VZCZCXRO8778
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHPS #0550/01 3510742
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 170742Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9546
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1298
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1835
RHFMIUU/AFSOUTH NAPLES IT
RHMFISS/CDR TF FALCON
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEPGEA/CDR650THMIGP SHAPE BE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUZEJAA/USNIC PRISTINA SR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000550 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE, EUR/PGI, EUR/ACE, INL, DRL, PRM, USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINR ASEC ELTN PTER SMIG PBTS PGOV KCRM KV
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: USG's PISCES Border Management System On Track For 
Removal Near End of February 
 
REF: PRISTINA 461 
 
PRISTINA 00000550  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. 
 
¶1. (U) This is an action cable.  Please see paragraph eight. 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) As we reported previously (reftel), the U.S. border 
management system PISCES is scheduled for removal early next year 
due to the installation of a new European funded border management 
system as soon as this February.  However, Kosovo Police and the 
European Rule of Law Mission (EULEX) have appealed to the USG and EU 
organizations to keep PISCES installed since it is a powerful tool 
for investigation of serious crimes.  The information technology 
(IT) company contracted by the European Commission to build the new 
border system believes it would not be difficult or expensive to 
make an interface to allow both systems to receive data, but they 
would need technical specifications about PISCES to accomplish this. 
 We believe the European Commission Liaison Office (ECLO) in 
Pristina would be willing to fund the changes if directed by 
Brussels.  We believe it is in the United States' long-term interest 
to keep PISCES in place in Kosovo, but to accomplish this objective 
Washington would need to approve the sharing of sharing of PISCES 
technical specifications to permit the creation of an interface 
between it and the new EC system.  In addition, the U.S. would need 
to either: a) fund the upgrade/changes directly, or b) approach EU 
institutions in Brussels and request that they instruct ECLO in 
Pristina to fund them. END SUMMARY 
 
PISCES' Removal Will Hinder Investigations 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) The USG border control system PISCES (Personal 
Identification Secure Comparison and Evaluation System), in place at 
all but two of Kosovo's border crossing points (BCP), is scheduled 
for removal by the end of February 2010.  It will be replaced by an 
Integrated Border Management System (IBMS) funded by the European 
Commission Liaison Office (ECLO).  IBMS will use reference data from 
the GOK passport and vehicle databases to check the validity of 
passports and vehicle registrations, and like PISCES, it will permit 
the Kosovo Border Police to check travelers against a "stop list" of 
wanted criminals and terrorists.  Unlike PISCES, IBMS does not store 
traveler data due to European data privacy rules.  The inability to 
archive this data denies both the Kosovo Police (KP) and EULEX a 
powerful investigatory tool, the ability to track travel patterns of 
criminal and terrorist targets. 
 
Removal of PISCES Overlooked 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Apparently top management at both EULEX and the Ministery 
of Internal Affairs (MOIA) did not realize until October 2009 that 
the tender ECLO released in the fall of 2008 calls for both the 
replacement of PISCES and the completion of the IBMS project by the 
end of 2009.  When we mentioned the imminent removal of PISCES to 
Minister of Internal Affairs (MOIA) Pajaziti and the Head of the 
EULEX mission, Yves de Kermabon, both expressed surprise.  Pajaziti 
wrote a letter to ECLO on October 26 asking that PISCES remain in 
place and de Kermabon appealed to Brussels for help in getting the 
Americans to keep PISCES. (Note: According to ECLO Head of 
Operations Kjartan Bjornsson, neither EULEX nor the MOIA have 
expressed misgivings on the removal of PICSES directly to ECLO.  End 
note.) 
 
Installation on Track 
--------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) According to reports from ProNet, the Kosovo IT firm which 
won the contract to produce IBMS, hardware for the central system 
(Border Police HQ) is currently being installed, including both 
servers and workstations.  Once ECLO accepts the system, which 
 
PRISTINA 00000550  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
ProNet believes will happen by the end of December, it will 
authorize ProNet to begin pilot tests with both IBMS and PISCES in 
parallel for two to four weeks at one site.  At the conclusion of 
these tests, upon direction from ECLO and the MOIA, IBMS will be 
installed at all border crossings and PISCES will be removed. 
Installations could be completed by the end of February. 
 
A Dual System is Possible, if the Will Exists 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) ProNet Chief Technical Officer Armend Skeja on December 11 
told us that he does not think it would be difficult to feed both 
systems with a single data input and estimated that work to 
facilitate such an arrangement would take about one month. 
According to Skeja, if he received the technical specifications of 
the data fields PISCES requires, he could explore several possible 
ways to connect the two systems.  An AmCit IT expert who has worked 
with PISCES for several years suggested to us that PISCES could run 
on a central server with traveler data downloaded from the BCPs once 
per day.  He added that he thought this could be done with no 
modifications to PISCES. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Bjornsson, however, raised both political and technical 
concerns.  ECLO could not support anything that would be contrary to 
EU law, and collecting traveler data, even if it was sent to another 
system, might constitute such a violation.  Also, under IBMS, only 
passports of travelers fitting certain profiles would be scanned, 
possibly reducing the utility of such data to law enforcement 
agencies.  Bjornsson said he would check with both EULEX and 
Brussels for guidance.  He will also seek firmer estimates from 
ProNet of costs of a potential interface. 
 
Comment and Action Request 
-------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) If ECLO gives ProNet the order, and ProNet has data 
specifications for what PISCES requires, we are told that both 
systems could run in parallel by the end of February.  Access to 
PISCES data is clearly important to both the KP and EULEX, but it 
seems that neither side wants to admit that they were not paying 
attention when the decision was taken to remove it.  Our impression 
is that ECLO will fund a modification to IBMS to allow both systems 
to function in tandem if instructed by Brussels.  We also believe -- 
with EULEX and the KP -- that the continued operation of the PICSES 
system in Kosovo is critical for successful prosecution of serious 
crimes like terrorism, trafficking in persons and organized crime. 
To accomplish this objective, we need Washington to permit us to 
share with ProNet the technical information necessary to allow it to 
connect IBMS and PISCES and to demarche Brussels on the importance 
of permitting the PISCES system to remain in place. 
 
DELL