VZCZCXRO9464
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBW #0154/01 0540718
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 230718Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0998
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHEHNS/NSC WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BELGRADE 000154 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL SR
SUBJECT: SOUTH SERBIA: SEVEN MONTHS LOST 
 
REF: (A) 08 Belgrade 800, (B) 08 Belgrade 1343 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Two months into 2009 and seven months following the 
formation of mono-ethnic local governments in the South Serbian 
municipalities of Bujanovac and Presevo, the political process in 
the region is at a virtual standstill and the future of economic 
development remains hostage to petty politicking and personal 
disputes.  All momentum generated following the August 2008 
appointment of an enthusiastic new Head of the government-run 
Coordinating Body for South Serbia (CB) has dissipated, and the 
heavy-handed arrests in Presevo in late December of alleged former 
Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) members on war crimes charges damaged 
inter-ethnic trust and rekindled tensions.  The global financial 
crisis will continue to make this already poor area even poorer, 
never a good combination with heightened political unrest.  End 
Summary. 
 
Bujanovac: Same Old, Same Old 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) During a February 12-13 visit to the Southern Serbian 
municipalities of Bujanovac and Presevo, USAID Mission Director and 
PolOff met with the heads of the municipal governments, local 
opposition politicians, and representatives of the CB to discuss the 
political and economic situation in this ethnically mixed and 
politically sensitive region. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The political system in Bujanovac, strained by the 
inability of ethnic Albanian parties following the May 2008 local 
elections to negotiate a coalition government that included local 
Serbs (Ref A), collapsed in mid-January.  The 17 ethnic Serb 
deputies walked out of the local parliament to protest a decision by 
the ruling majority to replace the last two Serb directors of 
state-owned public enterprises.  (Comment: Although Bujanovac Mayor 
Saip Kamberi and Assembly President Jonuz Musliu told us that the 
local assembly remains functional with a quorum, the lack of Serb 
participation in Bujanovac, whose population is 35-40% Serbian, is a 
serious obstacle to future GOS engagement in the region. End 
Comment.) 
 
¶4. (SBU) Kamberi and Musliu insisted that there were ongoing talks - 
and an offer on the table - with Democratic Party (DS) Bujanovac 
branch head Goran Taskovic, who is leading the Serb boycott, and 
former Bujanovac Mayor Stojanca Arsic about returning to the 
assembly and eventually joining the ruling coalition.  Taskovic 
however denied that there had been any attempts to overcome the 
impasse, and accused ethnic Albanian MP Riza Halimi of using the 
situation in Bujanovac to blackmail the GOS into giving him a 
ministerial portfolio.  (Comment: While it is true that the ethnic 
Albanians link a solution in Bujanovac to long-standing demands for 
greater ethnic Albanian representation in local-level state 
institutions such as the police and judiciary, Taskovic, whom our 
interlocutors - Serbian and Albanian - uniformly told us answers to 
nobody in the DS, clearly has an axe to grind.  End Comment.) 
 
¶5. (SBU) Arsic, who struck us as one of the more level-headed local 
political actors, reflected a more nuanced approach and advocated 
for a "historical agreement" that not only would help overcome the 
current crisis but also lay the groundwork for future multi-ethnic 
governments.  Lamenting the time lost since the May 2008 elections 
and apportioning blame equally, he proposed that the makeup of the 
local government and the accompanying spoils - seats on public 
enterprises and administrative jobs - be directly proportionate to 
electoral results and include non-partisan figures, instead of the 
current winner-take-all approach.  Arsic also focused on the 
unfolding economic crisis, declaring that economic development would 
solve many current problems by deflecting attention from politics. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The OSCE, which has a field office in Bujanovac, is 
currently trying to broker a comprehensive agreement between 
Albanian political leaders and the government's Coordinating Body 
that would address all outstanding issues in Bujanovac as a package. 
 Our OSCE contacts inform us that the two sides are still far apart, 
however.  (Comment:  We support the OSCE's efforts and believe such 
a package agreement would represent an important breakthrough for 
South Serbia.  End comment.) 
 
