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PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBW #0800/01 2200854
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 070854Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0261
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHEHNS/NSC WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BELGRADE 000800 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO PBTS PGOV PHUM PINR PREL SR
SUBJECT: SOUTHERN SERBIA: HIGH EXPECTATIONS, MISSED OPPORTUNITIES 
 
REF: A) BELGRADE 745, B) BELGRADE 677 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) By not including Serbs in local governments, Southern 
Serbia's ethnic Albanian political leaders missed an opportunity to 
exercise political inclusiveness and set a course for stability in 
the multi-ethnic, economically depressed, politically volatile 
region.  In Bujanovac and Presevo municipalities, Albanian political 
parties formed mono-ethnic local governments.  The town of Medvedja, 
whose long-time Serb Mayor forged a multi-ethnic governing 
coalition, reportedly has come under fire from Belgrade politicians 
for doing so.  Many in the region question the utility of the 
Southern Serbia Coordinating Body, charged with promoting 
multi-ethnic harmony.  Leaders of all political persuasions say that 
the overall situation is stable, but the economy requires an 
immediate infusion of investment to curb youth flight by creating 
jobs in tourism, agriculture, and industry.  Exclusion of Serbs from 
the local governments likely creates an additional obstacle to 
efforts to attract attention and economic support from Belgrade, 
especially given the uncertain future of the Coordinating Body. End 
Summary. 
 
Background: Halimi Letters 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) During a July 14-16 visit to the Southern Serbian 
municipalities of Vranje, Bujanovac, Presevo and Medvedja, we met 
with the newly constituted municipal governments, local politicians 
and representatives of the Government Coordinating Body for South 
Serbia (CB). 
 
¶3. (SBU) Albanian leaders in Southern Serbia consistently have 
expressed dissatisfaction with the level of attention and resources 
the Government of Serbia (GOS) invests in their communities.  In a 
June 18 letter to President Boris Tadic, Riza Halimi, leader of the 
Presevo Valley-based Party of Democratic Action (PVD) and the only 
ethnic Albanian MP, called on the new national government to 
demonstrate its commitment to European values and its interest in 
South Serbia through substantial reorganization of the CB and 
inclusion of ethnic Albanians in state institutions in South Serbia, 
especially the police and the courts. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In a June 30 letter to the U.S. and UK Ambassadors  and the 
OSCE Head of Mission, Halimi expressed disappointment that Tadic had 
not responded to his June 18 letter.  Halimi interpreted the lack of 
a response as demonstration of the new government's disinterest in 
integrating Albanians in South Serbia into power structures.  Halimi 
stated that the lack of GOS support would directly reduce the 
likelihood of multi-ethnic governments in Bujanovac and Presevo. 
 
Bujanovac: "Technical Coalition" on the Table 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Three ethnic Albanian parties -- Halimi's PVD, Jonuz 
Musliu's Movement for Democratic Progress (LPD), and the Democratic 
Union of Albanians (UDSh) -- formed the local government in 
Bujanovac on July 13 (Ref A), the deadline for avoiding new 
elections. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Mayor-designate Shaip Kamberi (PVD) told us on July 14 that 
the all-Albanian coalition purposely "held open" three positions for 
ethnic Serbs - deputy assembly head and two spots on the city 
council.  Kamberi expressed hope that the (Serb) Democratic Party 
(DS) would accept these positions and agree to form a "technical 
coalition."  If talks with DS should fail, the coalition would 
approach a Serb citizens' group with a similar offer.  Kamberi said 
that the insistence of the citizens' group leader, former Bujanovac 
Mayor Stojanca Arsic, on allocating budget resources on the basis of 
ethnic composition of the community (40% to Serb areas of the 
municipality, 10% to Roma) likely would impede discussions. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Arsic expressed his disappointment and disgust with 
developments in Bujanovac in a July 15 meeting.   He blamed 
inter-Albanian wrangling for the formation of a mono-ethnic 
government instead of a "historic agreement" to create a government 
of Serbs, Albanians, and Roma.  He nevertheless deemed the elections 
partially successful because they had reduced the influence of the 
Serbian Radical Party (SRS), which had lost three of their twelve 
seats in the local assembly. 
 
