VZCZCXRO5680
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBW #0149 0491544
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 181544Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0993
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHEHNS/NSC WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE

UNCLAS BELGRADE 000149 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KV SR
SUBJECT: SERBIA: KOSOVO ANNIVERSARY MARKED WITH RHETORIC AND SNOW, 
NOT VIOLENCE 
 
REF: BELGRADE 138 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) The February 17 one-year anniversary of Kosovo's 
declaration of independence passed in Serbia without incident, 
although politicians of all persuasions used the opportunity to 
display their "patriotic" credentials as defenders of Serbia's 
sovereignty and territorial integrity.  The visit of a group of 
mostly opposition parliamentarians and Minister for Kosovo Goran 
Bogdanovic to Zvecan in northern Kosovo yielded strong rhetoric but 
no violence.  Demonstrations held in Novi Sad and Belgrade attracted 
limited attention and caused more traffic than political problems. 
Belgrade's biggest snow storm of the year may have also done its 
part to reduce numbers on the streets, and the financial crisis also 
likely played a role as the forces that fueled the destruction in 
February 2008 simply do not have the funds to turn people out in the 
streets.  End Summary. 
 
Lots of Barking but No Biting 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) In the days preceding the anniversary, President Tadic and 
Foreign Minister Jeremic stressed in interviews and during public 
appearances that Serbia would not change its stance and would never 
recognize Kosovo's "illegal and unilateral declaration of 
independence." Tadic and Jeremic characterized Kosovo's independence 
as a "blatant attempt at secession" and a "direct violation of UNSCR 
1244, the U.N. Charter, and the [OSCE] Helsinki Final Act," and 
pinned hopes on revisiting Kosovo's status on a favorable 
International Court of Justice (ICJ) opinion.  Even Prime Minister 
Mirko Cvetkovic, who normally prefers to stick to economics and 
finance, felt obliged to issue a statement insisting that Serbia 
cannot tolerate formation of a "virtual state" on its territory. 
 
¶3.  (U) Unwilling to be upstaged by the government, a group of 
approximately 50-60 MPs from the opposition Serbian Radical Party 
(SRS), Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), New Serbia (NS), and 
Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and 15 members of the Parliamentary 
Committee on Kosovo traveled to Zvecan in northern Kosovo on 
February 17.  The deputies attended a session of the parallel 
Assembly of the Union of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo in order to 
emphasize their view that Kosovo remains part of Serbia.  Minister 
for Kosovo Bogdanovic and Democratic Party (DS) members of the 
Committee for Kosovo represented the ruling coalition at the event, 
which concluded with adoption of a resolution rejecting the 
government in Pristina and calling upon the Serbian Government to 
use the ICJ and the UN Security Council respectively to sue 
countries that recognized Kosovo and annul the deployment of EULEX. 
 
¶4.  (U) Ultranationalist organizations "1389" and "Obraz" organized 
the only noteworthy public protests on February 17.  Several hundred 
protestors, mostly students, blocked traffic in Novi Sad in 
Vojvodina for three hours.  However, the protestors focused more on 
the controversy surrounding Vojvodina's autonomy (reftel), directing 
threats and insults toward Bojan Patic, Vojvodina Executive Board 
President, and Nenad Canak, head of the Vojvodina-based League of 
Social Democrats (LSV).  Police reportedly arrested four protestors 
for verbally provoking the police, and the LSV called for hate 
speech charges against the demonstrators.  In Belgrade, a couple of 
hundred "1389" supporters held a brief demonstration at downtown Trg 
Republike, which produced traffic snarls but little else. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The rhetoric with which the GOS greeted the February 17 
anniversary of Kosovo's independence and the presence of Serbian MPs 
and Minister for Kosovo Bogdanovic in northern Kosovo were 
unhelpful.  These actions contradict repeated GOS promises that 
referring Kosovo's independence to the ICJ would allow the 
government to "compartmentalize" Kosovo and turn its attention to EU 
integration.  At least the weather cooperated for the anniversary 
event as Belgrade's biggest snowfall of the year kept some 
protesters home.  The global financial crisis also may have 
contributed; somebody has to foot the bill to get people on the 
streets, but there is little appetite to spend increasingly scarce 
resources on rabblerousing, even in the name of Kosovo. Although 
February 17, 2009 passed calmly, the February 21 anniversary of the 
attack on the Embassy, in which one protestor died, represents both 
another security challenge and another opportunity for the current 
government to distance itself from its predecessors.  End Comment. 
 
MUNTER