The UN gave the green light for the establishment of the EULEX mission in Kosovo. However, the fact that this mission will be natural towards the status of Kosovo raises serious questions about the future of Kosovo as a multiethnic state, as a unitary state and as a functional state.
EULEX, according to the report of the Security Council will be neutral towards the status of Kosovo, although the mission is designated by the Ahtisari Plan! And needless to say, the Ahtisari plan was the basis on which Kosova was declared independent. EU’s EULEX mission will be neutral while 22 of the 27 countries of the Union have recognized the independence of Kosovo! EULEX will also be neutral towards the status of Kosovo at a time when 52 countries in the world have recognized it as an independent state.
The fact that the EULEX mission will be neutral towards the status, thus towards the Constitution and central authorities of Kosovo, damages the performance and even the fulfillment of the very mandate of the EULEX mission, assistance towards the building of a functional state.
The Security Council welcomed “the continuous attempts of the European Union to advance the European perspective of the Western Balkans as a decisive contribution towards stability and prosperity in the region”. But the situation in the Balkan is however haunted by the shadows of the decade-long conflict, the foundation of which was ethnic division! The agreement reached between the UN, the EU and Serbia includes the possibility of the division of Kosova on an ethnic basis, which is why neighboring Balkan countries such as Monte Negro, Albania, Croatia as well as Macedonia also consider it to be threatening.
The Government of Kosovo did not oppose the establishment and functioning of the EULEX mission but rather opposed the agreement reached between the UN, Serbia and the EU as it ignored Prishtina, along with its Constitution and legitimate institutions.
If the perspective of the region lies in the European Union, the functioning of Kosovo on an ethnic basis goes against the principles and values of the EU. The USA and the EU have in the past two decades invested militarily, economically and politically in order to put an end to ethnic strife and contribute towards regional peace and stability.
The continuous politics of sabotage that Belgrade has followed towards Serbia is the foundation of the current insecurity. However, the lack of recognition and acceptance of the reality of Kosovo and the concessions and spoiling that Belgrade has received from Brussels do not lead to stability. Kosovo will be a functional state if it is helped by the EU in extending its control and authority throughout its entire territory and if it is assisted in disbanding the Serbian parallel structures that Belgrade unceasingly supports and finances. In the contrary, the Ban Ki Moon Plan legitimates the functioning in Kosovo, an independent state, of parallel institutions and structures of another country such as Serbia.
To date, Bosnia remains to be the EU’s main concern in the region. And if Brussels does not want to create a second Bosnia, it is time for the European perspective of Serbia to be inseparably connected to the independent Kosovo.
The EULEX mission will be established and will operate in Kosovo, and not in Serbia or Albania. Therefore, it is important that it foremost cherishes the full support of Prishtina’s authorities and institutions. The fact that the agreement for the establishment of EULEX ignores the Independence of Kosovo and does not recognize its Constitution and institutional structures, undermines the reconciliation process and the integration of the Serbian minorities into state institutions.
The debates that accompanied the establishment of the EULEX mission demonstrated once again the failure of the United Nations, as well as the weakness of the European Union in formulating joint policies. In the meanwhile, the entire debate on the establishment of the EULEX mission drew light to another unresolved issue, the UN Resolution 12 44, which speaks of a reality that is now for long inexistent but that is successfully being utilized by Serbia as legal grounds to sabotage the weak state of Kosovo.
