VZCZCXRO8403
OO RUEHAST
DE RUEHPS #0639/01 2141622
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 021622Z AUG 06
FM USOFFICE PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6350
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0783
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 02 PRISTINA 000639 
 
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: COM URGES MODERATE KOSOVO SERB LEADERS TO ENGAGE 
IN STATUS NEGOTIATIONS 
 
REF: (A) PRISTINA 352 (B) PRISTINA 614 
 
PRISTINA 00000639  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  During introductory meetings with 
moderate Kosovo Serb leaders Oliver Ivanovic, Bishop 
Teodosije and Father Sava, COM echoed recent comments by 
Ambassador Wisner about the importance of active and direct 
engagement in status negotiations during the coming weeks. 
Ivanovic, Teodosije and Sava all expressed gratitude for 
Wisner's candor, and criticized Belgrade for taking an 
"unrealistic and obstructionist" approach to status 
negotiations.  Ivanovic claimed he is in the process of 
registering his own new political party in Kosovo.  Teodosije 
said UNOSEK's proposal for protection zones for the fifteen 
most important Serb cultural heritage sites in Kosovo was 
more reasonable than Belgrade's proposal for forty sites, 
which he said would cover more than half of Kosovo.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On July 31, COM urged Oliver Ivanovic, leader of 
the Serbian List for Kosovo and Metohija (SLKM), as well as 
moderate Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) leaders Bishop 
Teodosije Sibalic of Lipljan and Father Sava Janjic, to 
engage in the final status process during these crucial final 
weeks of intensive negotiations.  COM said that now is the 
time when moderate Kosovo Serbs must engage to the fullest 
extent possible in order for their ideas to be considered. 
She encouraged them to continue to submit any proposals 
directly to the Kosovo Albanian negotiating team or to the 
USG.  She also urged them to help build a Kosovo in which 
Kosovo Serbs will choose to live regardless of status. 
Ivanovic, Teodosije and Sava all agreed that the coming weeks 
were critical, and lamented that Belgrade's interests did not 
always coincide with those of Kosovo Serbs. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Ivanovic told COM that he has filed registration 
documents with the OSCE to create a new political party, 
which he hopes will unify Kosovo Serbs and enable them to 
influence policy in Kosovo.  Unlike the current SLKM, he 
said, his new party would not be directly tied to Belgrade 
political parties, although he claimed to have the support of 
the Belgrade-based Social Democratic Party (SDP), Nebojsa 
Covic.  He fretted that Kosovo Serbs were completely 
disorganized and averred that Belgrade has long prevented the 
establishment of local political elites.  He reiterated the 
intent of the SLKM Kosovo assembly members to return to 
Pristina institutions "as soon as possible," ideally before 
status is finalized.  However, he caveated heavily, saying 
that the SLKM is weak and he still needs at least some 
low-profile support from Serbian President Boris Tadic and 
from fellow SLKM member Goran Bogdanovic (the Kosovo 
representative of Tadic's Democratic Party (DS) and a member 
of the Belgrade status negotiating team) in order to return 
to Pristina's Provisional Institutions of Self-Government 
(PISG). 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Ivanovic expressed concern about possible 
political tension in Kosovo this fall, and said the U.S. 
should use its influence with Kosovo Albanian leaders to 
prevent violence.  "Some people," he noted, wrongly believe 
that threats will improve their negotiating position. 
Ivanovic agreed that a division of Kosovo would be disastrous 
for the 60% of Kosovo Serbs who do not live the north, and he 
criticized Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica 
directly, saying that responsible leaders should have courage 
and take more initiative. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Small but visible infrastructure improvements on 
the ground, Ivanovic argued, would help Kosovo Serbs through 
these uncertain times if implemented now; current urgent 
needs included an access road to Laplje Selo (outside 
Pristina) and a small bridge in Ranilug (Kamenica 
municipality).  He asked for opportunities to align the SLKM 
with these projects, noting that the coalition needed to show 
 
PRISTINA 00000639  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Kosovo Serbs there can be positive results from their 
participation in institutions.  He also complained that 
Pristina leaders make encouraging statements about promoting 
multi-ethnicity, but then fail to follow through with 
appropriate action.  He gave a recent example in which he 
successfully urged a Kosovo Serb engineer from Mitrovica to 
apply for a position with the Kosovo Ministry of Transport, 
but said the applicant never even received a response to his 
application. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) At Decani Monastery, Teodosije and Sava told COM 
that they and the SOC will stay in Kosovo regardless of the 
outcome of status negotiations, and they are therefore able 
to take a more realistic approach to finding compromise 
solutions.  Teodosije said he is pleased with UNOSEK,s 
proposal for protection zones for the 15 most important 
Serbian cultural heritage sites in Kosovo, but said that the 
church wants several more sites that were active monastic 
communities prior to 1999 to be added to the list as a sign 
of goodwill.  Sava said that these sites meet the established 
criteria, which include functionality (the nature of the site 
as a church or monastery), environment (urban or rural), 
visibility (the zone should include what can be seen from the 
site), and the degree of vulnerability. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Teodosije said that he urged Belgrade negotiating 
team members who continue to insist on special protections 
for over 40 sites (consisting of over half of Kosovo) to 
"open their eyes" to the reality of the situation.  He 
expressed concern that Kosovo Albanians continue to see 
Serbian heritage sites as "Trojan horses" of the Serbian 
state, and said that Belgrade's proposals do nothing to calm 
such fears.  Father Sava gave COM several satellite images of 
valley surrounding Decani Monastery, color-coded to compare 
the current UNMIK protection zone (Ref A) with the Belgrade 
proposal and with monastery lands prior to WWII.  He said 
that the next issue to be resolved is the structure and role 
of international commissions which will manage protection 
zones around the selected sites, noting that without adequate 
international monitoring, the zones themselves would offer 
little protection. 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  Teodosije praised Serbian President Boris Tadic, 
with whom he recently spent three hours at a summer camp for 
multi-ethnic refugee children in Serbia.  Teodosije said that 
Tadic completely shared his own views on decentralization and 
the protection of cultural heritage.  Teodosije and Sava were 
also clear on the need to engage Kosovo Albanians.  However, 
Sava admitted they are limited by the parameters set by the 
church hierarchy in Belgrade, and said he was even worried 
that Teodosije might be transferred away from Decani during 
the next Synod in November (Ref B). 
 
¶9.  (SBU) COMMENT.  Moderate Kosovo Serb political and 
religious leaders are becoming more confident about 
criticizing Belgrade and stating their own independent 
positions.  They recognize the need for pragmatism in light 
of a looming status declaration.  The church leaders at 
Decani are taking a realistic view of the minimal concessions 
they need to ensure the long term survival of Serb religious 
communities in Kosovo.  Ivanovic's new Kosovo-based political 
party is a positive development, though a small one, which 
has some potential to unite those Serbs who want to stay and 
help them integrate into post-status Kosovo.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶10.  (U)  Post clears this message in its entirety for 
release to Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari. 
KAIDANOW