VZCZCXRO4921
OO RUEHAST
DE RUEHPS #0564/01 1801630
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 291630Z JUN 06
FM USOFFICE PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6268
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0747
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHFMIUU/AFSOUTH NAPLES IT
RHMFIUU/CDR TF FALCON
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEPGEA/CDR650THMIGP SHAPE BE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUFOANA/USNIC PRISTINA SR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PRISTINA 000564 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL, INL, EUR/SCE 
NSC FOR BRAUN 
USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KCRM PGOV PINR KDEM UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSTUNICA VISIT TO KOSOVO SPARKS ONLY ISOLATED 
PROTESTS ON VIDOVDAN 
 
 
PRISTINA 00000564  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica 
visited Gracanica monastery in Kosovo on June 28 to 
commemorate Vidovdan.  Despite receiving UNMIK permission to 
visit Kosovo only for personal, religious reasons, Kostunica 
used the opportunity to make a provocative speech in which he 
said Kosovo will always be part of Serbia.  His visit 
provoked only a minimal reaction from Kosovo Albanians. 
Other than the arrest of Albin Kurti and over 100 of his 
supporters for attempting (unsuccessfully) to block main 
roads from Serbia into Kosovo, Vidovdan commemorations across 
Kosovo passed without major incidents.  END SUMMARY. 
 
THREE DAYS OF VIDOVDAN FESTIVITIES 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On June 28 Kosovo Serbs celebrated the 617th 
anniversary of Vidovdan, commemorating the defeat of Serbs 
and their allies by the Turks in the Battle of Kosovo Field 
in 1389.   The festivities lasted for three days, and in 
addition to the main celebrations in Gracanica and 
Gazimestan, police report there was a peaceful gathering of 
500 - 700 people on June 28 in Kamenica, in eastern Kosovo. 
Among the participants were Kosovo Serbs currently residing 
in Serbia who returned to Kosovo for Vidovdan celebrations. 
On June 27 Patriarch Pavle arrived from Belgrade and attended 
a poetry reading and competition at Gracanica Monastery.  In 
his sermon that day, hard-line Gracanica-based head of the 
Raska and Prizren Diocese Bishop Artemije Radosavljevic 
reportedly said that, "Serbia is one temple and Kosovo is its 
altar," adding that "there is no temple without an altar." 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On June 28 Patriarch Pavle, accompanied by Bishop 
Artemije, led the Vidovdan liturgy at Gracanica monastery. 
Afterwards Patriarch Pavle lead the memorial service 
dedicated to Serb heroes and martyrs at the war memorial at 
Gazimestan, on Kosovo Field, five kilometers north of 
Pristina.  PDFSN said the crowd at Gazimestan numbered 
500-700 people, making it the largest since 1999.  Moderate 
Kosovo Serb leader Randjel Nojkic of the Serbian List for 
Kosovo and Metohija (SLKM) told PolFSN on June 28 that he was 
at Gazimestan, along with SLKM colleagues Oliver Ivanovic, 
Goran Bogdanovic, Vesna Jovanovic and Gojko Savic.  He said 
other participants included Serb leaders from Belgrade, 
including the head of the Kosovo Coordination Center (CCK) 
Sanda Raskovic-Ivic, Serbian Minister for Capital Investments 
Velimir Ilic, Serbian Minister of Religion, chairman of the 
Serbian negotiating team for economics Nenad Popovic, 
Slobodan Vucetic of the Serbian Radical Party (SPS), and 
representatives of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) and the 
Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS).  Also present were hard-line 
leaders of the Serb National Council (SNC) Rada Trajkovic, 
Milan Ivanovic and Marko Jaksic (the two former are 
E.O.-listed) and deputy head of the Russian Duma Sergey 
Baburin, a nationalist former Russian general in Afghanistan. 
 
