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OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHPS #0616/01 2211328
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 091328Z AUG 07
FM USOFFICE PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7603
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PRISTINA 000616 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL, INL, EUR/SCE 
NSC FOR BRAUN 
USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI 
EUR/ACE FOR DMAYHEW 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/09/2017 
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PINR PREF PHUM SOCI KV UNMIK
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: KLINA PROPERTY DECISIONS FINALLY 
IMPLEMENTED 
 
Classified By: CDA Alex Laskaris for reasons 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Recent actions by the mayor and CEO of 
Kline/Klina municipality to challenge two high-profile Kosovo 
Property Agency (KPA) decisions in favor of Kosovo Serbs sent 
disturbing signals about the property restitution process 
(especially for Kosovo Serbs) and the general rule of law 
situation in Kosovo.  Subsequent PISG reversal of their 
unhelpful stand returned us to the status quo ante but with a 
loss of support for the process.  The two officials refused 
at first to enforce these decisions, with the apparent 
support of high-ranking ruling LDK party figures, and Kosovo 
police took their cue and did not carry out their eviction 
duties.  On August 2, UNMIK temporarily suspended all KPA 
decisions on property claims to make certain all 
stakeholders, particularly the PISG, supported the process. 
USOP strongly urged the PISG plus the mayor and CEO on August 
7 to implement these decisions -- and the two promised to do 
so at an August 8 extraordinary KPA board meeting.  DSRSG 
Schook then immediately lifted the temporary suspension and 
at a subsequent press conference, which the mayor, CEO, USOP 
and the UK Office attended.  All agreed that the rule of law 
must be respected.  The fact that the PISG and LDK did the 
right thing under concerted international prodding does not 
preclude backsliding.  END SUMMARY. 
 
BACKGROUND 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  The two KPA decisions in question involve urban 
properties in Kline/Klina municipality.  The first case is 
that of Sveto Dabizljevic, pre-war Mayor of Klina, who 
obtained a KPA decision granting him ownership of his 
apartment, which is illegally occupied.  The illegal 
occupant, Fadil Gashi, is the local president of Kosovo's 
largest party (LDK), an MP in the Kosovo Assembly, the Deputy 
CEO, and the Municipal Director of Civil Security.  The KPA 
evicted him in May, but Gashi reoccupied the apartment in 
July, and has thus far refused to leave.  The second case 
(but the first of the two to attract widespread public 
attention, including in the Belgrade media) involves Serb 
claimant Radivoje Isajlovic. He won a KPA judgment to 
reoccupy his property, illegally expropriated by the 
municipality, which then built a "Youth Center" on it that 
was rented in turn to an Italian NGO implementing a 
three-year capacity-building project in the municipality. 
 
¶3.  (C)  The second case became problematic July 12 when the 
municipality refused to remove its property from the Youth 
Center despite the KPA order, claiming the KPA had based its 
decision on fraudulent documents.  UNMIK Regional 
Representative Luis Perez-Segnini told us he approached the 
municipality in an effort to gain its cooperation; it 
refused, and in a public statement later in the week 
municipal CEO Shpend Terdeva declared him "persona non grata" 
in the municipality.  Subsequently, on July 26, the 
newspapers Koha Ditore and Zeri ran articles repeating 
Terdeva's declaration and, more disturbingly, alleging that 
Dabizljevic was a "war criminal."  The press also called 
attention to Perez-Segnini's assistance to Dabizljevic, in an 
attempt to further discredit him.  Deputy PM and LDK Vice 
President Lutfi Haziri also injected himself - unhelpfully - 
into the process, arguing to UNMIK and USOP that the KPA 
decision on the Youth Center case was unfair and based on 
fraudulent documents. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Perez-Segnini told poloff that Terdeva, and not the 
mayor, was the driving force behind the municipality's 
actions.  He went on to explain that many Albanians in Klina 
told him that at one point, Terdeva went so far as to tell 
Gashi to stay in the apartment despite the pressure from 
UNMIK.  According to Perez-Segnini's sources, Terdeva and the 
municipality have illegally occupied numerous Serb properties 
in Klina and rented them out; the enforcement of KPA 
decisions affecting such properties could expose Terdeva to 
angry tenants.  Terdeva tried to use the cases in question in 
 
PRISTINA 00000616  002 OF 003 
 
 
an attempt to maintain the status quo and avoid his own 
political problems.  Perez-Segnini pointed to an upcoming KPA 
enforcement involving the illegally-occupied home of Serb 
Vladimir Radosavljevic, which the municipality has rented to 
the extremist Self-Determination Movement; he thinks any 
eviction from that property is bound to be controversial. 
 
