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Post an EU jobEULEX, the EU's mission in Kosovo, is experiencing difficult times as more than 20 of its vehicles were overturned and damaged by ethnic Albanian extremists yesterday (25 August). Moreover, Serbs living in the northern part of the province have demanded the departure of the Union's representatives.
Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, nine years after the end of the 1999 war between Belgrade's security forces and ethnic Albanian guerrillas. In the following years, Kosovo became an international protectorate patrolled by NATO peacekeepers.
Over the past year, the two million-strong republic, 90% of which is composed of ethnic Albanians, has established many of the trappings of statehood, including a new constitution.
More than 50 countries have recognised Kosovo, including the US and most EU members. Serbia, backed by Russia, opposes Kosovo's independence.
The EU decided in February 2008 to deploy a rule of law mission to Kosovo, under the title 'EULEX Kosovo'. The motivation behind the launch of EULEX was highly political, with the Union determined to take over post-crisis management in a territory on the European continent. Its central aim is to assist and support the Kosovo authorities with the rule of law, specifically regarding the police, the judiciary and customs.
Backed by Russia, Serbia initially strongly opposed the EULEX mission and insisted on dealing only with UNMIK, the civilian mission established in the Serbian province following the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 in June 1999. UNMIK recognises the territorial integrity of Serbia.
The initial objective was for EULEX to take over from UNMIK. Following pressure from Serbia, the EU started using the term "reconfiguration" of UNMIK rather than "replacement" of the UN mission by the EU.
A compromise recently emerged whereby Western nations agreed to Serbian demands for the mission to be deployed with the blessing of the UN Security Council and for it to be "status neutral", meaning that it would not make Kosovo's spilt from Serbia official and would not implement the UN's Ahtisaari plan (EurActiv 28/10/08).
This prompted ethnic Albanians to oppose EULEX (EurActiv 25/11/09).
An agreement to be signed between EULEX and Belgrade, designed to help solve a 'visa problem' for Serbian nationals, apparently became an irritant for Albanian extremists, who overturned 28 SUV cars belonging to the EU mission in the capital Pristina.
Many Albanian Kosovars insisted that it was up to Kosovo, not EULEX, to sign any international agreements.
Some 21 demonstrators were arrested by the Kosovo police. They belong to 'Vetevendosje', an ethnic Albanian protest movement which has fought against both the UN mission UNMIK and EULEX, calling for foreign organisations to leave Kosovo. A spokesperson for EULEX deplored the incident.
'Vetevendosje' published a statement saying that the protocol between the EU mission and Serbian Interior ministry was just the "symptom", while EULEX was "the disease".
"In this protocol, the Kosovo-Serbia border is called the 'administrative boundary' and not an international border. This is not even neutrality – this is what Serbia calls our border," 'Vetevendosje' claims.
The Serbian authorities however have also come under fire of Serbian extremis circles, who claim that its signing the agreement amounts to the recognition of Kosovo by Belgrade. "The only goal of the agreement is to have an adequate exchange of information with EULEX, in the goal of stopping all possible incidents and conflicts in the province," said Goran Bogdanović, Serbian minister for Kosovo. He made clear that the agreement was needed to allow Brussels to lift visa requirements for Serbian nationals, and expressed hope that the document would be signed soon.
Bogdanović reiterated that Kosovo citizens are excluded from the visa liberalisation process as a result of inadequate control of people, products and money crossing the administrative lines between Serbia proper and Kosovo. He added that he hoped the protocol with EULEX would "enable these people to get on the White Schengen list".
In the meantime, seven people were injured on Tuesday in northern Kosovo after groups of Serbs and Albanians clashed in the town of Mitrovica. Some 100 Serbs were protesting against the rebuilding of Albanian houses.
"There was no physical contact but they threw stones at each other. The EULEX special police units intervened using tear gas to disperse the demonstrators and the situation is under control," Kosovo police said in a press release.
Serb leaders in Mitrovica said EULEX must leave the country. They urged Serbian President Boris Tadic "to […] demand the EU mission leave the territory of Serbia".
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