VZCZCXRO3224
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHPS #0051/01 0191749
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191749Z JAN 07
FM USOFFICE PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6943
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0995
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 000051 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE, FOR EUR/PPD - ROXANNE CABRAL, NSC FOR 
BRAUN, USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KJUS EAID KDEM UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: PUBLIC OUTREACH CAMPAIGN ON AHTISAARI 
SETTLEMENT TARGETS KOSOVO SERBS 
 
REF: PRISTINA 27 AND PREVIOUS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  In its work to garner public support for 
the final status package in advance of the expected February 
2 visit of UN Special Envoy Ahtisaari, the Public Outreach 
Working Group, composed of OSCE, USOP/USAID, UNMIK, ICO, the 
Kosovo government and governing and opposition political 
parties, has made it a priority to include Kosovo Serb input. 
 Through the participation of Kosovo Serbs in the group and 
through focus groups conducted by USAID, we have determined 
that security is the number one issue for Kosovo Serbs and 
that messages which focus on the future resonate best.  This 
first phase in the outreach strategy -- which includes PSAs 
and a billboard campaign specifically targeting Kosovo Serb 
communities -- will be followed by an effort to explain in 
detail the contents of the final status package.  Part of 
this strategy is the use of OSCE town hall meetings in Serb 
enclaves throughout Kosovo.  USOP will look for appropriate 
opportunities to reinforce this effort and to support the 
overriding goal of keeping Serbs in Kosovo.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Serb Participation in Content Generation -- Stress on Security 
 
¶2. (SBU)  The Public Outreach Working Group, chaired by OSCE 
Amb. Wnendt and made up of key internationals, Kosovo 
government figures and governing and opposition parties, has 
made it a priority to include Kosovo Serb input in its effort 
to garner support for the final status package.  Kosovo Serb 
Petar Miletic, Secretary General of the Independent Liberal 
Party (SLS), actively participates in both the larger group 
and a sub-group developing messages.  On January 18 in a 
private meeting before the group met, we emphasized to 
Miletic the importance of Serb participation in the group and 
the value of his and other Kosovo Serb input into message and 
strategy.  Miletic responded that the most important issue 
for Kosovo Serbs was security -- a sense borne out by focus 
group testing of Kosovo Serbs conducted by our USAID 
contractor, Academy for Educational Development (AED).  He 
also highlighted the need to separate Kosovo Serb messaging 
into three categories:  messages for small enclaves, messages 
for large enclaves, and messages for the three Serb-majority 
municipalites in the north.  He suggested coupling the 
expected billboard and PSA campaign with visits by KFOR 
representatives to reinforce the importance of security for 
Kosovo's Serbs.  Miletic told us he is enthusiastic about 
helping this effort and that his aim and ours is the same: 
to reassure Serbs to stay in Kosovo. 
 
Serb Input in Testing 
 
¶3. (SBU) As part of the first phase of the outreach campaign 
-- in advance of the expected February 2 visit of UN Special 
Envoy Ahtisaari -- AED, which has contracted with a local PR 
firm, is currently testing messages in both Albanian and Serb 
communities.  In Serb areas, messages that focus on future 
("Building Our Future Together") resonate better than those 
which sound triumphalist or fail to reflect realities on the 
ground.  Indeed, Serb participants have commented that 
messages must recognise that many Serbs still do not feel 
safe in Kosovo and that certain conditions need to be met 
before all Kosovars can live together. 
 
Longer-term Serb Outreach 
 
¶4. (SBU) At the January 18 working group meeting, Amb. Wnendt 
rightly reiterated the point that messages targeting 
Albanians must not alienate Serb or other minority 
populations.  He explained the importance of the second phase 
of the campaign in reaching out to Serbs, saying  Kosovo 
Serbs, more so than Kosovo Albanians, need detailed 
information about what status will mean for specific aspects 
of their daily lives and for their safety.  This 
informational phase of outreach will be done via fact sheets, 
fliers, town hall meetings and perhaps even hotlines.  To 
 
PRISTINA 00000051  002 OF 002 
 
 
support this approach, the OSCE plans to hold town hall 
meetings in February, after the expected delivery of the 
final status package, in the Serb communities of Strpce, 
Ranilug, Caglavica and Velika Hoca, as well as in a number of 
Albanian municipalities.  Topics will include security, 
community sustainability, competencies of new municipalities 
and their responsibilities toward Albanians.  All of these 
events will be recorded and excerpts will be broadcast on 
local radio and TV. 
 
¶5. (SBU) COMMENT:  Kosovo Serb buy-in to this outreach effort 
is key and we will continue to press for their participation 
and will look for ways to reinforce the OSCE/Public Outreach 
Working Group effort to explain the benefits of the final 
status package.  Any substantive input regarding the 
provisions of the settlement that the Department or UNOSEK 
can provide to add content to these messages would be 
welcome.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  USOP clears this cable in its entirety for release 
to UN Special Envoy Ahtisaari. 
KAIDANOW