 
Presevo: Still Reeling from Arrests 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Although also facing problems with their own politicking 
and infighting, political actors in Presevo, with its 90% Albanian 
population, remained most seized with the impact of the late 
December arrest of nine Serbian-citizen Albanians on charges of 
committing war crimes in Kosovo in 1999 (Ref B).  Ragmi Mustafa, the 
 
BELGRADE 00000154  002 OF 002 
 
 
bombastic Assembly President, termed the government's case 
"politically motivated" and accused Belgrade of scripting an 
incident that would result in "ethnic cleansing" as innocent Presevo 
Valley Albanians would leave for Kosovo and elsewhere.  Mustafa 
harshly criticized the role played in the arrest by Interior 
Minister Ivica Dacic, alleging that his Socialist Party of Serbia 
(SPS) was using tactics honed during the Milosevic area to foment 
instability in Presevo, Sandzak, and North Mitrovica.  He claimed 
that the GOS's failure to bring concrete charges against those 
arrested proved the lack of substance to the accusations.  (Note: 
The investigation is ongoing and we expect the government to bring 
charges in the near future.  End note.) 
 
¶8. (SBU) Skender Destani, head of the opposition Democratic Union of 
the Valley (BDL), concurred that the arrests destroyed trust and 
severely complicated relations with the central government.  Citing 
the use of Gendarmerie forces instead of the local multi-ethnic 
police, Destani told us the arrests emasculated local politicians 
who were unaware of the operation and unable to influence the 
situation once it occurred.  Turning to his own decision to boycott 
the Presevo assembly where the BDL holds five seats, Destani 
explained that the "unholy marriage" of longtime rivals Halimi and 
Mustafa to form a governing coalition was focused on its own 
parochial interests at the expense of the people.  He reiterated 
that he fully expects the coalition to fall apart, necessitating new 
local elections since "the people are more interested in economic 
development than patriotism or national folklore." 
 
Coordinating Body: Rationality is Key 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Sima Gazikalovic and Branko Delibasic, CB representatives 
in Bujanovac and Presevo respectively, told us that - as at the 
national level- personalities drive the political status quo in 
South Serbia.  Echoing a sentiment voiced by others during the trip, 
Gazikalovic complained that Kamberi and Presevo Mayor Sadiku, both 
members of Halimi's Party for Democratic Action (PDD), look to 
Halimi for guidance on even the smallest issues.  Expressing the 
need for more rationality, Gazikalovic told us that the absence of 
greater political maturity was a source of frustration for the CB 
and its Head, Minister for State Administration and Self Government 
Milan Markovic.  (Note: A young, energetic technocrat, Markovic 
assumed the CB portfolio in late August 2008 intent on 
reinvigorating dialogue and delivering results.  However, the 
long-festering dispute over the validity of university diplomas 
issued in Kosovo and, more recently, sharp exchanges in the national 
Parliament with Halimi have noticeably cooled the minister's 
appetite for engagement.  End Note.) 
 
¶10. (SBU) According to all of our interlocutors, the main sticking 
point between the CB and the South Serbia Albanians is a lack of 
communication and unwillingness by either side to take the first 
step.  Whereas Mayor Kamberi believes that Markovic needs to devote 
more attention to the work of the CB and MP Halimi perceives that 
the CB failed to consult properly with him on its 2009 budget, the 
CB responds that the Albanians have failed for the past five months 
to appoint a deputy to Minister Markovic or to comment on the CB 
draft strategy for the coming three years. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Seven months into the mandates of the local governments in 
Bujanovac and Presevo, the picture painted by our South Serbian 
interlocutors is not pretty.  With the effects of the global 
financial crisis beginning to reverberate throughout Serbia, 
economically depressed and politically fragile South Serbia needs to 
present a united front in the battle for ever scarcer resources and 
Belgrade's attention.  Instead, political actors, Serb and Albanian 
alike, remain mired in petty squabbles, personality conflicts and a 
stubborn unwillingness to reach across the aisle as hard-fought 
trust evaporates in the aftermath of the dramatic arrest of the 
alleged KLA fighters.  Ultimately, it is the people of South Serbia, 
desperately in need of economic opportunity and development, who 
will suffer most.  End Comment. 
 
MUNTER