Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09PRISTINA463
2009-10-21 17:31:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Pristina
Cable title:
KOSOVO: BELGRADE PRESSURES MUNICIPAL PREPARATION TEAM
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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.
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
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