VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTI #0787/01 3051551
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 311551Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY TIRANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7549
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUEHPS/AMEMBASSY PRISTINA 3761
RUEHSQ/AMEMBASSY SKOPJE 4520

UNCLAS TIRANA 000787 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL AL SMIG
SUBJECT: SOFT BORDERS: KUKES AND PRIZREN 
 
¶1. Summary.  On October 28-29, Poloff visited the northern 
border town of Kukes to deliver a presentation at the local 
American Corner.  In conversations and activities, it seemed 
that the city of Kukes, 15 minutes from the border with 
Kosovo, faces north more than south, with its interests 
largely in Kosovo.  In at least some aspects, Kukes could be 
considered a suburb of the southern Kosovar city of Prizren, 
including their common Geg dialect, which Tiranians find 
difficult to understand. Movement across the international 
border is relatively uncontrolled for local residents.  While 
the trip highlighted the soft borders that have developed 
between Northern Albania and Kosovo, it may also point to the 
loose hold Tirana has on its outer regions. End Summary. 
 
THE DURRES-KUKES ROAD 
--------------------- 
 
¶2. Poloff departed Tirana Oct 28 at 9 a.m. The winding drive 
through the mountains (approximately 150 km) - sometimes on 
no more than a dirt road - took until 3 p.m. that afternoon. 
Locals claim that after construction of the Durres-Kukes 
highway, travel from Tirana will only take one-and-a-half 
hours.  Construction on the highway was evident in places, 
but it seemed that overall, little work had been done so far, 
and there was very little current activity to be seen during 
the drive.  NOTE: Both the GOA and lead contractor Bechtel 
say they are on track for a June, 2009 completion of the 
road.  END NOTE. 
 
THE OPENING OF BORDERS 
---------------------- 
 
¶3. Locals of Kukes noted that during Communist times, Kukes 
was extremely isolated - on its north by guards at the 
Yugoslav border and on its south by endless mountains.  To 
this day, newspapers do not arrive in the city until around 
noon.  With the opening of borders in 1991, people flowed 
both directions across Kukes' border with Kosovo.  Extended 
families were united across what they considered an imaginary 
border invented in 1916 by outside powers. Overnight, Prizren 
- 15 minutes from the Kosovo border - became the closest 
large city to Kukes.  Indeed, Kukes officials explained that, 
historically, Kukes had been a part of the Prizren community, 
and people from Kukes continue to feel close ties.  These 
ties were strengthened when, during the 1999 Kosovo war, 
Kukes became a center-point for refugees from Kosovo.  Today, 
the most prominent landmark in the city is a monument to the 
Kosovo War. 
 
THE SOFTENING OF BORDERS 
------------------------ 
 
¶4. Kukes officials apologized profusely that the Mayor could 
not participate in Poloff's presentation and explained that 
he was currently in Pristina for meetings.  When asked how 
often the Mayor goes to Kosovo on official business, they 
responded at least once a week.  On the other hand, at best 
he makes his way to Tirana once a month.  Officials explained 
that almost all goods in Kukes come from or through Prizren, 
which is the hub of all trade between Kukes and Kosovo. 
Meanwhile, few goods from Tirana could be seen in the local 
market.  Indeed, most purchases in Kukes were made with euros 
rather than lek. 
 
¶5. After the presentation, the Mayor's Chief of Cabinet 
invited Poloff and other Kukes officials to dinner.  After a 
15 minute drive down an unlit dirt path, Poloff asked where 
dinner would be.  The response was Prizren, Kosovo.  After a 
few wrong-turns in the dark, we arrived at the border post. 
The Chief of Cabinet rolled down his window to greet the 
official, whom he apparently knew well.  After a quick chat, 
our cars were waved through without any presentation of 
documents.  The same scene was repeated 100 meters away at 
the Kosovar checkpoint, where the official was also an 
acquaintance of the Chief of Cabinet.  Poloff later asked how 
easy it was for average citizens of Kukes to cross the 
checkpoint.  Kukes locals responded that no passport was 
necessary, just any form of ID.  NOTE. This is probably not 
true for Albanians from outside the Kukes area. END NOTE. 
 
¶6. Immediately upon crossing the border, the dirt road turned 
into a paved, lit highway.  Our Kukes hosts expressed envy at 
the state of Kosovar infrastructure as well as the wider 
availability of goods.  While some of the infrastructure was 
inherited from Tito's Yugoslavia, they explained, much was 
from international assistance after the war.  Some of our 
hosts wondered in jest if Albania needed a war of its own to 
improve its infrastructure. 
 
¶7. Our hosts seemed well known in the restaurant.  They 
pointed out other Kukes citizens who had come to the 
restaurant to dine, including the Kukes Chief of Police. 
They explained that to eat out, residents of Kukes usually 
prefer to cross the border into Kosovo rather than dine in 
Kukes.  All our hosts praised traditional Kosovar cuisine and 
professed its superiority to Albanian food. 
 
¶8. After dinner, our party strolled around the streets of 
Prizren, where our Albanian hosts shared their memories from 
the Kosovo war, when some had actually been present in 
Prizren.  One host claimed there were hundreds of Kukes 
"martyrs" in the Kosovo war (although he stated he himself 
was only a journalist covering the war at the time). 
 
¶9. Throughout the night, conversation focused more on Kosovo 
than on Albania.  Indeed, during the American Corner 
presentation, the youth participating always posed their 
questions in terms of Kosovo as well as Albania, many 
expressing worry about a possible change in policy toward 
Kosovo if Barack Obama is elected.  While no one disputed 
Kukes' loyalty to Tirana and the central government, all left 
the impression that life in Kukes orbited more around Prizren 
and Kosovo. 
 
¶10. COMMENT: What remains to be seen is what, if any, effect 
completion of the Durres-Kukes road will have on the Kukes 
region and its ties to Tirana.  The current five-to-eight 
hour drive will be cut to 1.5 hours, with a multi-lane 
highway connecting Kosovo to the Albanian port of Durres. 
The GOA estimates that increased traffic along the new road 
will bring in over 120 million euros per year in transit fees 
and money spent on gas, food and lodging by trucks and 
tourists plying the new route.  END COMMENT. 
 
WITHERS