VZCZCXRO2827
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHPS #0078/01 0431527
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 121527Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9723
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1354
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1916
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 000078 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE, H 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR SR KV
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: EMBASSY WELCOMES CONGRESSMAN POMEROY TO KOSOVO 
 
REF: STATE 010137 
 
PRISTINA 00000078  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  Embassy Pristina warmly welcomes Congressman 
Pomeroy's visit to Kosovo on February 16, 17 and 21.  Kosovo is a 
peaceful and stable country where cooperation between ethnic 
Albanians and Serbs in southern Kosovo continues to improve.  The 
establishment of four new ethnic-Serb majority municipalities is an 
important step in securing Serbs' long-term future in Kosovo.  This 
decentralization process must now be deepened.  Successful GOK-run 
November 2009 municipal elections, and Serb voter turnout, are a 
sign of political maturity and increasing Serb confidence.  The 
Government of Serbia maintains significant influence in northern 
Kosovo, with parallel government institutions preventing Kosovo 
institutions from extending Kosovo's legitimate authority across its 
territory.  The economic situation remains gloomy, related to the 
need to establish respect for the rule of law, and proper legal and 
regulatory environments.  END SUMMARY. 
 
KOSOVO AFTER TWO YEARS 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Your visit to Pristina takes place on the second anniversary 
of Kosovo's independence.  This second year has marked some 
important foreign policy successes, including Kosovo's admission to 
the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and a slowly 
growing number of other recognitions by other governments.  The year 
also saw the growth and consolidation of critical Kosovo 
institutions, as the Constitutional Court came into existence and 
the Central Elections Commission managed Kosovo's first 
post-independence elections.  The important work of decentralization 
-- initially related to Ahtisaari Plan requirements for establishing 
Serb-majority municipalities, but really about moving government 
closer to the people -- began in earnest. 
 
¶3. (U) You will find a peaceful and stable -- but still fragile -- 
country where cooperation between Albanians and Serbs throughout 
southern Kosovo improves daily.  In northern Kosovo, the existence 
of illegal parallel institutions that answer to Belgrade prevents 
the Government of Kosovo (GOK) from extending its legitimate 
authority, but the northern municipalities are generally peaceful. 
The situation has improved to the point that KFOR has downsized from 
15,000 to 10,000 troops as of January 31.  As you observe 
independence day events, you will see Kosovo Albanians celebrating, 
while Kosovo Serb responses will range from rejection to resigned 
acceptance.  You will want to congratulate the Prime Minister during 
your meeting, for Kosovo's independence day, but take a more 
circumspect approach with the Serbs you will meet.  Even the ethnic 
Serb Assembly Members you will see who participate in Kosovo 
institutions will not wish to over-emphasize the day's significance. 
 This sharp division on Kosovo's status is also reflected in the 
GOK's ongoing challenge to gain international recognition of the 
country's independence.  At present, 65 countries have recognized 
Kosovo, including 22 of 27 European Union (EU) member states. 
 
OUR PRIORITIES 
-------------- 
 
¶4. (U) We have used the lead-up to Kosovo's independence day to 
focus our attention on the GOK's most important challenges.  The 
important work of decentralization must continue in 2010: 
competencies must be transferred from the central to the municipal 
level; new municipalities must receive adequate resources to 
succeed; municipal governments must quickly demonstrate their 
relevance in responding to citizens' needs. The capacity and 
independence of Kosovo's new law enforcement and judicial 
institutions must grow and command respect throughout the country. 
Respect for the rule of law is also the key to needed economic 
development.  Investment and privatization are needed to spur job 
growth for Kosovo's young and growing population.   We regularly 
emphasize that the right legal and regulatory environment is the key 
to private sector investment and related economic development.  Only 
by intensifying its dedication to building a democratic, multiethnic 
 
PRISTINA 00000078  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
society where the rule of law prevails will Kosovo become a 
prosperous country that is capable of taking its place in the 
Trans-Atlantic family of nations. 
 
KOSOVO ASSEMBLY 
--------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Your visit to Kosovo and your work with the Kosovo 
Assembly is especially welcome.  The Assembly is a nascent 
institution that still lacks adequate resources and legislative 
experience, including expertise in legislative drafting and 
committee operations.  Institutional capacity is growing, but the 
MPs and the Assembly's professional staff need to develop greater 
experience and expertise.  Political relations among the five main 
parties represented in the Assembly, including between the two 
coalition partners, are tense.  The senior coalition partners, the 
Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the Democratic League of Kosovo 
(LDK), have just emerged from bruising local elections and are in 
the midst of discussions about a cabinet reshuffle.  The opposition 
parties, (the Alliance for a New Kosovo [AKR], the Alliance for the 
Future of Kosovo [AAK], and the Democratic League of Dardania [LDD]) 
are all angling for early national elections.  During your meeting 
with the Speaker of Assembly, Jakup Krasniqi, you can enquire about 
inter-party dynamics and engage him in a discussion about Kosovo's 
political culture.  Krasniqi will host a meeting for you with the 
Assembly's Presidency.  Each of the five largest parties, plus the 
Serb Independent Liberal Party (SLS) and one rotating minority seat, 
have representatives in the Presidency, which sets the Assembly's 
agenda.  During this session, congratulate the representatives for 
the success of Kosovo's recent municipal elections. 
 
