Kosovo’s future. Thick skin required

The UN needs a new head, and new ideas, for its mission in Kosovo

WANTED: a diplomat from a serious European state with leadership skills, strong nerves, and proven ability to resist manipulation. Balkan experience highly desirable. Sounds like you? Then Kosovo may be yours for the taking. The hunt is on for a new head of the UN mission in the protectorate. Harri Holkeri, an ex-prime minister of Finland who took the job last August, left this week to consult doctors; many say he will not return.

Two months ago Kosovo, technically part of Serbia and Montenegro, but under a UN protectorate, exploded in an orgy of violence. Some 4,100 people - mostly Serbs - fled, and 19 people were killed, as Albanian extremists ran amok. On May 11th Mr Holkeri told the UN Security Council that these events had shaken his mission, known as UNMIK, “to its foundations”. The next day, he collapsed, suffering from fatigue. Some diplomats think that Mr Holkeri's illness has given them a welcome opportunity to replace him. Everybody agrees that the UN mission in Kosovo needs a shake-up. Morale and communication are poor. Worse, Amnesty International alleges that the presence of UN and foreign troops in Kosovo has increased prostitution and people-trafficking. A bizarre recent shoot-out left three Americans and one Jordanian dead.

Kosovo has been left leaderless just when firm leadership is sorely needed. Kosovo's politicians - Serb and Albanian - must be prodded into a dialogue on the future of the province, 90% of whose people are ethnic-Albanian and pro-independence. The other factor in the equation is Belgrade, where interest in Kosovo's future has reawakened recently. Vojislav Kostunica, the Serbian prime minister, is touting new ideas for the province, and has secured their approval by parliament. His plan foresees five Serbian autonomous regions within Kosovo; they would be all but independent of the province, whose final status is left open. Albanian politicians have slammed the idea, but have nothing else to offer. As it stands, Mr Kostunica's plan will not be accepted by the big powers either. But since the recent violence, the debate has moved a bit. Seeing a chance to gain the initiative, Serbia's leaders are talking with a new moderation. Vladeta Jankovic, Belgrade's envoy to London, insists the plan is just a “framework”, or starting-point.

The plan has received mixed reviews from western policymakers. Before the violence, the idea of “decentralising” Kosovo was hardly conceivable. Now it has moved to centre stage. A task-force consisting of envoys from the EU, NATO and America has begun working to get Kosovo's Serbs and Albanians, plus the Serbian Government, to agree to set up a working group. Tortuous as that process sounds, it may clear the way for some trade-offs. The UN will give Kosovo's Albanian-dominated government more power if it countenances a decentralisation plan that would safeguard the Serbs.

On May 21st-22nd politicians from all sides are due to attend informal talks in Switzerland. The Albanians will say that unless Kosovo gets independence there will be more violence. The Serbs may counter with a bon mot used by Denis MacShane, Britain's Europe minister, who told Kosovo's president: “The only final status is when we are all dead.”

The UN seeks a new head - and new ideas - for its mission in Kosovo.

• Primary Source

http://www.unmikonline.org/ http://www.unmikonline.org/

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