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PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHPS #0076/01 0431315
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 121315Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9696
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1351
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1889
RHFMIUU/AFSOUTH NAPLES IT
RHMFISS/CDR TF FALCON
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEPGEA/CDR650THMIGP SHAPE BE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUZEJAA/USNIC PRISTINA SR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PRISTINA 000076 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE, H, EMBASSY LJUBLJANA PLEASE PASS TO CODEL 
VOINOVICH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR SR KV
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: EMBASSY WELCOMES SENATORS VOINOVICH AND SHAHEEN ON 
KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE DAY FEBRUARY 17 
 
REF: STATE 9051 
 
PRISTINA 00000076  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  Embassy Pristina warmly welcomes the visit of 
Senator Voinovich and Senator Shaheen to Kosovo on February 17. 
Your visit will take place on the second anniversary of Kosovo's 
independence.  You will find a peaceful and stable country where 
cooperation between ethnic Albanians and Serbs in southern Kosovo 
continues to improve.  Successful GOK-run November 2009 municipal 
elections and strong participation by Serb voters in the southern 
Kosovo are signs of political maturity and increasing Serb 
confidence in independent Kosovo.  Four new municipalities have been 
established as a part of the Ahtisaari-mandated decentralization 
process.  The GOK and its international partners are now working to 
deepen decentralization.  The Government of Serbia maintains 
significant influence in northern Kosovo, with illegal parallel 
government institutions preventing Kosovo institutions from 
extending Kosovo's legitimate authority across its territory.  The 
GOK this year will build on the success of decentralization in the 
south and initiate a new, comprehensive approach to win support for 
Kosovo institutions in the north.  The economic situation remains 
gloomy and underscores the importance of strengthening the rule of 
law and establishing proper legal and regulatory environments.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
KOSOVO AFTER TWO YEARS 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Your visit to Pristina takes place on the second anniversary 
of Kosovo's independence.  This second year has marked some 
important foreign policy successes, including Kosovo's admission to 
the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and a slowly 
growing number of recognitions by other governments.  The year also 
saw the growth and consolidation of critical Kosovo institutions, as 
the Constitutional Court came into existence and the Central 
Elections Commission managed Kosovo's first post-independence 
elections.  The important work of decentralization -- initially 
related to Ahtisaari Plan requirements for establishing 
Serb-majority municipalities, but really about moving government 
closer to the people -- began in earnest. 
 
¶3. (U) You will find a peaceful and stable -- but still fragile -- 
country where cooperation between Albanians and Serbs throughout 
southern Kosovo improves daily.  In northern Kosovo, the existence 
of illegal parallel institutions that answer to Belgrade prevents 
the Government of Kosovo (GOK) from extending its legitimate 
authority, but the northern municipalities are generally peaceful. 
The situation has improved to the point that KFOR has downsized from 
15,000 to 10,000 troops as of January 31.  As you observe 
independence day events, you will see Kosovo Albanians celebrating, 
while Kosovo Serb responses will range from rejection to resigned 
acceptance.  Congratulate the President and Prime Minister, during 
your meeting, for their independence day, but take a more 
circumspect approach with the Serbs you will meet.  Even the ethnic 
Serb mayors you will see who participate in Kosovo institutions will 
not wish to emphasize the day's significance.   This sharp division 
on Kosovo's status is also reflected in the GOK's ongoing challenge 
to gain international recognition of the country's independence.  At 
present, 65 countries have recognized Kosovo, including 22 of 27 
European Union (EU) member states. 
 
OUR PRIORITIES 
-------------- 
 
¶4. (U) We have used the lead-up to Kosovo's independence day to 
focus our attention on the GOK's most important challenges.  The 
important work of decentralization must continue in 2010: 
competencies must be transferred from the central to the municipal 
level; new municipalities must receive adequate resources to 
succeed; municipal governments must quickly demonstrate their 
relevance in responding to citizens' needs. The capacity and 
 
PRISTINA 00000076  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
independence of Kosovo's new law enforcement and judicial 
institutions must grow and command respect throughout the country. 
Respect for the rule of law is also the key to needed economic 
development.  A young and growing population needs investment and 
jobs.  We regularly emphasize that the right legal and regulatory 
environment is the key to private sector investment and related 
economic development.  Only by intensifying its dedication to 
building a democratic, multiethnic society where the rule of law 
prevails will Kosovo become a prosperous country that is capable of 
taking its place in the Trans-Atlantic family of nations. 
 
ELECTIONS: A SIGN OF POLITICAL MATURITY 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) The success of Kosovo's November 2009 municipal elections is 
a sign of the country's maturing democracy.  Kosovo held its first 
post-independence elections last Fall, with Albanian and Serb 
candidates competing for mayors' offices and seats on municipal 
assemblies.  This was the first time since the end of hostilities 
that Kosovo administered its own elections.  (Note:  In previous 
years, the OSCE implemented elections.  End Note)  International 
observers, including teams of Embassy and USG observers, noted that 
elections generally met international standards.  Most refreshing 
was that Serbs participated in the elections in large numbers and 
elected Serb mayors in four municipalities:  Gracanica, 
Kllokot/Klokot, Ranillug/Ranilug, and Shterpce/Strpce.  You should 
compliment the President and Prime Minister on the successful 
elections.  With the Serb mayors you will meet, praise their courage 
for choosing to run for Kosovo offices and engage them in a 
discussion about the continued presence of Serbian parallel 
institutions that answer to Belgrade. 
 
