US embassy cable - 03ZAGREB2544

UNCLAS  ZAGREB 002544 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
FOR EUR/SCE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, PREF, HR, Refugee 
SUBJECT: LITTLE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL ON TENANCY 
RIGHTS 
 
REF: A. ZAGREB 2144 
 
     B. ZAGREB 1474 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
1. On December 1-2 the OSCE Croatia Mission's Return and 
Reintegration Unit briefed their field staff, regional OSCE 
staff (Belgrade and Sarajevo), and regional UNHCR staff on 
the status of implementation of the GOC's plan to address the 
issue of lost Occupancy Tenancy Rights (OTR).  OTR has been 
one of the most important and politically sensitive obstacles 
to sustainable return of refugees and IDPs.  The GOC long 
denied that OTR was even an issue to consider -- then 
finally, without consultation with the international 
community, the GOC announced a program (reftels) in June for 
affected refugees and IDPs to qualify for redress.  There has 
been no implementation to date, the deadline for applying has 
been extended, and the OSCE doubts that anyone will be able 
to move into an apartment before 2005.  End Summary. 
 
 
OSCE Training Seminar on Tenancy Rights 
--------------------------------------- 
 
2. On June 12, the GOC announced a program that would provide 
housing solutions to those refugees and IDPs who -- due to 
displacement after independence and during the fighting -- 
lost their "tenancy rights" enjoyed under the old Yugoslav 
system of socially-owned apartments (Ref B).  The OSCE and 
UNHCR have argued for years with the GOC that OTR is the last 
significant obstacle to completing the process of return for 
the approximately 185,000 refugees who remain in 
Serbia-Montenegro and the 22,000 who remain in 
Bosnia-Herzegovina.  The OSCE estimates that residents who 
lost OTR include 23,700 families of Croatian Serbs from urban 
areas of Croatia (that remained always under control of the 
GOC), and up to 10,000 families in war-affected areas. 
 
3. In its draft Status Report 13, which is scheduled for 
presentation to the permanent council of the OSCE in Vienna 
on December 18, the OSCE reports that neither of the GOC's 
programs, one for inside war-affected areas -- known as Areas 
of Special State Concern (ASSC) after the law of the same 
name -- and the other for outside the ASSC, are not yet 
operational.   The program announced June 12 for areas 
outside ASSC included an initial deadline for applications of 
December 31, 2003.  The international community strongly 
implored the GOC to extend the deadline, and eventually it 
was, to December 31, 2004.  The OSCE and UNHCR believe an 
extensive information campaign will be required in order to 
inform potential applicants, the majority of which reside in 
Serbia-Montenegro.  UNHCR will support live talk shows on 
national public and private television in Serbia-Montenegro. 
However, the GOC's public outreach campaign is not likely to 
begin before early spring. 
 
4. Complicating any governmental action at this time is the 
fact that the current ruling coalition in Croatia lost in the 
parliamentary elections held November 23.  It may take weeks 
to form a new ruling coalition, and it may be well into 
January before Ministers and other higher level authorities 
are identified and on the job.  Most observers expect Lovre 
Pejkovic, Assistant Minister and Head of the Office for 
Displaced Persons, Returnees, and Refugees (ODPR) in the 
Ministry of Public Works to keep his position in the new 
government.  However, the OSCE speculates that Pejkovic will 
not have a budget for OTR programs before at least March, no 
apartments will be built before the end of 2004, and the 
first successful applicant for housing will not move into an 
apartment before 2005. 
 
5. Axel Jaenicke, the Head of the Return and Reintegration 
Unit at the OSCE Mission to Croatia, was pessimistic about 
implementation.  He repeatedly pointed out that 
implementation is dependent solely on the goodwill of the 
GOC, because the Government's so-called "Conclusion" and 
"Implementation Plan" are decision documents only and do not 
carry the weight of law.  Potential applicants have no legal 
security and cannot seek redress in a court of law.  As if 
orchestrated to prove Jaenicke's point, in introductory 
remarks before the OSCE training seminar, Pejkovic reversed 
prior GOC policy and announced that potential applicants who 
have a pending court case on a housing matter will at the 
same time also be able to apply to ODPR for a housing 
solution under an OTR program. Previously the GOC said no 
 
 
applications would be accepted from those with pending court 
cases.  Jaenicke said he did not expect the GOC to provide 
written confirmation on this change -- an example, in his 
critique, of the non-legal basis for the GOC's programs, and 
how much they rely on the whim of those currently in power. 
 
Dissatisfaction with the EC Role 
-------------------------------- 
 
6. Jaenicke was surprisingly critical of the EC at various 
points throughout the two-day OSCE training seminar.  The 
invited EC representative showed up late the first day and 
stayed only briefly.  At least at the working level, there is 
tension between the two missions on the issue of tenancy 
rights -- in contrast to otherwise cozy relations, 
particularly between the two mission heads.  The OSCE, 
particularly if there is a positive avis out of Brussels next 
spring that paves the way for a quicker EU accession, is an 
institution on the way out in Croatia.  Peter Semneby, the 
Head of Mission, expects full funding for the current mandate 
in 2004, but states plainly that major downsizing will begin 
in 2005.  The EC, on the other hand, represents the key to 
Croatia's desired future as a normal European state. 
Jaenicke went so far as to tell the 80 participants that the 
OSCE "does not have a stick here," and it will be up the EC 
to monitor implementation and "challenge" the goodwill of the 
GOC.  However, he suggested that to rely on the EC to monitor 
implementation was wishful thinking, because the EC has no 
field capacity in Croatia whatsoever. 
 
Comment 
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7. Occupancy Tenancy Rights is a vexing issue with a lot of 
gray area.  The OSCE's skepticism about the GOC's plan to 
address the issue is certainly warranted.  Given the GOC's 
record of underestimation, slow implementation, and missed 
deadlines, it is very likely that there will be little 
progress on tenancy rights in 2004.  If the number of 
applicants exceeds the GOC's stated expectation of 5,000 then 
it is also likely that the GOC will not have the capacity to 
complete the program by the stated deadline of 2006.  We will 
continue to work with our local OSCE and EU colleagues, to 
press the GOC for action on tenancy rights, and to keep the 
issue on the accession agenda. 
FRANK 
 
 
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