Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09PRISTINA474
2009-10-30 08:15:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Pristina
Cable title:
KOSOVO: 2009 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDEOM REPORT
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UNCLAS PRISTINA 000474
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE, EUR/PGI, INL, DRL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM OPRC KIRF KPAO KV
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: 2009 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDEOM REPORT
DELIVERED
REF: (A) STATE 108536; (B) STATE 110088
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY
UNCLAS PRISTINA 000474
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE, EUR/PGI, INL, DRL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM OPRC KIRF KPAO KV
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: 2009 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDEOM REPORT
DELIVERED
REF: (A) STATE 108536; (B) STATE 110088
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY
1. (U) As per refs A and B we delivered an oral summary of the
Kosovo section of the 2009 Annual Report on International Religious
Freedom (IRFR) to Venera Llunji, political adviser to the Minister
of Foreign Affairs at 16:00 local time (11:00 EST) on October 26,
and transmitted a hard copy of the IRFR to the MFA on October 27. A
link to the report in English was posted on our website on October
27 at the opening of business, as were translations of the section
on Kosovo into both of Kosovo's official languages, Serbian and
Albanian.
A DIPLOMAT RESPONDS, UNDIPLOMATICALLY
--------------
2. (SBU) Llunji responded to several issues raised in the report.
She said Kosovo was a secular society and while the authorities
respected freedom of religion, they would avoid all steps that might
be seen as supporting religion, especially measures which might
facilitate the establishment of extremist Muslim groups. She stated
that Kosovo was not a religious society, and the government wanted
to keep it that way. Regarding assertions that Protestant groups
had not received permission to build cemeteries and were hindered in
the exercise of their religion by municipal authorities, she said
many Muslim-to- Protestant conversions were fake, and thus were not
acknowledged by Muslim religious leaders. When we pressed the point
she said she the government would continue to work with municipal
authorities to insure permits were issued where lawful.
3. (SBU) Regarding the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC),Llunji said
that issues between ethnic Albanians and Serbs were still raw, and
that actions such as rock throwing by Kosovo Albanians against Serb
pilgrims were not against their religion, but against their
ethnicity. We stressed the need for the government to work to
promote respect for SOC property, personnel and worshipers, and to
engage as positively as possible with those parts of the SOC that
will work with Kosovo authorities. We will report the details of
this conversation in a separate message on the Serbian Orthodox
Church's Decani Monastery land issue.
4. (SBU) COMMENT: Llunji is an educated, modern Kosovo Albanian,
and a trusted contact of the Embassy. Her willingness to offer such
illiberal statements demonstrates the work that remains to be done
both on religious freedom and in ethnic reconciliation. END COMMENT
DELL
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE, EUR/PGI, INL, DRL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM OPRC KIRF KPAO KV
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: 2009 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDEOM REPORT
DELIVERED
REF: (A) STATE 108536; (B) STATE 110088
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY
1. (U) As per refs A and B we delivered an oral summary of the
Kosovo section of the 2009 Annual Report on International Religious
Freedom (IRFR) to Venera Llunji, political adviser to the Minister
of Foreign Affairs at 16:00 local time (11:00 EST) on October 26,
and transmitted a hard copy of the IRFR to the MFA on October 27. A
link to the report in English was posted on our website on October
27 at the opening of business, as were translations of the section
on Kosovo into both of Kosovo's official languages, Serbian and
Albanian.
A DIPLOMAT RESPONDS, UNDIPLOMATICALLY
--------------
2. (SBU) Llunji responded to several issues raised in the report.
She said Kosovo was a secular society and while the authorities
respected freedom of religion, they would avoid all steps that might
be seen as supporting religion, especially measures which might
facilitate the establishment of extremist Muslim groups. She stated
that Kosovo was not a religious society, and the government wanted
to keep it that way. Regarding assertions that Protestant groups
had not received permission to build cemeteries and were hindered in
the exercise of their religion by municipal authorities, she said
many Muslim-to- Protestant conversions were fake, and thus were not
acknowledged by Muslim religious leaders. When we pressed the point
she said she the government would continue to work with municipal
authorities to insure permits were issued where lawful.
3. (SBU) Regarding the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC),Llunji said
that issues between ethnic Albanians and Serbs were still raw, and
that actions such as rock throwing by Kosovo Albanians against Serb
pilgrims were not against their religion, but against their
ethnicity. We stressed the need for the government to work to
promote respect for SOC property, personnel and worshipers, and to
engage as positively as possible with those parts of the SOC that
will work with Kosovo authorities. We will report the details of
this conversation in a separate message on the Serbian Orthodox
Church's Decani Monastery land issue.
4. (SBU) COMMENT: Llunji is an educated, modern Kosovo Albanian,
and a trusted contact of the Embassy. Her willingness to offer such
illiberal statements demonstrates the work that remains to be done
both on religious freedom and in ethnic reconciliation. END COMMENT
DELL