KOSOVO: BELGRADE PRESSURES MUNICIPAL PREPARATION TEAM

UNCLAS PRISTINA 000463 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR EUR/SCE, EUR/PGI, INL, DRL, PRM, USAID E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KV SR SUBJECT: KOSOVO: BELGRADE PRESSURES MUNICIPAL PREPARATION TEAM MEMBERS TO QUIT SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. ¶1. (SBU) We were told on October 21 by the International Civilian Office that Serbia's Ministry of Education is ordering Kosovo Serb teachers in parallel Serb-language schools to resign from temporary employment on Municipal Preparation Teams (MPTs) in Kosovo's new municipalities or face dismissal. According to our information provided to us by the ICO, the Serbian Ministry of Education disseminated this policy via written instructions to education departments in Kosovo Serb enclaves. This decision will affect two MPT members in Klokot/Vrbovac, two members in Partesh/Partes, and an as-yet undetermined number of MPT members in Ranilug. ¶2. (SBU) Employment with an MPT is temporary. With positions in the new municipalities participating elections in November, MPT employment is set to expire at the end of the year. The two teachers serving on the MPT in Partesh/Partes are concerned about their future employment and are tendering their resignation from the MPT. While the Serbian Ministry of Education is taking the administrative lead on dismissing the teachers from the MPTs, we understand that Assistant Minister for Kosovo Dragan Petkovic, during a recent visit to Serb enclaves, informed parallel structures that Belgrade will not permit Serbian employees, such as teachers, to work with the MPTs. ¶3. (SBU) COMMENT: This is the second recent incident where Serbian Ministry of Education actions have affected election and decentralization preparations. On October 13, we learned that the Serbian Ministry of Education was instructing school directors in Kosovo--under threat of dismissal--not to permit Kosovo's Central Elections Commission to locate polling stations in Serbian-language schools. We remain concerned that the polling stations' decision will depress turnout on November 15 among Serbs. The latest decision on MPT employment undercuts efforts to prepare the new majority-Serb municipalities' to stand on their own after November 15 and could also have a chilling effect on Serb participation in the November 15 municipal elections. Moreover, these activities contradict what we understand to be GOS assurances to senior USG officials that though Belgrade will not endorse the elections in Kosovo, it would not actively obstruct them either. DELL