NO HELP FROM KPS 
 
¶5.  (C) On July 30, when a second attempt to evict Gashi was 
scheduled, the KPS refused to help Perez-Segnini, claiming it 
required proof that the flat had been totally vacated during 
the original eviction on May 27, despite the fact that the 
KPA had given the keys to the apartment to Dabizljevic.  The 
KPS also refused to help in the Youth Center case, said it 
required a decision by the Public Prosecutor in order to act. 
even though Perez-Segnini informed them that UNMIK Executive 
Order (E.O.) 2006/60 specifically authorizes police to evict 
illegal occupants without the decision of a prosecutor.  He 
told USOP that the KPS did not appear willing to enforce 
either eviction order and were actively seeking reasons not 
to cooperate, likely due to political pressure from municipal 
officials. 
 
PROBLEM RESOLVED... 
 
¶6.  (C)  DSRSG Schook promulgated an UNMIK executive order on 
August 2, which temporarily suspended the "implementation and 
enforcement of (KPA) decisions that have not yet been 
executed."  DSRSG Schook later explained to us that this 
decision was made in order to bring all "stakeholders" back 
into the fold as effective partners in implementing Priority 
Standard 6, which deals with property rights. 
 
¶7.  (C) On August 7, Deputy PM Haziri held a meeting with 
Klina Mayor Gjetaj and CEO Terdeva, at which, according to 
sources close to him, he pressured them to implement the KPA 
decisions.  We met subsequently with the pair, delivering our 
position that KPA decisions must be complied with and not 
reopened, even if enforcement were politically unpopular, and 
emphasizing the extreme sensitivity of the political climate 
during the current Troika-led negotiations period.  Gjetaj 
said that despite his misgivings about the basis of the 
decisions, the municipality would comply with them.  CEO 
Terdeva, who had publicly denounced Perez-Segnini in the 
press, also voiced his willingness to enforce the decisions. 
P/E chief also made clear that  public attacks against either 
claimants or UNMIK administrators were unacceptable.  Later 
on August 7, PM Ceku assured us that these KPA decisions 
would be enforced. 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  At an August 8 extraordinary KPA board meeting, 
which USOP and UK Office attended, the Klina mayor and CEO 
promised that they would ensure implementation of these 
decisions.  As a result, Schook, who chaired the meeting, 
immediately lifted the suspension order.  At a subsequent 
press conference, all agreed that the rule of law needed to 
be respected and pledged their cooperation to make certain 
KPA decisions would be implemented.  The mayor and CEO noted 
that they would continue to fight the decision over the Youth 
Center, claiming the it had been based on fraudulent 
documents, but would do so only through the court system. 
(Note: There is nothing to stop the municipality from taking 
action via the courts.  KPA head Rosandhaug made clear during 
the press conference that the two processes were separate and 
distinct.  To make this case even more complicated, 
Rosandhaug did not dispute that the Youth Center property had 
always been owned by the municipality, but said that was not 
the point: the Kosovo Serb who lived there in 1999 was able 
to demonstrate his possession rights at the time.  End Note.) 
 
 
COMMENT: ...FOR NOW 
 
¶9.  (C) The KPA claims commission and its predecessor agency 
 
PRISTINA 00000616  003 OF 003 
 
 
have implemented over 29,000 property decisions arising from 
the 1998-99 conflict and its aftermath.  There are only 
around 350 decisions remaining, which represent some of the 
most difficult cases to implement, in terms of geography 
(some are ethnic Albanian restitution cases in the north 
section of the divided town of Mitrovica) and potential for 
political interference.  We will continue to support the KPA 
and make certain its decisions are enforced, regardless of 
the ethnicity of the claimants or the effect on the interests 
of political parties or individuals.  This is particularly 
important for creating an environment conducive to the return 
and well-being of the Kosovo Serb community.  This was an 
unnecessary incident brought about by the Deputy Prime 
Minister acting in his LDK capacity and in concert with local 
LDK officials with strong personal interests at stake.  That 
the PISG - under duress - did the right thing is welcome, but 
the cost was a loss of credibility and a PR bonanza for 
Belgrade. 
LASKARIS