Presevo: Best Friends Forever? 
------------------------------ 
 
¶8. (SBU) Presevo's final-hour coalition agreement, uniting Halimi's 
PVD with rival Ragmi Mustafa's Democratic Party of Albanians (PDSh), 
raised eyebrows.  In separate meetings on July 15, Halimi portrayed 
the decision as a natural step for the two largest parties in the 
 
BELGRADE 00000800  002 OF 003 
 
 
municipality, while Mustafa called it the product of good will.  In 
stark contrast, Skender Destani, whose Democratic Union of the 
Valley (BDL) unsuccessfully negotiated with Halimi to form the local 
government, predicted that the coalition would last for a maximum of 
three to six months due to the two leaders' diametrically opposed 
positions on cooperating with state institutions such as the CB.  By 
July 16, rumors that members of Halimi's party were not happy with 
the agreement with Mustafa circulated in the region. 
 
¶9. (SBU) CB Presevo representative Sima Gazikalovic called the 
coalition "political nonsense."  He had stronger words for Riza 
Halimi, whom he criticized for his role in forming the mono-ethnic 
governments.  Gazikalovic lamented that "vanity had overcome 
rationality" and he interpreted the local government formation and 
Halimi's decision to withhold his support for the federal government 
(Ref B) as signs of political immaturity that would significantly 
complicate efforts by the Presevo Valley Albanians to find a 
sympathetic ear in Belgrade. 
 
Medvedja: Strange Bedfellows 
---------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Medvedja, a multi-ethnic, depressed town in the hills near 
the Kosovo border, achieved what its larger neighbor to the south, 
Presevo, failed to do:  form a multi-ethnic governing coalition. 
Medvedja Mayor Slobodan Draskovic, who has been in power since 1999, 
ran in the May 11 local elections on a list that combined his 
citizens' group and the DS.  This list's victory brought DS into the 
local government for the first time.  As in the past, Draskovic 
formed a ruling coalition with Halimi's PVD. Two SRS deputies, 
Draskovic's former students, voted for the government slate, 
including the ethnic Albanian candidate for Deputy Mayor; the SRS 
national leadership rebuked the deputies for doing so, according to 
Draskovic. 
 
¶11. (SBU) During a July 16 meeting, Draskovic said that he was under 
significant pressure from G17 Plus to reconfigure the coalition to 
mirror that of the national government.  Local G17 Plus leadership, 
which Draskovic said consisted of former members of the Socialist 
Party of Serbia, had made clear that they would not tolerate 
Albanian participation in local government. The mayor claimed that 
G17 Plus Minister of the National Investment Plan Verica Kalanovic 
had stated publicly that no funds would flow to municipalities in 
which her party was not part of the government.  (Comment: Although 
post has not been able to confirm the statement independently, such 
an approach would be consistent with G17 Plus's efforts to 
consolidate its standing by focusing political and economic 
attention on those municipalities in which the party is in power. 
End Comment.) 
 
Future of the Coordinating Body 
------------------------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) All Albanian interlocutors insisted that rampant 
unemployment and lack of investment required the intervention of the 
central government.  All also voiced disenchantment with the GOS's 
commitment to regional development.  Mustafa and Musliu cited the 
diminished stature of the CB as the prime example of GOS neglect of 
the region.  Sima Gazikalovic noted that the CB budget had fallen by 
almost half in 2007-2008, he no longer had direct access to 
government ministers, and the CB had not been able to implement its 
2007-2010 economic development strategy. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Kamberi, Musliu, and Mustafa, Albanian political leaders 
of quite different stripes, all expressed support for Riza Halimi's 
letter to President Tadic, and agreed that the status quo was not 
acceptable.  Elaborating, Kamberi said that the Albanians did not 
seek national ministerial appointments, but did strongly look for 
Albanian employment in state institutions at the local levels, 
corresponding with the ethnic makeup of each municipality. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Halimi told the DCM on July 21 that Rasim Ljajic, the 
current overtaxed head of the CB, intended to propose through DS 
Vice President and former Justice Minister Dragan Petrovic that the 
government name Minister of State Administration and Self Government 
Milan Markovic to succeed him.  Halimi characterized this potential 
development positively as it would ensure that a cabinet member and 
a DS member (read: someone with the necessary political clout to 
revive the body) would oversee the CB. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶15. (SBU) The complaints voiced by Albanian political leaders about 
the GOS' waning interest in South Serbia ring true, especially given 
Belgrade's preoccupation with national politics and Kosovo in recent 
months.  However, exclusion of Serbs from the local governments in 
Bujanovac and Presevo is of questionable strategic value.  The 
decision yielded tenuous governing coalitions while poking local 
 
BELGRADE 00000800  003 OF 003 
 
 
Serbs and Belgrade in the eye at the very time when the Albanians 
are seeking increased engagement.  While the region is now stable, 
we will urge the GOS to reinvigorate the CB and demonstrate a 
commitment to economic development to ensure that the calm 
continues.  End Comment. 
 
BRUSH