EULEX set to begin operations December 9th

04/12/2008

NATO foreign ministers meeting this week said deploying the EU's mission across Kosovo is a top priority, and an official with the mission named December 9th as the starting date.

By Blerta Foniqi-Kabashi for Southeast European Times in Pristina – 04/12/08

The EULEX mission is expected to take over many of UNMIK's responsibilities. [Getty Images]

NATO foreign ministers meeting this week said it is highly important for the EU's mission in Kosovo to be up and running soon.

"The prompt deployment of the European Union's Rule of Law Mission (EULEX) throughout all of Kosovo is an urgent priority," the ministers said in a statement released on Wednesday (December 3rd) at the end of the two-day meeting. "We strongly encourage the Kosovo authorities and Serbia to co-operate fully with all relevant actors during and after the period of transfer of authority."

The ministers also pledged that a "robust" KFOR presence would remain in Kosovo to help ensure stability and assist with implementing new security arrangements, including the transition from the Kosovo Protection Corps to the Kosovo Security Force.

"KFOR will co-operate with and assist the UN, the EU and other international actors, as appropriate, to support the development of a stable, democratic, multiethnic and peaceful Kosovo," the statement read.

EULEX has announced December 9th as its starting date, adding that it plans to begin implementing its mandate in all parts of Kosovo -- including Serb-dominated parts of the north -- as soon as possible.

"December 9th is the date when EULEX police will come to Kosovo and join their colleagues from the Kosovo police ... the day that prosecutors will assume their duties in courts throughout Kosovo. EULEX will launch its mission on the ground on December 9th," the mission's communications director, Victor Reuter, told B92.

The mission could potentially encounter violent local opposition. Kosovo Albanians held a large rally in Pristina earlier this week to protest EULEX, while Kosovo Serb representatives have urged it to hold off in the north. On Wednesday night, groups of local Serbs -- reportedly angry about the mission -- vandalised several cars in Mitrovica, and an ethnic Albanian high school student said Serbs attacked her.

Leaders in Belgrade and Pristina have both indicated their support for EULEX. "We have to co-operate closely, and in no way should we tolerate swearing, accusations and throwing stones at our partners," Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said on Wednesday.

He added, however, Kosovo's citizens and institutions would challenge any refusal by EULEX to deploy throughout the country on its first day. In such a case, the "mission loses its meaning", Thaci said earlier in the week.

He conceded EULEX would find the north inhospitable territory. "This situation is created by the conditions there and the acceptance of parallel structures," he said. Nonetheless, he contended, "Continuation of such conditions is intolerable."

Mitrovica Mayor Bajram Rexhepi said on Tuesday that his administration is ready to co-operate "as long as EULEX respects the principles that have been assigned for the deployment".

EULEX has yet to establish a physical presence in northern Mitrovica, however. An office for the mission has not been set up there yet, unlike in the rest of Kosovo.