VZCZCXYZ0017
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #1251/01 1722056
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 212056Z JUN 06
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9398
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PRIORITY 0105
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 0857
RUEHPS/USOFFICE PRISTINA PRIORITY 0569

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 001251 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: RUSSIA CHALLENGES POSITIVE JESSEN-PETERSEN REPORT 
ON KOSOVO 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Jackie Sanders, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary: During a June 20 Security Council meeting on 
the United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK), 
SRSG Soren Jessen-Petersen praised new Kosovo President 
Fatmir Sejdiu and Prime Minister Agim Ceku for action on 
reforms and accelerated progress on standards implementation, 
but called for further progress.  Jessen-Petersen also called 
on Belgrade to allow Kosovo Serbs to participate in Kosovo's 
institutions and democratic processes.  Coordination Center 
for Kosovo and Metohija (CCK) President Sandra Roskovic-Ivic 
also spoke before the Council, presenting familiar legalistic 
arguments and a long list of alleged incidents of ethnic 
violence against Serbs and other minorities in Kosovo. 
Jessen-Petersen offered a spirited rebuttal to 
Raskovic-Ivic's comments, stating he "did not recognize" the 
Kosovo she had described. 
 
¶2.  (C) Most Security Council members echoed the SRSG's 
praise of Pristina's progress on standards implementation 
since his last report in January and supported his call for 
sustained progress.  They also reinforced his appeal to 
Belgrade to allow Serbs greater participation in the 
democratic process in Kosovo.  Russian Permanent 
Representative Ambassador Churkin, however, rejected the 
SRSG's assessment, accusing Jessen-Petersen of "retouching 
reality in Kosovo." He also said Russia opposed imposition of 
an "arbitrary timeframe" to resolve Kosovo's status.  Churkin 
argued that the international community should not allow 
itself "to be blackmailed by the argument that if a status 
outcome is not achieved in 2006 then there might be renewed 
violence."  The representative of Slovakia also asserted that 
Jessen-Petersen's report is not "fully representative" of the 
situation, although he confirmed Slovakia's commitment to 
KFOR.  End summary. 
 
SRSG Delivers Positive Message on Standards Implementation 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) In his last appearance before the Security Council as 
SRSG (he is resigning due to his wife's illness), Soren 
Jessen-Petersen reviewed his recent positive report on 
standards implementations in Kosovo.  Kosovo was represented 
by Prime Minister Agim Ceku, who was present at the meeting 
as a member of the SRSG's entourage, but made no statement. 
It was only the second appearance at a UNSC meeting on Kosovo 
by a Kosovar Albanian.  Kosovo, said Jessen-Petersen, had 
recorded significant progress on standards implementation 
since his February appearance before the Security Council, 
when he had reported a slowdown in standards implementation. 
Kosovo is now "a picture of a society making progress" and 
Prime Minister Ceku had brought "great determination and 
energy" to his post since March.  Jessen-Petersen argued the 
international community could "expect further concrete 
achievements over the coming months."  He described the new 
leadership's progress in reaching out to Kosovo Serbs, 
including the recent establishment of a Communities Security 
Council.  The incidence of violent incidents had decreased, 
said Jessen-Petersen, cautioning that it was wrong to ascribe 
ethnic causes to incidents before they were investigated. 
 
¶4. (C) Belgrade, the SRSG emphasized, needed to allow 
Kosovo's Serbs to participate more directly in democratic 
processes in Kosovo and should rescind a directive to Serbs 
working in certain Kosovo institutions to choose between 
their Belgrade and Pristina salaries.  Jessen-Petersen stated 
that the status process is now of the "highest importance in 
Kosovo's political life," with all activities in Kosovo 
taking place in its context.  UNMIK now offered only 
diminishing marginal returns because -- after seven years -- 
there was not much more that could be done without a decision 
on status.  Kosovo's new leaders are offering a vision for 
the future that is fully aligned with the Guiding Principles 
of the Contact Group. 
 
CCK President Raskovic-Ivic: Legalistic Arguments 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶5.  (C) In a lengthy statement that offered mostly legalistic 
arguments against independence for Kosovo, CCK President 
Raskovic-Ivic called on the UN Security Council to guarantee 
the "consistent implementation of principles of international 
law," recalling UNSCR 1244's reaffirmation of the sovereignty 
and territorial integrity of Serbia.  Raskovic-Ivic asserted 
that the SRSG's report "did not accurately reflect the 
situation regarding the implementation of standards." 
Claiming that human rights were being violated on a 
mass-scale in Kosovo, Raskovic-Ivic presented a lengthy list 
 
 
of figures on alleged ethnically motivated crimes.  She 
agreed that it is important for Kosovo Serbs to play an 
active role in Kosovo's political process, but stipulated 
only "if their participation in these institutions is 
meaningful."  Raskovic-Ivic alleged an unjustifiable transfer 
of some of UNMIK's competencies to the Provisional 
Institutions of Self-Government (PISG), and said this action 
prejudged the outcome of the status process.  Speaking 
rhetorically, she claimed confidence that the international 
community would "not submit to pressures to break up a 
democracy" and that the Security Council "would act in a just 
manner." 
 
