VZCZCXRO4548
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHPS #0012/01 0110754
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 110754Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9600
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1318
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1855
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 03 PRISTINA 000012 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR (SCE, ACE, RPM), DRL, USAID 
USEU FOR HAUGEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON ENRG SR KV
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: DEVELOPMENTS IN NORTHERN KOSOVO POINT TO PARTITION 
NOT PRAGMATIC ENGAGEMENT 
 
REF: A) 09 PRISTINA 578 AND PREVIOUS 
     B) PRISTINA 0004 
 
PRISTINA 00000012  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Political developments in northern Kosovo in the 
second half of 2009, notably illegal parallel elections that ousted 
representatives of former Serbian Prime Minister Kostunica's party 
from power, and the decision by current Serbian President Tadic to 
remove notorious hardliners from positions of power in the north, 
raised hopes that Belgrade was laying the groundwork for the 
practical cooperation on Kosovo the international community has long 
sought.  Developments in the last quarter of 2009 suggest that 
Belgrade has a much more problematic and dangerous agenda.  Serbia 
used the Kosovo Energy Corporation's (KEK) October 2009 temporary 
shutoff of power to the north to sever electricity links between 
north and south.  On Christmas 2009, Belgrade dissolved the illegal, 
parallel municipal assembly in Mitrovica, a move that will severely 
undercut, if not derail international community plans, for May 2010 
elections in Ahtisaari-mandated municipality of North Mitrovica. 
Finally, in late December, Belgrade appointed Serbian judges to 
illegal, parallel courts in Mitrovica, a blow to the months-long, 
EULEX-led effort to reopen the legal Mitrovica Court.  To the GoK 
and the citizens of Kosovo, these actions look like an attempt by 
Belgrade to, at a minimum, cement a de facto partition of Kosovo. 
We share these concerns.  If we are to succeed in our strategic goal 
of a multi-ethnic, undivided, democratic Kosovo moving towards 
Europe, we need to demonstrate to Belgrade, and to both Serbs and 
Albanians north and south of the Ibar, that the north is and will 
remain part of Kosovo.  END SUMMARY 
 
KINDLER AND GENTLER, BUT STILL ILLEGAL, STRUCTURES 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The May 2008 municipal elections organized by Serbia in 
Kosovo led to an outright takeover of the three Serb-majority 
northern municipalities (i.e., Zubin Potok, Leposavic, Zvecan) and 
north Mitrovica by illegal parallel structures.  These institutions, 
dominated by members of former Serbian Prime Minister Kostunica's 
party, were often at odds with current President Tadic's government. 
 Tadic sought to slowly assert his influence in the north by 
removing Kostunica-appointed officials there, but after the dramatic 
June 2009 stoning of Serbian Minister for Kosovo Bogdanovic's car 
during a visit to northern Kosovo, Tadic moved more aggressively to 
increase the influence of his supporters in northern Kosovo.  In 
August 2009, Tadic removed notorious hardliners Marko Jaksic and 
Milan Ivanovic from their managerial positions in the north 
Mitrovica hospital.  Belgrade also dissolved the parallel assembly 
in Leposavic and held "extraordinary" elections there on November 
29, 2009, which resulted in Tadic's Democratic Party (DS), in 
coalition with the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), taking power 
from the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS).  Some within the 
international community were hopeful that these moves opened up 
possibilities for more pragmatic engagement by Belgrade in the 
north.  Other developments affecting the north suggest pragmatism 
was not what drove the change to new, "kinder and gentler" 
leadership of these still illegal structures. 
 
SERBIA PUSHES ELECTRICITY PARTITION 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) "Cynically opportunistic," not "constructively pragmatic," 
would better describe Belgrade's reaction to the October 2009 
temporary shutoff of power to the north by the Kosovo Energy 
Corporation (KEK).  Technical and weather issues prompted the 
shutoff, but Belgrade moved quickly to politicize the issue and use 
the shutoff as a pretext for severing electricity links between 
north and south Kosovo.  In pursuit of this strategy, Belgrade 
allowed the Serbian state electrical power company (EPS) to start 
billing customers in the north in December 2009 -- an illegal act 
under UNMIK law, according to which KEK is the sole licensed, legal 
energy distributor.  Moreover, the Serbian state electric power 
 
PRISTINA 00000012  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
transmission firm, EMS -- also without a license to operate in 
Kosovo -- has made illegal claims to control Kosovo territory for 
power transmission, implying its ownership of northern Kosovo 
electricity assets.  At times, Serbia has attempted to portray the 
northern electrical power issue as a need for commercial 
competition, but Belgrade's actions appear aimed at consolidation of 
Serbian control over electricity in the north, just one more step 
toward total control of that part of the country. 
 
