At his request, the Ambassador met with Minister for Local Government Administration Sadri Ferati on March 10, to discuss decentralization, the Ahtisaari-mandated plan for local self-governance that, in addition to empowering municipalities with authority over a range of currently centralized administrative functions, creates six new Serb-majority municipalities. The Ministry for Local Government Administration (MLGA) and the ICO share responsibility for implementing decentralization. (See reftel for a full discussion of the decentralization concept.) Ferati and the Ambassador discussed the challenges that decentralization poses, and Ferati shared his persistent concern that unless carefully calibrated, current plans might lead to perceptions regarding the partition of Kosovo. He was primarily concerned that the ICO seemed to have an aggressive plan to implement decentralization in the six new Serb-majority municipalities but no real plan that would extend Kosovo institutions to northern Mitrovica. ¶3. (C) The Ambassador and Ferati also discussed the serious question of whether any Kosovo Serbs, even those in the southern enclaves, would participate in decentralization absent a clear signal of approval from Belgrade. Ferati expressed concern that the willingness among Kosovo Serbs to participate in Kosovo institutions was still missing, and agreed with the Ambassador that failure of the process due to obstruction from Belgrade, rather than partition, was the greater threat to the decentralization process. ¶4. (C) The Ambassador discussed with Ferati conditions on the ground, noting that the Kosovo Serb population remains fractured, both between north and south and within any given enclave, making it difficult to find a meaningful group of Serbs that would have both the courage and the credibility to react positively to decentralization. Success in any location, they agreed, would depend on recruiting the right local leaders to win broad support. These divisions heighten the need to identify and select appropriate MPT members; while some Serbs might claim a local constituency, they may in fact lack local prominence and may participate in an MPT only to exploit opportunities for personal enrichment. The Ambassador stressed that the process requires careful monitoring and guidance, and the MLGA needs to focus its efforts on providing the ICO with accurate, locally sensitive information to identify and attract influential participants PRISTINA 00000131 002 OF 002 who can help make decentralization work. The MLGA, based on its on-the-ground knowledge, must also help the ICO determine when and how to proceed with implementation in each new municipality. ¶5. (C) On March 11, Minister Ferati met again with Poloff to reflect on his conversation with the Ambassador. Ferati said that his discussion with the Ambassador had helped him to clarify his understanding of how best to implement decentralization, and he saw two possible options for proceeding: one, enact an expansive plan that implements decentralization all at once; and two, pursue a phased process that introduces decentralization those locations most open to the concept, while continuing with work to build support throughout the south and then begin tackling Mitrovica. He believed the first option would be unlikely to succeed, but the second provided the opportunity for incremental success that could build momentum and better prospects for long term success. ¶6. (C) Ferati shared his concern that the ICO prefered the first option, and he pointed to ICR Pieter Feith's insistence on calling a short notice inter-ministerial working group to announce an open call for MPT members across the country as evidence that the ICO runs the risk of pursuing a broad strategy that lacks focus or coherence. Cognizant of the ICO's lead role and recognizing the MLGA's responsibility to provide local guidance, he said that he would support soliciting MPTs broadly, but would seek to focus implementation initially on a few locales that appear ready to offer reliable and appropriate MPT members and exhibit broad community support for decentralization. He met with ICO leadership prior to a March 18 inter-ministerial working group to work out details for this plan. ¶7. C) The March 18 inter-ministerial working group, chaired by Ferati and led also by the Prime Minister and ICR Feith (and attended by the Ambassador and other diplomatic representatives),resulted in a decision to open the MPT recruitment process. Advertisements have now been published and the search for MPT members has begun. At the working group we heard from Nenad Rasic, a Kosovo Serb who is Minister for Labor and Social Welfare, that his Independent Liberal Party (SLS) was preparing Kosovo Serb candidates for MPT participation and for the subsequent local elections in new Serb-majority municipalities. ¶8. (C) COMMENT: Decentralization is coming, and it offers the best opportunity for both Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo to exert local control over their government services, but it faces numerous challenges. Ferati's shift in thinking -- from worrying about how to ensure broad success to focusing on how to minimize the risk of failure -- represents an important evolution. ICO, too, recognizes the risks, but is focused heavily on its mandate in implementing the Ahtisaari plan. With Ferati's local sensitivity and antenna for risk, ICO would be wise to work closely and collaboratively with the MLGA in gauging the pace and progress of decentralization. The challenges remain immense, but we hope that the ICO will heed the MLGA's guidance, as Minister Ferati appears to have settled on a positive and realistic vision for proceeding. END COMMENT KAIDANOW