EU MISSION TO KOSOVO FACING DELAY

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.05.2008 15:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Union’s mission to Kosovo is unlikely to
be fully operational by 15 June, as first planned, due to opposition
by Serbia and Russia which are blocking the transfer of power from
the UN to the EU and local authorities.

Under an initial plan, UN mission UNMIK which has been administering
Kosovo since 1999, was to hand over the power to local authorities
on 15 June.

After this, the EU would have stepped in to help with police and
judicial work, while NATO forces would have continued to be responsible
for hard security in Kosovo.

However, this transfer of power has been blocked by UN members Serbia
and Russia, which do not recognize Kosovo’s unilaterally proclaimed
independence of 17 February.

For his part, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon has also avoided clear
statements on the matter so far, saying simply that the UN was taking
note of the EU’s wish to intervene.

"It’s quite possible that we won’t progress much further by June 15,
as long as we don’t have a clearer political framework," said Yves
de Kermabon, EULEX mission chief.

"The mission is somewhat on standby waiting for decisions from the
United Nations," he added.

The EULEX mission, consisting of around 2,000 people, was set to be
the EU’s response to Kosovo’s independence and the new situation in
this part of the Balkans. Brussels has repeatedly stated that Kosovo
is a "European problem."

But to date, only some 200 to 300 people are on the ground, according
to press agencies.

Moreover, it remains unclear how the transfer of power will take place,
if at all. One possibility would be that the UN stays on the ground
after June.

But this model risks confirming Kosovo’s North-South division, with
UNMIK taking care of the mostly Serb-populated North and the EU running
the rest of the majority-Albanian state, European diplomats said.

Despite the problems, EULEX’s Mr Kerambon does not foresee a delay
of more than "one, two or three months," and expects the mission’s
general objectives to be eventually reached.

The mission has three components – a rule of law wing, an EU special
representative who will also chair an International Civilian Office
there, and a European Commission unit leading economic development
and reform.

But EULEX’s main aim is to help Kosovo authorities in areas related
to the rule of law, particularly police, judiciary, customs and
correctional services, the EUobserver reports.