Kermabon: EULEX under UN authority

EULEX Chief Yves de Kermabon says that EULEX will work under the authority of the UN and that it will not implement the Martti Ahtisaari plan in the field. “The basic task of the new mission is the implementation of the rule of law,“ Kermabon said in an interview for Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti, adding that the deployment of the mission throughout Kosovo had proceeded without any incident. Kermabon: EULEX under UN authority “EULEX is a status-neutral mission,“ he stressed, adding that it currently had available two-thirds of its staff and supplies. “It is expected to reach full operative capacity by the end of the winter, when there will be 3,000 people in the field,“ Kermabon said. Asked whether there would be problems in the work of the mission in northern Kosovo among the Serb population, de Kermabon said that the people needed to be explained the significance of this mission, and that a strong basis for contacts and cooperation with the population of Kosovo must be established. In his opinion, people were opposed to EULEX because they did not understand “what the mission involves.“ “Once the detailed plans of the mission have been explained, there will be hope for cooperation,“ Kermabon told Vecernje Novosti. The daily asked Kermabon whether the Serbs would be allowed to cooperate primarily with the local UN mission, UNMIK, if they continued to insist on this. “UN Security Council Resolution 1244 still applies and things are being done in keeping with that document,“ the EULEX chief responded. “This means that EULEX is under the UN. Moreover, the EU granted EULEX full responsibility for a mandate in the area of the rule of law. In order to achieve this, EULEX must have good cooperation with UNMIK, which has a mandate for political issues,“ he underlined. Yves de Kermabon (FoNet, archive)

Kermabon: EULEX under UN authority

“EULEX is a status-neutral mission,“ he stressed, adding that it currently had available two-thirds of its staff and supplies.

“It is expected to reach full operative capacity by the end of the winter, when there will be 3,000 people in the field,“ Kermabon said.

Asked whether there would be problems in the work of the mission in northern Kosovo among the Serb population, de Kermabon said that the people needed to be explained the significance of this mission, and that a strong basis for contacts and cooperation with the population of Kosovo must be established.

In his opinion, people were opposed to EULEX because they did not understand “what the mission involves.“

“Once the detailed plans of the mission have been explained, there will be hope for cooperation,“ Kermabon told Večernje Novosti.

The daily asked Kermabon whether the Serbs would be allowed to cooperate primarily with the local UN mission, UNMIK, if they continued to insist on this.

“UN Security Council Resolution 1244 still applies and things are being done in keeping with that document,“ the EULEX chief responded.

“This means that EULEX is under the UN. Moreover, the EU granted EULEX full responsibility for a mandate in the area of the rule of law. In order to achieve this, EULEX must have good cooperation with UNMIK, which has a mandate for political issues,“ he underlined.