KOSTUNICA VISITED GRACANICA AMID TIGHT SECURITY 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica entered 
Kosovo from Serbia through Gate 5 in Kamenica (in between 
Bujanovac in Serbia and Gjilan/Gniljane in Kosovo) at 11:15 
on June 28.  He went directly to Gracanica monastery, where 
he attended a lunch hosted by Bishop Artemije.  Kostunica 
told assembled Kosovo Serbs, many of whom had waited for 
hours, that Kosovo will always be part of Serbia.  Kostunica 
left Kosovo via Gate 3 at Merdare (the most direct route 
between Pristina and Belgrade) at approximately 17:00. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) According to one Kosovo Serb teacher from a village 
near Gracanica, Kostunica was well received by the hundreds 
who saw him speak on the monastery grounds.  Local media 
highlighted interviews with several Kosovo Serbs, however, 
who expressed disappointment with the visit.  One local 
 
PRISTINA 00000564  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
newspaper quoted Borislav Stevic, a Serb from Gracanica, as 
saying, "Kostunica cannot keep his empty promises.  He will 
leave, while we will remain here and deal with the 
consequences with our neighbors who are not very happy with 
his visit."  According to US Army community liaison officers 
stationed at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo Serbs in the Kamenica and 
Gjilan/Gniljane regions told them that Kostunica does not 
really care about Kosovo Serbs, and only came to Kosovo to 
bolster his own political credentials in advance of a 
possible upcoming election in Serbia. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) UNMIK, KFOR and the KPS mounted a heavy security 
operation on Vidovdan and the days leading up to it.  PDFSN 
said the road from Pristina to Gazimestan was under tight 
traffic controls, UNMIK and the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) 
escorted buses carrying Kosovo Serbs from northern Kosovo. 
PolOff observed numerous KFOR armored vehicles stationed 
along the road from Pristina to Merdare near the time of 
Kostunica's departure, as well as hundreds of KPS and CIVPOL 
both roving and at checkpoints. 
 
OVER 100 ACTIVISTS ARRESTED, INCLUDING ALBIN KURTI 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) According to police sources, Albin Kurti and 
supporters of his Movement for Self Determination (SDM) 
attempted to block main roads leading into Kosovo using their 
bodies and vehicles in three locations.  Police arrested 
Kurti and 30 other in southern Mitrovica; 82 at Gate 3 near 
Merdare and 20-25 at Gate 5 near Gjilan/Gniljane.  Some of 
the activists were found guilty, reprimanded and released, 
although Kurti is being held for 72 hours. 
 
"NEXT TIME WITH A VISA" 
----------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The response of the Kosovo leadership has been 
restrained.  President Agim Ceku told the media on June 27 
that Kostunica's visit was a private one for religious 
purposes, and said that if Kostunica "comes to provoke the 
feelings of Kosova citizens, I believe the people of Kosova 
are mature enough and will not respond to any provocations." 
In a June 29 assembly session, Sabri Hamiti, a member of the 
Assembly Presidency from the Democratic League of Kosovo 
(LDK) condemned the arrest of fellow member of the Kosovo 
Assembly and E.O. listed Emrush Xhemajli from the small 
People,s Movement of Kosovo (LPK) along with Kurti,s 
followers.  He asked that the Assembly formally condemn 
Kostunica,s visit, saying that UNMIK had permitted his entry 
for a private, religious celebration, not a political visit. 
A junior member of parliament from Hashim Thaci,s Democratic 
Party of Kosovo lauded the efforts of the SDM, insisting that 
&those young people did the work our government should have 
done.8 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Kosovo Albanian media coverage of the events was 
also restrained; one headline concerning the Serbian PM,s 
visit even quipped, &Next time with a Visa.8  The Kosovo 
Liberation Army (KLA) war veterans association issued a 
statement calling the visit a grave provocation and Kostunica 
a criminal who, "still keeps bodies of Albanians who were 
killed by his state."  (NOTE.  The final sets of human 
remains exhumed from known mass gravesites in Serbia are 
scheduled to be repatriated to Kosovo on June 30.  END 
NOTE.). 
 
¶10. (SBU) COMMENT.  Kostunica's visit comes at a time when 
Kosovo Serbs desperately need leadership and guidance.  Many 
were thrilled that Kostunica came to share this holiday with 
them, while others remain skeptical about his motives and 
doubt he can carry through on his promises.  Kosovo Serbs did 
enjoy the opportunity Vidovdan provided as one of the few 
times during the year when they can gather freely and 
publicly in large numbers and celebrate Serb cultural 
traditions.  Despite a predictable response by Kurti and his 
 
PRISTINA 00000564  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
activists, the events took place peacefully and without major 
incidents.  Most Kosovo Albanians believe they are on track 
to get what they want by the end of the year, and believe 
that despite Kostunica's nationalist rhetoric, there is 
little Serbs can do to stop it.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶11.  (U)  Post clears this message in its entirety for 
release to Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari. 
GOLDBERG