Ministers plan province’s police and court reforms

Series Title
Series Details Vol.12, No.13, 6.4.06
Publication Date 06/04/2006
Content Type

Date: 06/04/06

Next week the EU will take a significant step towards a greater role in policing Kosovo, as the province edges towards some form of independence.

Foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday (10 April) are expected to approve the formation of an EU mission to Kosovo, which will examine police and judicial reform.

The mission, which will initially number 12 people, will provide regular reports to Brussels in the build-up to an agreement on Kosovo's final status.

Once an agreement is in place, the EU is expected to take over a range of responsibilities from the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) including running a police assistance force which is currently 2,000-strong.

Foreign ministers are expected to ask for the mission to be dispatched to the region before the end of April. Its mandate will run until the end of this year.

Around 7,500 local police are currently being supervised and monitored by UNMIK forces in the province.

A police mission similar to UNMIK's would be one of the greatest challenges the EU has faced to date.

The EU's police mission in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina numbers 198 international staff members.

In Kosovo aside from police supervision, the EU may also be preparing for a role in controlling witness protection programmes and intelligence gathering.

But some analysts have warned that the EU is in danger of playing too great a role, removing the incentive for the nascent local police force to take charge and dragging the EU into long-term engagement.

A recent report from the International Crisis Group has warned against establishing a "neo-colonial arrangement".

Any EU force is also likely to face challenges in policing both Serb and Albanian communities, particularly in flashpoints such as the northern town of Mitrovica.

Last month UNMIK was forced to close a bridge dividing Albanian and Serb parts of the city after a stabbing incident. The bridge was also the site of rioting in 2004 that prompted the international community to move towards discussing the region's final status.

Those talks, which entered their third round this week, have so far focused on the relationship between the Serb minorities and the central authorities in Pristina.

The negotiations are widely expected to result in full or conditional independence for Kosovo.

EU Foreign Ministers, meeting at the General and External Relations Council on 10-11 April 2006, were expected to approve the formation of an EU mission to Kosovo, which would examine police and judicial reform. The mission, which would initially number 12 people, was to provide regular reports to Brussels in the build-up to an agreement on Kosovo's final status. It was expected to cover wide-ranging tasks such as police supervision, witness protection programmes and intelligence gathering.

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Related Links
Council of the European Union: Policies: Security and Defence: EU Operations http://consilium.europa.eu/cms3_fo/showPage.asp?id=268&lang=en&mode=g
International Crisis Group: Reports: Kosovo: 'Kosovo: The Challenge of Transition', Europe Report N°170 – 17.2.06 https://www.crisisgroup.org/europe-central-asia/balkans/kosovo/kosovo-challenge-transition

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