DECENTRALIZATION AND MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Under the Ahtisaari Plan, the blueprint for Kosovo's 
independence, Kosovo has an obligation to establish six 
Serb-majority municipalities.  During November's successful 
municipal elections, four of these "newly-decentralized" 
municipalities (Gracanica, Ranilug, Klokot, and an expanded Novo 
Brdo) participated as new political entities.  Serbs in these 
localities went to the polls in much larger-than-expected numbers, 
and decentralization is off to a good start.  The President and 
Prime Minister merit recognition for their support -- sometimes in 
the face of vocal protests from Albanian nationalists -- for the 
decentralization process.  Three of the four mayors you will meet 
are from newly-decentralized municipalities.  The fourth mayor, from 
Strpce, represents a municipality that already had an ethnic-Serb 
majority but his election represents a sharp setback for the 
parallel structures' former stranglehold on the municipality.  The 
remaining new Serb-majority municipalities to be decentralized -- 
Partesh/Partes and North Mitrovica -- are still in the process of 
standing up and will hold special elections later this year to 
select mayors and municipal assemblies.  With all of these mayors, 
it is appropriate to discuss the inter-ethnic dynamics that exist in 
their municipalities as well as the challenges they face in 
establishing their municipalities.  You can assure them that we will 
continue to support their efforts to establish vital and robust 
communities that will meet the needs of all of their citizens. 
 
NORTHERN KOSOVO: A WORK IN PROGRESS 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Northern Kosovo has not seen the same progress on 
interethnic reconciliation as the region south of the Ibar River. 
Serb-majority northern Kosovo remains an impoverished, forlorn place 
where the GOK holds little sway.  In an effort to capitalize on the 
success of decentralization in southern Kosovo, the GOK is 
cooperating with the International Civilian Office (ICO) to 
implement a new approach for northern Kosovo that outlines a way 
forward in winning Serb support in the north for GOK structures and 
institutions.  In Vienna last week, the International Steering Group 
 
PRISTINA 00000076  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
endorsed this approach, and you should express your encouragement to 
the President and Prime Minister for progress in the north that 
brings hope and development to the region.  Hardline Serb political 
and church leaders have opposed the approach, at times using 
incendiary language to suggest it will provoke conflict but both UN 
and EU representatives have told us that the communities there are 
beginning to see new hope for their future in this constructive 
initiative.  The approach introduces incremental changes in the 
north that will begin to shift momentum in the region towards 
Pristina.  We have transmitted a copy of the approach to you under 
separate cover. 
 
THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN KOSOVO 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) in Kosovo is in flux. 
Its official head in Kosovo, Diocesan Bishop Artemije Radosavljevic 
based in Gracanica, is a hardliner who rejects any contact with 
Kosovo institutions.  Until December 2009, he prevented SOC 
officials from signing electricity contracts due to concern that 
such an action was tantamount to recognizing Kosovo's independence. 
A committee sent by the SOC Synod in Belgrade is currently in 
Gracanica to investigate financial improprieties there.  We hear 
Artemije is being asked to step down, or face appointment of a tutor 
to act in his name.  One of the committee members sent to confront 
Artemije is Vicar Bishop Teodosije Sibalic, Abbot of the Visoki 
Decani Monastery.  You will meet Bishop Teodosije's number two, 
Father Sava, at lunch, and you should discuss with him the changes 
that are looming for the SOC in Kosovo.  Explore with him, as well, 
the SOC's interests in establishing the Ahtisaari-mandated framework 
for the protection of SOC sites in Kosovo.    Expect Sava to express 
concern over KFOR's drawdown and the possible removal of troops 
which currently protect SOC sites.  We remain closely engaged with 
the monks and are leading a quiet, gradual effort to effect a 
reconciliation between them and the local Albanian residents and 
leaders in Decan. 
 
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK REMAINS GLOOMY 
------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (U) Kosovo's economic situation remains difficult.  You will see 
ubiquitous road building projects, but there is limited foreign 
direct investment and unemployment hovers around 40 percent. 
Remittances from Kosovars abroad and foreign assistance constitute a 
significant portion of the economy.  Kosovo's most significant 
development project is centered on a new power plant as part of the 
privatization of the Kosovo Energy Corporation.  Pre-qualified 
investors, including international consortia with U.S. participants, 
have until the end of February to submit sealed bids for the 
project.  When complete, the 500 MW plant will take advantage of 
Kosovo's rich coal reserves and will put an end to an unstable 
nationwide power supply that continues to limit development and 
foreign investment.  We are working closely with the GOK to provide 
expert guidance on renovating the country's dilapidated power grid 
and to ensure that privatization proceeds according to 
internationally recognized best practices.  In your meetings with 
all of your interlocutors, highlight the role that the private 
sector in the United States plays in economic development.  Stress 
the importance of developing policies and regulatory frameworks that 
spur private sector growth. 
 
DELL