http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/features/article_1410786.php/B ans_plan_leaves_Kosovo_in_limbo
MONSTERS AND CRITICS (UK) Ban's plan leaves Kosovo in limbo By DPA Jun 12, 2008, 13:28 GMT Pristina - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday disclosed plans to 'reconfigure' the UN Mission in Kosovo to allow for the European Union's law-enforcing mission EULEX, but without resolving diplomatic and legal issues plaguing Pristina. Ban described his intentions in different letters to Kosovo's President Fatmir Sejdiu and Serbian President Boris Tadic, seen by Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in Pristina. Sejdiu was due to address reporters about Ban's plan later Thursday. But Tadiuc's cabinet declined to say whether he had received the letter. UNMIK officials were quoted as saying earlier that it would downsize by 70 per cent and prolong its work only in Serb enclaves, which are hostile to EU to the point of violence. But Ban not only said EULEX, a contingent of 2,000 judges, police officers and other officials helping Kosovo establish its laws, would operate under the UN umbrella, but he also called for more talks with Belgrade on 'issues of common interest,' though not Kosovo's status. Kosovo, with its 90 per cent Albanian majority, declared independence from Serbia on February 17. The new state was recognized by big Western powers, and the EU signalled support by launching EULEX - 2,000 customs, police and judicial officials - on February 16. EU and Pristina leaders envisaged a shift of authority from UNMIK to EULEX and local institutions with the adoption of Kosovo's first sovereign constitution scheduled for Sunday. Now it is unclear what would happen with the document, the draft of which does not foresee continued UN presence. Kosovo may come under pressure to amend it to allow UNMIK to stay. Ban's plan would be balked at in Pristina and welcomed as a victory in Belgrade, which with Russian backing, insists on sovereignty over its 'heartland province'. Serbia has insisted on a negotiated solution, which was never in sight during two years of futile talks, and on UN presence in Kosovo in line with resolution 1244 which introduced UNMIK in June 1999. With Russia's power of veto, any change to the status of Kosovo or UNMIK remains blocked in the UN and Kosovo is stil in the diplomatic, legal limbo it has been in since NATO ousted Serbian authority from its territory eight years ago. After the 'restructuring,' Kosovo would have two international missions, two administrators one from EULEX and UNMIK, on an equal footing and a de facto division of Kosovo in the Albanian south and the Serbian northern quarter of Kosovo. 'This is a six-year setback for Kosovo,' an international official serving in Pristina told dpa. Changes to the UN mission and the arrival of EULEX have no effect on the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, the mission commander, General Xavier Bout de Marnhac, said. 'The reconfiguration ... doesn't change the KFOR mandate much, we're are still under (UN resolution 1244),' he said. 'Now we have to see how to settle things for the next stage. I know the letter arrived, but haven't seen it yet.' In fact, NATO defence ministers meeting Thursday in Brussels expanded the mandate of the 15,700 troops to include training Kosovo's future security forces in addition to peacekeeping. __._,_.___