DEFENDING NORTH MITROVICA AND UPENDING AHTISAARI 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶4. (SBU) On December 25, Serbia dissolved the illegal parallel 
municipal assembly of Mitrovica, which means that elections must be 
held there by April.  The timing of the Mitrovica parallel elections 
will undoubtedly make it more difficult for the international 
community to successfully establish the Ahtisaari-mandated 
municipality of North Mitrovica, which is supposed to culminate in 
May elections.  Serbs in Partesh in southern Kosovo, the other 
Ahtisaari-manadate Serb-majority municipality scheduled to hold 
elections in May, are eager to participate in Kosovo elections and 
to proceed with decentralization.  On our trips to north Mitrovica 
during the past months we have heard from media, NGO, civil society, 
and political sources that people are unhappy with the practical 
problems that burden their daily lives, but also that they are 
unwilling to confront poorly performing parallel structures, let 
alone engage legitimate Kosovo structures.  "Kosovo is Serbia" is a 
very firmly held view north of the Ibar, and the illusion that the 
region has a future outside Kosovo is widely encouraged and 
accepted.  Our exchanges suggest that absent a clear, affirmative 
signal from Belgrade, the prospects for any significant Serb 
participation in Kosovo elections in North Mitrovica remain minimal. 
 Belgrade's plans for near-contemporaneous illegal parallel 
elections suggest strongly that such a signal is not forthcoming. 
The parallel elections themselves will only further dampen Serb 
turnout in the legitimate Kosovo elections. 
 
GOS REINFORCES PARALLEL COURT SYSTEM, BLOCKS EULEX 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Efforts that would undergird de facto partition are also 
visible in the court system, where Serbia is reinforcing its own 
unilateral -- albeit poorly functioning -- judicial system there and 
blocking EULEX efforts to integrate northern courts in the Kosovo 
judicial system.  A December 10 EULEX report on providing justice in 
Mitrovica concluded that Belgrade's conditions on reopening the 
district and municipal courts in Mitrovica made progress impossible, 
and that only unlinking these courts from broader political issues 
could solve the issue.  In late December 2009, Belgrade further 
politicized the issue by nominating judges and prosecutors to 
illegal, parallel courts for Mitrovica.  In response, EULEX on 
January 4 labeled the nomination a "political decision" which called 
for "urgent measures." (Note: It is still unclear what measures 
EULEX will employ, but EULEX has emphasized that its approach would 
be gradual and would not involve proactive measures designed to 
disrupt the illegal Serbian parallel courts or prevent them from 
operating.  End Note) Serbian Assistant Minister for Kosovo Dragan 
Petkovic told us on January 8 that Serbia planned to establish 
judicial centers in Mitrovica, Gracanica, Ranilug and Strpce, but he 
could not explain why the GoS had only nominated judges for 
Mitrovica.  These actions appear to create another north-south 
partition, and to block any involvement by GoK structures in the 
north. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Though some within the international community remain 
optimistic about the prospects for pragmatic engagement by Belgrade 
on Kosovo and that DS interlocutors in the north will be more 
constructive than their DSS predecessors, we remain skeptical.  From 
our perspective, we see Belgrade's actions on electricity, the 
 
PRISTINA 00000012  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
courts, and elections for illegal parallel structures as creating an 
environment that reinforces a de facto partition.  Replacing DSS 
hardliners with a better-mannered DS cadre is a pleasant optic for 
the international community, but it ignores issues of substance. 
The GoS has set the stage to block progress on real issues of 
consequence in the north: control over electricity, a unitary and 
functioning judicial system, and decentralization/functional 
municipal governments.  We expect Belgrade to take a similar 
approach to customs issues.  Unfortunately, our international 
partners remain reluctant to confront Belgrade on issues in the 
north, even where GoS actions are patently in violation not only of 
Kosovo law, but also even of UNSCR 1244 itself, as is the case in 
courts, electricity and local administration.  If we are to succeed 
in our strategic goal of a multi-ethnic, undivided, democratic 
Kosovo moving towards Europe, we need clear and concrete steps to 
reverse the status quo that is leading to de facto partition, and to 
demonstrate to Belgrade, and to both Serbs and Albanians throughout 
the country, that the north is and will remain part of Kosovo. 
 
MURPHY