EU, U.N. roles hazy in Kosovo

PRISTINA, Kosovo | Days before the West begins one of the most ambitious nation-building experiments in modern history, profound questions remain about how the day-to-day governance of Kosovo will be handled.

Kosovo now has its own government. But the U.N. mission that effectively ruled the former province of Serbia since 1999 is still here.

The country’s new constitution, which takes effect Sunday, envisions no role for the United Nations, because that would imply lack of sovereignty, but it authorizes the European Union to help run Kosovo.

The EU mission, however, is viewed as illegitimate by Serbia and by its ally, Russia, which both consider Kosovo part of Serbian territory.

They say that only the U.N. Security Council can bestow the needed legitimacy on the EU mission. But the council, where Russia holds a veto, is deeply divided on how to resolve the issue.

Some are hoping U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon can sort things out.

Still, it is not clear whether Mr. Ban’s decision will lessen the confusion among Kosovo´s 2 million people, 90 percent of whom are ethnic Albanians. The rest are Serbs and other minorities.

“Three masters are too much for Kosovo,” Bardh Hamzaj, editor in chief of the daily Zeri, said in reference to the national government, the EU and the U.N. “It´s not clear who will do what.”

At this point, more is known about the EU’s role here after Sunday than the future of the U.N. mission, which was established after the NATO military campaign against Serbia nine years ago.

The 27-member EU has sent a special representative, Pieter Feith, who also heads the International Civilian Office (ICO). Some say he will be the most powerful man in Kosovo after Sunday because he will have the last word when political agreement on various issues cannot be reached.

Still, Mr. Feith insisted in an interview that he and his colleagues are here only to “help” elected officials who “are looking forward to running their own house.”

The main problem for the EU is that the Serbs, most of whom live in northern Kosovo, do not recognize the EU´s authority - but they are still willing to work with the U.N. mission, Mr. Feith said. That could provide a “new focus” for the U.N. mission.

U.N. officials know that their days in Kosovo are numbered, though they insist that the mission still has a mandate under Security Council Resolution 1244 of 1999 that created it.

“We are not deaf and blind,” said the U.N. mission´s chief, Joachim Ruecker. “As always, we are trying to adapt and to be as pragmatic as possible.”

Most Western diplomats here foresee a role for the U.N. mission for another few months, mainly because the EU mission is not ready for a full deployment yet. A formal invitation from the Kosovo government will be needed for the U.N. mission to stay after Sunday, which Mr. Ban will most likely propose.

Story Continues →