Kosovo and Serbia Agree on EULEX

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Kosovo and Serbia Agree on EULEX

Peter Cassata | November 26, 2008

Kosovo and Serbia have agreed on the deployment of the EU's policing and justice mission in Kosovo, EULEX, which is scheduled to take over from UNMIK as early as the end of this year. Last week, Kosovar officials protested that proposals for a separate police force for ethnic Serbian towns within Kosovo was a violation of the young country's sovereignty. Now, RFE/RL reports that Kosovo still rejects the plan in principle but is willing to cooperate:

Ban Ki-moon said in a report that Kosovo had rejected his amended six-point plan for the deployment of EULEX, which Serbia has accepted. However, its government had indicated it was "willing to cooperate with EULEX." Ban had instructed UN personnel to prepare for EULEX to take an enhanced operational role in Kosovo.

Police, customs officers, and judges in the Serbian-run areas of Kosovo would be under the UN umbrella, while their Albanian counterparts would work with EULEX. Despite its pledge of cooperation, Kosovo has officially rejected Ban's plan as violating its constitution and resulting in a de facto partition of the fledgling state.

Reuters similarly stated:

Russia and Western powers on the UN Security Council were negotiating behind closed doors on Tuesday in an attempt to clinch their first agreement on the issue of Kosovo since it seceded from Serbia.

Security Council diplomats, most of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, said they hoped to agree a statement supporting the deployment of a European Union law and justice mission in Kosovo to be adopted by the council as early as Wednesday.

Some are now questioning if the plan for two forces represents a de facto partition of Kosovo, although UN officials have rejected the idea. As stated in an earlier post, it seems surprising that Kosovo is now against EULEX along with Serbia and Russia.