VZCZCXRO7851
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBW #0212/01 0711610
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121610Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1059
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHEHNS/NSC WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0063

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BELGRADE 000212 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE (P. PETERSON) 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KCRM KJUS KV SR
SUBJECT: SERBIA: TADIC TARGETS ORGANIZED CRIME 
 
REF: 08 BELGRADE 1250 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) President Tadic has declared that the Serbian government 
will take on entrenched organized crime groups in order to break 
their linkages with business and the state, and thereby enable 
Serbia to cope with the economic crisis.  The message, which marks a 
distinct shift in the government's rhetoric, is being reinforced by 
our contacts in government and Parliament who describe efforts to 
strengthen the capacity of the legal system to fight organized crime 
in advance of a major push this summer.  The March 9 arrest of 35 
people for smuggling over the Kosovo border may indicate an 
increased willingness to tackle these issues.  End Summary. 
 
Tadic Speaks Out on Organized Crime 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) In an abrupt departure from his usual focus on big-picture 
European integration issues, President Boris Tadic gave a series of 
public statements during the first week of March in which he 
addressed the oftentimes taboo topic of organized crime in Serbia. 
Speaking to the main board of his Democratic Party (DS) on March 1, 
Tadic emphasized the need to continue to fight organized crime and 
corruption, including through improved laws on political party 
financing. 
 
¶3.  (U) At the annual gathering of Serbian economists and business 
leaders at the Kopaonik ski resort on March 3, Tadic gave a sober 
assessment of Serbia's economic situation, stressing the need to end 
the linkages between criminal elements and the economy, the justice 
system, and politics.  Tadic's message focused on the inadequacy of 
reform since the fall of Milosevic and the fact that Serbia could no 
longer spend more than it earns. 
 
¶4.  (U) During a regional ministerial conference on border security 
organized by Interior Minister Ivica Dacic (SPS) in Belgrade, Tadic 
on March 5 announced that the Serbian government would engage "all 
its resources" in "the most comprehensive and complex fight against 
organized crime" of the decade.  Asserting that the effort had 
already produced results, Tadic underscored the need for neighboring 
countries to take similar actions.  He also said that EU support and 
assistance would be crucial for success, and that Serbia needed to 
strengthen the rule of law and change the values of both 
institutions and citizens in order to join the European Union. 
Dacic echoed these themes during a March 11 visit to Bulgaria, 
calling for enhanced regional cooperation to combat organized crime 
and corruption. 
 
Insiders Confirm Efforts Underway 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Nenad Konstantinovic, a DS MP who chairs the Parliament's 
Administrative Committee and belongs to the party's Main Board, told 
us on March 4 that Tadic had placed a great deal of emphasis on 
fighting organized crime at the March 1 session of the Main Board, 
and had linked the issue to Serbia's ability to withstand the coming 
economic crisis.  Konstantinovic said that organized crime groups in 
Serbia were already feeling pressure from the steps the government 
had taken to strengthen its ability to fight the mafia, including 
the new Law on Asset Forfeiture and the package of judicial reform 
legislation passed in December 2008 (reftel) requiring the 
re-selection of judges.  Konstantinovic claimed that organized 
criminal groups were already orchestrating press attacks on Minister 
of Justice Snezana Malovic on issues such as her participation in 
the State Electoral Commission and the Kovacevic case in response to 
the MOJ's work. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Slobodan Homen, State Secretary of the Ministry of 
Justice, informed us on March 9 that the government was preparing 
additional tools to fight organized crime, including changes to the 
Criminal Procedure Code and the Law on Organization and Jurisdiction 
of State Authorities in Combating Organized Crimewhich would be 
passed by the end of April.  He said the government would launch a 
"serious fight" with the mafia in June or July, noting that both the 
MOJ and Minister of Interior Dacic were ready for battle.  Homen 
linked the issue to stability in Kosovo, noting that he met on March 
9 with UNMIK and EULEX representatives to discuss Kosovo justice 
issues.  Homen said that the Serbian government believed that it was 
essential for there to be a unified legal space in Kosovo with a 
functioning justice system that included Kosovo Serbs in order to 
address the growing threat posed by organized crime in northern 
Kosovo. 
 
Smuggling Arrests a First Step? 
 
BELGRADE 00000212  002 OF 002 
 
 
------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) On the same day as our conversation with Homen, on March 
9, Serbian police arrested 35 individuals on charges of smuggling 
goods across the Serbia-Kosovo border and bribery.  The operation, 
which was initiated by the Belgrade and Kraljevo prosecutors, was 
the largest action in recent memory against Kosovo smuggling.  The 
suspects, 18 of whom are active-duty police officers, are from Novi 
Pazar, Raska and Kraljevo.  They face charges of smuggling products 
such as oil and oil derivatives, goods of animal origin, spirits, 
soft drinks, and other excise goods, and also of giving or receiving 
bribes and other criminal acts that violate the Weapons and 
Ammunition Law.  (The arrests follow EULEX's decision to begin 
monitoring the flow of goods through Gates 1 and 31 in February; 
while this information sharing gave the Serbian authorities 
additional tools to go after the smugglers, they are unlikely to 
acknowledge any role that EULEX information or cooperation played in 
the case.) 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Since the 2003 assassination of Prime Minister Zoran 
Djindjic, which many believe resulted from his efforts to take on 
the mafia, organized crime has been the third rail of Serbian 
politics.  Most leaders have avoided speaking about the issue in 
public, and until recently it rarely came up in our private 
conversations with political figures.  The clear and coordinated 
message that President Tadic and his associates have been sending 
may have been timed to coincide with the anniversary of Djindjic's 
March 12, 2003, assassination.  Tadic may well have political 
considerations in mind; at a time of impending economic hardships, 
the governing coalition will benefit from having identified a common 
external enemy.  Battling crime will likely resonate with the 
public; a March CESID poll showed that crime and corruption 
surpassed even pocketbook issues as the top concern of Serbian 
citizens. The initiative may also reflect Ivica Dacic's growing 
influence and political acumen, the subject of much discussion in 
Belgrade these days.  Whatever his motivation, now that Tadic has 
taken aim at organized crime, the Serbian public will expect him to 
pull the trigger.  End Comment. 
 
MUNTER