¶6. (C)  At the end of the meeting, Jessen-Petersen offered a 
point-by-point rebuttal of her description of the situation 
for Kosovar Albanians, noting that he had lived there for two 
years and "did not recognize" the portrait of Kosovo conveyed 
by Raskovic-Ivic's statement.  He reported that UNMIK 
investigations indicated that only a slim fraction of the 
enumerated incidents were actually confirmable cases of 
ethnically-motivated violence.  He expressed confidence in 
Ceku's willingness to take further action, and stated his 
hope that IDP involvement in planning for the return of 
Kosovar Albanians would increase the number of returnees. 
 
Russia: Strong Repudiation of SRSG's Conclusions 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶7.  (C) Russian Permrep Vitaly Churkin delivered a harsh 
statement repudiating Jessen-Petersen's briefing on every 
point.  Churkin alleged the UNMIK report of "retouching 
reality in Kosovo," and asserted that "peripheral positives 
on standards implementation did not compensate for overall 
failure."  Churkin, too, cited numerous figures on supposedly 
ethnically motivated crimes.  Churkin repeated several times 
that Kosovo was not a unique case. (Comment: He was 
apparently reinforcing recent statements by President Putin 
calling for a universal solution to Kosovo.)  He described 
the non-participation of Serbs in Kosovo's institutions as 
proof that Kosovo was still far from achieving a multi-ethnic 
society.  Churkin said that the international community 
should not allow itself "to be blackmailed by the argument 
that if a status outcome is not achieved in 2006 then there 
might be renewed violence."  Russia, he concluded, is 
categorically against "attempts to defer standards 
implementation to the post-status period" and opposes 
"arbitrary timeframes" that specify completion of the process 
in 2006."  (Comment:  At a dinner June 19 hosted by Greek PR 
Vassilakis for the SRSG and attended by U.S. Ambassador 
Sanders, Churkin pressed Jessen-Petersen to make explicit the 
consequences of not acting by the end of the year, and shook 
his head in disagreement as the SRSG tried to provide 
compelling reasons about expectations.) 
 
US, UK and French Statements 
---------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (C) Delivering the US statement, Political-Minister 
Counselor William Brencick thanked Jessen-Petersen for his 
work as SRSG and praised President Sejdiu and Ceku and their 
bold calls for action, but agreed more work was needed to 
build confidence among Kosovo's minorities.  He also called 
on Belgrade to allow Serb participation in Kosovo's 
institutions and for continued implementation of standards 
even after the determination of status.  Brencick stressed 
that all parties should support Special Envoy Ahtisaari. 
 
¶9.  (C) UK Deputy Permanent Representative Ambassador Karen 
Pierce said more work would be needed to follow up on 
standards implementation and announced the UK looked forward 
to important steps by the Kosovo Assembly in the coming 
weeks.  The UK contested the argument that Serb participation 
in Kosovo's institutions should be conditioned on 
decentralization and voiced support for Ahtisaari and the 
Guiding Principles of the Contact Group. French Permrep de La 
Sabliere echoed the praise of others for progress on 
standards implementation.  He noted, however, that UNMIK and 
the Contact Group's thirteen priorities must still be rapidly 
implemented; such action would be important when the time 
came to determine status.  De La Sabliere said because 
dialogue under Ahtisaari had intensified and Kosovo's 
negotiating team had made constructive proposals, it now 
appeared possible to find common ground. 
 
Statements By Other Countries 
----------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (C) In Slovakia's statement, Deputy Permanent 
 
 
Representative Matulay argued that the SRSG's report had 
failed to address key issues including: the ability of 
Kosovo's institutions to meet challenges of democratization 
and the rule of law with an emphasis on the issue of 
international organized crime, Kosovo's economic and 
political sustainability, Kosovo's preparedness for 
multi-ethnic coexistence and whether a post-status Kosovo 
could contribute to regional stability.  Slovakia cited 
progress on standards implementation, but questioned the 
directness of the SRSG's report on the question of whether 
progress was sufficient to move forward on the status issue. 
Slovakia also criticized the Contact Group for "redefining 
and narrowing key standards" and asserted that the thirteen 
priority standards needed overview from the Security Council, 
not just from the Contact Group.  Slovakia called on Belgrade 
to allow Serbs to participate in Kosovo's institutions and 
argued against an imposed solution or any action that would 
give the international community the impression that "the 
outcome of the final status talks had already been 
prejudged." 
 
¶11.  (C) As interested parties, Austria and Albania also made 
statements.  Speaking on behalf of the EU, Austrian 
Ambassador Gerhard Pfanzelter praised accelerated 
implementation of standards, which he described as a 
prerequisite for fulfillment of Kosovo's European 
perspective; he also noted the EU's adoption of the "European 
Partnership" document last December.  Albanian Permanent 
Representative Adrian Neritani praised Ceku and his 
achievements in standards implementation and promised that 
Albania would play an active and constructive role in close 
cooperation with the international community.  Neritani also 
called for the status process to be completed within 2006 and 
expressed strong support for the Guiding Principles of the 
Contact Group. 
BOLTON