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DE RUEHPS #0348/01 1231516
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 031516Z MAY 07
FM USOFFICE PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7317
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1140
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHFMIUU/AFSOUTH NAPLES IT
RHMFISS/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 000348 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL, INL, AND EUR/SCE, NSC FOR BRAUN, USUN FOR 
DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCRM EAID KDEM UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: BALKAN WATCHERS' CONFERENCE BRINGS USG 
ACTION OFFICERS TO BELGRADE AND PRISTINA 
 
¶1. (U) This is a joint Embassy Belgrade-US Office Pristina 
message. 
 
¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: On April 16-18, Balkans watchers from 
Embassies Berlin, Paris, Rome, Skopje, USEU, and USNATO 
participated in familiarization visits to both Belgrade and 
Pristina.  Co-hosted by Embassy Belgrade and US Office 
Pristina, the three-day event was organized to help our 
colleagues better understand the situation on the ground as 
well as the policy framework under which we operate.  It was 
also an important opportunity to enhance the already close 
cooperation between Embassy Belgrade and USOP.  END SUMMARY. 
 
View from the North: Supervised Autonomy Only 
 
¶3. (SBU) The common view espoused in Serbia is that any UNSC 
resolution granting independence for Kosovo is both unlikely 
and bad for stability in Serbia and the region.  Belgrade's 
Coordination Center for Kosovo and Metohija (CCK) Director 
Sanda Raskovic-Ivic and members of the Serbian Negotiating 
Team for Kosovo, Dr. Kojen and Professor Samardzic, laid out 
their case against Kosovo independence in a familiar pattern. 
 Major themes included the illegality under international law 
of an independent Kosovo, the economic crisis an independent 
Kosovo would inherit, and the instability such an outcome 
would invite. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Samardzic focused on the difference between the 
cases of Montenegro and Kosovo ) in particular, the legal 
status within Yugoslavia of Montenegro as a constituent 
republic co-equal with Serbia, and Kosovo as a province of 
Serbia.  All parties used the phrase "more than autonomy, 
less than independence" and refused to entertain alternative 
scenarios.  Both Kojen and Samardzic held that supervised 
autonomy for Kosovo would be the better solution for Kosovo 
and regional stability, and complained that this option had 
been hard to discuss given the current sentiment in the 
international community.  Both said they found other UNSC 
countries' purported skepticism towards the Ahtisaari plan 
surprising and encouraging. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Raskovic-Ivic stressed concern over violence by 
Kosovar Albanians, which she feels will increase should 
independence be granted.  She characterized the Ahtisaari 
plan as an improper reward for Albanian misbehavior and 
claimed it violates the UN charter,s guarantee of 
territorial integrity by relegating a smaller number of 
municipalities to the Serbian people than what they had 
before.  Raskovic-Ivic singled out a recent OSCE report that 
indicated problems with "rule of law" within the government 
and commented that the report used the term "kingdom of fear" 
to describe the current Albanian and Serb sentiment towards 
each other in Kosovo. She acknowledged the good work being 
done by KFOR and said she supports the UNSC visit and 
predicted that months of delay would follow it. 
 
View from Kosovo 
 
¶6. (SBU) After Belgrade, the Balkans watchers headed for 
Pristina with Minister of Environmental and Spatial Planning 
Ardian Gjini, Kosovo Negotiating Team Coordinator Blerim 
Shala, and opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo presidency 
and Assembly member Enver Hoxhaj.  All three leaders 
confirmed their support of the Ahtisaari plan, agreed that 
decentralization would be the most difficult part to 
implement, and expressed concern that while Kosovo is calm 
now, continued delay would increase the risk of violence. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Shala appreciated recent comments by U/S Burns 
regarding USG recognition of an independent Kosovo, said he 
felt the status process was on track, and downplayed the 
potential threat from the small, extremist group, the 
Self-Determination Movement. Shala called the Ahtisaari plan 
a "second chance" for Kosovo that the international community 
should act upon quickly. 
 
¶8. (SBU) PDK representative Hoxhaj was much less patient 
 
PRISTINA 00000348  002 OF 002 
 
 
regarding the Kosovo timeline and said USG pressure continues 
to be very necessary in that it is the only true stabilizing 
force in the region. Hoxhaj blamed Belgrade for the lack of a 
productive working relationship between Serbs and Albanians, 
noting that Kosovo Albanians have been trying to establish 
communication for some time now but have received nothing in 
return from the GOS.  Hoxhaj maintained that it is also 
Belgrade's job to encourage Kosovo Serbs to stay in an 
independent Kosovo.  In Hoxhaj's view, Serb officials still 
have room for compromise, and he and urged them to be more 
willing to engage in communication given the unsatisfactory 
talks held so far.  He said Kosovo is far from stable, and 
worried that the Serbian diplomatic offensive is working. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Balkan Watchers also had the opportunity to meet 
with USKFOR Commander Brigadier General Earhart at KFOR HQ in 
Pristina.  Earhart said multiethnic cooperation is already 
evident in several Kosovo municipalities and told us about 
KFOR staging mock emergency actions in Serb communities to 
demonstrate their readiness and ability to protect local 
communities, including churches.  Earhart echoed other 
interlocutors' concerns that a delay in the status process 
will only make the job of keeping the peace more difficult. 
In particular, he said that since the border region is 
realistically under neither Belgrade nor Pristina,s 
effective control, delay could very well ignite isolated 
violence there.  Still, Earhart said crime (such as smuggling 
and corruption) is a bigger issue in his area of 
responsibility than inter-ethnic tension. 
 
Mitrovica: Not So Fearful 
 
¶10. (SBU) During their visit to the town of Mitrovica, the 
group met with local Serb representatives Oliver Ivanovic, 
Goran Bogdanovic, and Gojko Savic. They focused on the 
damaging effects independence would have on Mitrovica and the 
Serb-managed faculties of the University of Pristina, 
Mitrovica branch.  With a 60 percent unemployment rate in the 
area, the survival of the university as a major employer is 
economically crucial for Kosovo Serbs, they said.  They 
worried that independence would eventually lead to the 
disintegration of the university. 
 
¶11. (SBU) The conference ended with a brief meeting with 
UNMIK Mitrovica representative (and former State FSO) Jerry 
Gallucci.  In addition to echoing others' concerns over 
status delay, Gallucci also expressed doubts about KFOR's 
political will, and whether or not they would engage 
militarily to protect the Serbian minority should 
independence be granted.  In his view, if status is delayed, 
Kosovo Albanians will not wait for a UNSC resolution but will 
try to re-claim former Albanian homes in northern Mitrovica 
by force. 
 
¶12. (SBU) COMMENT: We are grateful to our colleagues in the 
region ) and their posts ) for their interest; we are also 
grateful for the work of three entry-level officers 
(Belgrade's Demian Smith and Katie Gribble, and Pristina's AJ 
Rei-Perrine) for coming up with the idea and following 
through so well.  END COMMENT. 
KAIDANOW