Two short items from the Pristina side:
The EU has a new chief in Pristina, former Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Zbogar. Interesting choice, an official from the place where Yugoslavia started ripping apart to oversee the EU's effort to rip one last piece. (One may be forgiven for wondering if Berlin's hand has shown itself again.) Zbogar's first comments with his new hat suggest he will be a smarter, smoother version of Pieter Feith. He reportedly sees his job as to bring the "country" of Kosovo as much into the EU as possible. Zbogar believes Kosovo's biggest challenge is "regulating relations in the north." As he sees it, "there is fear of Kosovo among the Serbs, which is why they feel the need to self-organize and isolate themselves from the rest of Kosovo" while "there is the Albanian population which sees Kosovo as an integral country, but has no access to its north. (emphasis added)" According to Zbogar, this "must be overcome as soon as possible."
Suggesting that the Kosovo Serbs in the north have "self-organized" is a strange way to put it, as is describing the Serb-majority north as belonging to the "Albanian population." The northerners might believe that they have been organized all along within local Serbian institutions and that their communities belong to them. But of course, the EU is not status neutral.
EULEX is supposed to be status neutral in its handling of its UN-derived mandate for rule of law. The mission will be re-organizing this year. But despite Pristina's calls for an end to "supervised independence," EULEX chief de Marnhac told his staff on January 27 that it will remain even after its current mandate ends in June. He said there will be cuts - including in international and local staff - but "in all likelihood ... EULEX will continue in Kosovo after June 2012, it will still exercise some executive powers and MMA [monitoring, mentoring and advising] will continue to be a fundamental part of its mandate."
It remains unclear if EULEX will also continue to seek to impose Kosovo institutions in the north or will consult with the UN on any further changes in its approach. And if EULEX limits itself to MMA, who will do the peacekeeping?
The EU has a new chief in Pristina, former Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Zbogar. Interesting choice, an official from the place where Yugoslavia started ripping apart to oversee the EU's effort to rip one last piece. (One may be forgiven for wondering if Berlin's hand has shown itself again.) Zbogar's first comments with his new hat suggest he will be a smarter, smoother version of Pieter Feith. He reportedly sees his job as to bring the "country" of Kosovo as much into the EU as possible. Zbogar believes Kosovo's biggest challenge is "regulating relations in the north." As he sees it, "there is fear of Kosovo among the Serbs, which is why they feel the need to self-organize and isolate themselves from the rest of Kosovo" while "there is the Albanian population which sees Kosovo as an integral country, but has no access to its north. (emphasis added)" According to Zbogar, this "must be overcome as soon as possible."
Suggesting that the Kosovo Serbs in the north have "self-organized" is a strange way to put it, as is describing the Serb-majority north as belonging to the "Albanian population." The northerners might believe that they have been organized all along within local Serbian institutions and that their communities belong to them. But of course, the EU is not status neutral.
EULEX is supposed to be status neutral in its handling of its UN-derived mandate for rule of law. The mission will be re-organizing this year. But despite Pristina's calls for an end to "supervised independence," EULEX chief de Marnhac told his staff on January 27 that it will remain even after its current mandate ends in June. He said there will be cuts - including in international and local staff - but "in all likelihood ... EULEX will continue in Kosovo after June 2012, it will still exercise some executive powers and MMA [monitoring, mentoring and advising] will continue to be a fundamental part of its mandate."
It remains unclear if EULEX will also continue to seek to impose Kosovo institutions in the north or will consult with the UN on any further changes in its approach. And if EULEX limits itself to MMA, who will do the peacekeeping?
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Comments on this Blog are moderated to maintain civility and anonymous comments no longer allowed.