¶6. (SBU) You will participate in two legislative workshops on 
February 16 in the Kosovo Assembly.  Both workshops will be chaired 
sequentially by you and coordinated by the National Democratic 
Institute, which runs a USAID program providing legislative 
assistance to the Assembly.  The workshops will focus on committee 
hearings and constituent outreach.  For the committee hearings 
workshop, NDI will start with a brief presentation and will then 
address how parliamentary committee hearings can advance legislative 
and oversight priorities.  The workshop on constituent outreach will 
address the process of effective constituent outreach and what 
lessons can be learned from the experience of the United States 
Congress.  In both sessions, we encourage you to elicit active 
engagement from the participants.  Ask them how the Assembly 
currently operates, and seek their comments on how they can improve 
the Assembly's operations.  You will find the participants eager to 
improve their institution. 
 
 
ELECTIONS: A SIGN OF POLITICAL MATURITY 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) The success of Kosovo's November 2009 municipal elections was 
a sign of the country's maturing democracy.  Kosovo held its first 
post-independence elections last Fall, with Albanian and Serb 
candidates competing for mayors' offices and seats on municipal 
assemblies.  This was the first time since the end of hostilities 
that Kosovo administered its own elections.  (Note:  In previous 
years, the OSCE implemented elections.  End Note)  International 
observers, including teams of Embassy and USG observers, noted that 
elections generally met international standards.  Most refreshing 
was that Serbs participated in the elections in large numbers and 
elected Serb mayors in four municipalities:  Gracanica, 
Kllokot/Klokot, Ranillug/Ranilug, and Shterpce/Strpce.  You should 
compliment the Prime Minister on the successful elections.  During 
your meeting with Bojan Stojanovic, the newly elected mayor of 
Gracanica, praise his courage in volunteering to run a new 
municipality in the face of opposition from Belgrade.  You can 
engage Stojanovic in a discussion about the continued presence of 
Serbian parallel institutions that answer to Belgrade. 
 
DECENTRALIZATION AND MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS 
---------------------------------------- 
 
 
PRISTINA 00000078  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) Under the Ahtisaari Plan, the blueprint for Kosovo's 
independence, Kosovo has an obligation to establish six 
Serb-majority municipalities.  During November's successful 
municipal elections, four of these "newly-decentralized" 
municipalities (Gracanica, Ranillug/Ranilug, Kllokot/Klokot, and an 
expanded Noveberde/Novo Brdo) participated as new political 
entities.  Serbs in these localities went to the polls in much 
larger-than-expected numbers, and decentralization is off to a good 
start.  The Prime Minister merits recognition for his support -- 
sometimes in the face of vocal protests from Albanian nationalists 
-- for the decentralization process.   You will meet the new Serb 
mayor of Gracanica as well as Serb municipal assembly leaders from 
Gracanica.  With Mayor Stojanovich and the municipal assembly 
leaders, it is appropriate to discuss the intra-ethnic dynamics that 
exist in their municipality as well the challenges they face in 
establishing their municipal government.  You can assure them that 
we will continue to support their efforts to establish vital and 
robust communities that will meet the needs of Gracanica's citizens. 
 
 
NORTHERN KOSOVO: A WORK IN PROGRESS 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Northern Kosovo has not seen the same progress on 
interethnic reconciliation as the region south of the Ibar River in 
part because Belgrade has been more successful at maintaining an 
essentially "frozen conflict" in this Serb-majority region.  As a 
result, the north remains an impoverished, forlorn place where the 
GOK holds little sway.  In an effort to capitalize on the success of 
decentralization in southern Kosovo, the GOK is cooperating with the 
International Civilian Office (ICO) to implement a new approach for 
northern Kosovo that outlines a way forward in winning Serb support 
in the north for GOK structures and institutions.  In Vienna last 
week, the International Steering Group endorsed this approach, and 
you should express your encouragement to the President and Prime 
Minister for progress in the north that brings hope and development 
to the region.  Hardline Serb political and church leaders have 
opposed the approach, at times using incendiary language to suggest 
it will provoke conflict, but both UN and EU representatives have 
told us the communities there are beginning to see new hope for 
their future in this constructive initiative.  The approach 
introduces incremental changes in the north that are designed to 
gradually increase ties with Pristina.  You should use the meetings 
with Serb interlocutors, including your working lunch with Serb 
media contacts, to inquire about the role the Serb parallel 
institutions play in Kosovo and explore how the new GOK/ICO strategy 
for the north can improve the situation in northern Kosovo. 
 
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK REMAINS GLOOMY 
------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (U) Kosovo's economic situation remains difficult.  You will see 
ubiquitous road building projects, but there is limited foreign 
direct investment and unemployment hovers around 40 percent. 
Remittances from Kosovars abroad and foreign assistance constitute a 
significant portion of the economy.  Kosovo's most significant 
development project is centered on a new power plant as part of the 
privatization of the Kosovo Energy Corporation.  Pre-qualified 
investors, including international consortia with U.S. participants, 
have until the end of February to submit sealed bids for the 
project.  When complete, the 500 MW plant will take advantage of 
Kosovo's rich coal reserves and will put an end to an unstable 
nationwide power supply that continues to limit development and 
foreign investment.  We are working closely with the GOK to provide 
expert guidance on renovating the country's dilapidated power grid 
and to ensure that privatization proceeds according to 
internationally recognized best practices.  In your meetings with 
all of your interlocutors, highlight the role that the private 
sector in the United States plays in economic development.  Stress 
the importance of developing policies and regulatory frameworks that 
spur private sector growth. 
 
DELL