Kosovars embark on first leg of building their state

Kosovars used to almost nine years of UN administration will soon find out whether their own government is able to provide the public services they expect.

Kosovo's declaration of independence of 17 February has set in motion a process that will, if all goes to plan, lead to the departure of the country's UN administration in about 120 days.

Passengers arriving at Pristina's international airport could then be greeted by Kosovo customs and immigration agents rather than UN officials, for example.

An EU official expressed confidence that Kosovo's government could assume these additional duties.

During the transition period, most of the UN's functions will be handed over to domestic authorities, who will be "mentored, monitored and advised" by the EU, in the words of an EU official in Pristina.

The EU under Special Representative Pieter Feith is in charge of the International Civilian Office (ICO), which holds executive power to intervene in domestic affairs if necessary.

Several questions raised by this reconfiguration in government and the provision of public services remain to be sorted out, however, and some of them follow from Kosovo not being, in the foreseeable future, recognised by all EU member states.

"There might be some residual UN powers because of Kosovo not being recognised by all EU countries," the official said.

This could especially affect the way Kosovo issues passports, an important question in a country which has hundreds of thousands of citizens living abroad. (The largest expatriate communities are in Germany and Switzerland.)

Under the current set-up, many Kosovars living abroad still have old Yugoslav passports. Serbia, from which Kosovo has just split, is Yugoslavia's legal successor.

A Serbian diplomat said that Serbia would still issue Serbian passports to holders of expiring Yugoslav passports but that "some selectivity" would have to be applied. He declined to elaborate.

Others have temporary UN papers which are recognised by many (though not all) countries in Europe but cannot be renewed outside Kosovo. Since Serbian passports are recognised everywhere and can be renewed at Serbian consulates abroad, many ethnic Albanians have applied for passports in the ethnic Serb enclaves that are dotted throughout Kosovo and which are de facto run by the Belgrade authorities.

The UN is planning to continue issuing its passports until Kosovo has its own. Draft laws providing the legal framework are reportedly being prepared for parliamentary debate.

Travelling on a new Kosovo passport, however, could lead to awkward situations. What if the holder of a new Kosovo passport applies for a Schengen visa, which allows free travel in the entire Schengen area, at the German consulate in Pristina and then travels on that passport to Spain, which has not recognised Kosovo?

Under Schengen rules, Spain would have to admit the traveller. But it will refuse entry to anyone bearing identification documents issued by a country that Spain does not recognise.

According to a report in the Pristina daily Koha Ditore, the Kosovo government is planning to open embassies in 14 countries in June, following the establishment of a foreign ministry.

The new representations will be in the US, the UK, France, Germany, Italy and a few countries of the region. Embassies in New York and Brussels will represent Kosovo towards the UN and the EU respectively.

Albania, according to the same report, has offered technical assistance and co-location.

Since the events of 1999, which led to the establishment of Unmik, Kosovo has used the euro as its official currency. This could be a problem because the European Commission is not in favour of countries outside the eurozone using the euro as their main currency.

But the EU-led economic pillar of Unmik advertises on its website the "high degree of macroeconomic stability" and the absence of uncertainties in monetary policy "as the euro is the official currency in Kosovo".

Kosovo does not at present appear to have plans to introduce its own currency.

Kosovars used to almost nine years of UN administration will soon find out whether their own government is able to provide the public services they expect.