UNMIK urged to continue protecting Kosovo- Serbia border

11/03/2008

EU officials on Monday urged UNMIK to maintain its presence along Kosovo's border with Serbia until the Union's justice and police mission assumes these duties.

(Reuters, AFP, DPA, Balkan Insight, B92, Slovenian EU Presidency website - 10/03/08)

Czech KFOR forces guard the Merdare border point between Kosovo and Serbia, about 40km from Pristina. The EU this week called on the UN to boost security in Kosovo, citing the risk of partition. [Getty Images]

The EU urged UNMIK on Monday (March 10th) to ensure continued protection of Kosovo's border with Serbia until the 27-nation bloc's nascent justice and police mission (EULEX) becomes fully operational.

The Union gave final approval for the launch of the operation a day before Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on February 17th. The roughly 2,000-strong EU-led mission of police and customs officers, prosecutors and judges is expected to take over UNMIK's duties after mid-June.

Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, noted on Monday that there had been "no major outbreaks of violence" since Kosovo's secession and that in some places, the situation was better than expected. Nevertheless, the EU wants UNMIK to continue protecting the border zone between Kosovo and Serbia until EULEX assumes these duties.

"There have been attacks on the border, burning of containers and so on, so UNMIK has a very important role to play," Rupel said at a news conference following a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

Rupel added, "We have supported the idea that UNMIK continues to work at the border between Serbia and Kosovo and keeps the border in good condition."

He also hinted that the initially envisioned 120-day transition period, after which EULEX should take full charge of policing duties performed by UNMIK since 1999, might be extended.

"In the past, we presupposed that in due time the European mission would replace UNMIK," said Rupel. "But this will take some time and the transition will take further effort."

EULEX's main tasks will be to train and advise Kosovo police, justice and border personnel as well as assist Europe's newest state in its efforts to build up its new institutions. While EULEX will be equipped with anti-riot units, the main responsibility for dealing with potential violence and ensuring stability in Kosovo will continue to lie with KFOR.

EULEX chief Yves de Kermabon said on Monday that a group of around 20 senior members of the mission has already arrived in Kosovo to oversee the operation's establishment, which would take place after additional consultations with the UN.

"The deployment has started, the first elements left last week," the French general and former KFOR commander told the AFP in a telephone interview from New York.

The UN Security Council is holding a session about Kosovo on Tuesday, at Russia and Serbia's request.

Belgrade has rejected both Pristina's independence declaration, as well as the EU mission, describing them as illegal. It calls on ethnic Serbs to boycott Kosovo's institutions. Recent incidents in the country's Serb-dominated north have sparked fears of what Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen described on Monday as a "soft partition" of Europe's newest state.

The United States and 18 EU member nations are among the countries that have already recognised Kosovo's independence.

Dismissing any talk of the country's possible partitioning along ethnic lines, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried said during a visit to Pristina on Friday said the country's independence is a fact. "History must move on," he added.