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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BELGRADE 000879 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/02/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KIRF YI SR
SUBJECT: SERBIA: STATE AND CHURCH REMAIN IN LOCKSTEP ON 
KOSOVO 
 
REF: BELGRADE 786 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Michael C. Polt for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: Despite the impression of improved 
atmospherics following the May 23 Vienna talks on religious 
issues, Prime Minister Kostunica continues to work with more 
conservative elders in the Church to derail efforts by 
moderate elements to define a balanced and independent SOC 
position on Kosovo status.  The results of the SOC Assembly 
of Bishops (May 15-27) may also reinforce this effort by 
opening the way for hard-liners to take important senior 
posts in the SOC hierarchy. We will continue to work for ways 
to strengthen SOC moderates including ways such as the 
Ambassador,s upcoming Contact Group/Quint level with the SOC 
Kosovo team.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) On May 26, soon to be Bishop Irinej (Dobrijevic) 
(strictly protect throughout) met with poloff in the wake of 
the May 23 Vienna talks on religious issues in Kosovo. 
Irinej (Dobrijevic) was elected Bishop during an assembly of 
SOC Bishops held in Belgrade from May 15-27 and appointed to 
preside over Australia and New Zealand, but he is not likely 
to depart for his new assignment until the fall.  As reported 
in reftel, Irinej (Dobrijevic) is a moderate voice within the 
Church and has confided his deep concern that the PM is using 
his influence in the Church to ensure full SOC support for 
the government,s position in the Kosovo status talks.  His 
appointment as Bishop to Australia and New Zealand has 
effectively promoted him away from the center of SOC power 
while keeping his useful ties to Orthodox diaspora groups 
(and their associated funding sources) in hand.   He has 
assured us that he will seek to remain engaged on Kosovo and 
in Belgrade until the final settlement. 
 
 
SOC reaction to the Vienna talks 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (C)  Irinej (Dobrijevic) downplayed reports of an improved 
atmosphere at the May 23 round of talks (senior GOS 
negotiator Leon Kojen called it "useful and productive") and 
offered signs of a continuing effort by the PM to keep the 
SOC delegates in step with his policy on Kosovo.  The 
composition of the SOC delegation in Vienna, Irinej 
(Dobrijevic) said, showed how the SOC had been co-opted.  He 
called Bishop Tedosije the lone voice of moderation and said 
he was mostly marginalized by 
his superiors, Bishop Irinej of Backa and Bishop Artemije 
(Embassy note: Irinej (Dobrijevic) has recounted to us in the 
past how Irinej of Backa has worked openly and sometimes 
impatiently with senior government officials to silence more 
moderate voices in the Church.  Amfilohije has also 
reportedly worked behind the scenes in a similar manner. End 
Embassy note).  Bishop Artemije was particularly unhelpful in 
the aftermath of the May 23 talks by blasting the UNOSEK 
process in an interview with Belgrade daily Glas Javnosti on 
May 25.  He declared he was "fed up with Albanian promises" 
and said there was "no progress" at the talks because UNOSEK 
is "not paying much attention to the results." 
 
 
Meanwhile, the Synod hardens 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) The outcome of the recent SOC Assembly ofBishops also 
suggests a hardening of the Holy Syod.  In particular, 
Irinej (Dobrijevic) noted the "astounding" appointment of 
Bishop Filaret to the Synod, a person who he described as 
from the extreme right wing of the SOC and one of the only 
SOC clergy to insist on giving a eulogy at the funeral of 
Slobodan Milosevic. Irinej (Dobrijevic) told other Emboffs 
that the election of other new members of the Synod -- 
particularly "Bishops from Bosnia" -- would likely result in 
a harder-line SOC leadership.  Irinej (Dobrijevic) said that 
the SOC leadership's top priority (including Patriarch Pavle, 
Metropolitan Amfilohije) is to keep PM Kostunica in power so 
as to avoid a Radical government -- he called an SRS 
government a "nightmare scenario" for the Church. 
 
¶5. (C) According to Irinej (Dobrijevic), Irinej of Backa has 
attempted to make political inroads with President Tadic to 
bring the SOC leadership close with the DS leadership (as it 
is with the DSS).  According to Irinej (Dobrijevic), Tadic 
 
BELGRADE 00000879  002 OF 002 
 
 
reportedly shouted at Irinej of Backa that the DS was not 
interested in these kinds of ties.  Irinej (Dobrijevic) said 
that Irinej of Backa had never been so directly rebuffed by a 
GOS official In fact, Irinej (Dobrijevic) told us of one 
occasion where Irinej of Backa reprimanded the PM for some 
offense in front of his closest advisors, warning Chief of 
Staff Nikitovic to stay out of the discussion.  Tadic,s 
reported refusal to develop a relationship with Irinej of 
Backa may also be related to the fact that Tadic is working 
behind the scenes with senior Church moderates in an effort 
to influence the Patriarch,s succession. 
 
¶6. (C) According to Irinej (Dobrijevic), the Bishop from 
Backa is often deployed by the Church or by the government as 
an interlocutor because he is perceived to be a moderate; in 
reality, says Irinej (Dobrijevic), he often presents 
different sides to different audiences.  Irinej (Dobrijevic) 
said that Irinej of Backa behaved accordingly in Vienna -- 
saying "all the right things" during the talks but reverting 
to a hard-line stance when back in the company of his Bishop 
colleagues. 
 
¶7. (C) Comment:  Father Irinej (Dobrijevic),s observations 
provide some important insights into the complex in-fighting 
among the SOC,s hierarchy, a struggle that has only 
intensified with Patriarch Pavle,s increasingly frail health 
and rumors about succession. Father Irinej (Dobrijevic),s 
effort to forge a realistic, practical, and apolitical SOC 
position on Kosovo (and other issues of interest to the 
international community) has had to navigate difficult 
currents.  His work in that regard has strained his 
relationship with the PM and raised suspicions about his 
motives among more conservative SOC leaders.  We cannot rule 
out that his frustrations also color his description of 
developments within the SOC.  The PM sees only trouble if the 
SOC position on Kosovo differs from his own, and he will do 
his best to ensure people who agree with him stay in charge 
of the Church.  End Comment. 
POLT