Both president and PM travel to Vienna

Both president and PM travel to Vienna

The EU produced a Kosovo plan, which envisages establishment of an international mission in Kosovo after the solution to the status problem is reached. The Kosovo government should take responsibility for economy and politics, with the possibility of joining international financial institutions. The plan, previously partially published and accessed by the Beta news agency, stipulates that the status solution will have a constitutional framework empowering the government in Priština to act as an EU partner in the stabilization and association process.

Arguing the toss

Dušan Janjić of the Ethnic relations forum told B92 that the EU has for months worked on planning its presence in Kosovo and that it has defined that presence. “The EU has finished the job ahead of a UN resolution, and that is a major political problem. What are the negotiations for and which political mandate makes something of the kind possible? I suppose the problem will be resolved with the European Commission having a debate on the subject. According to this plan, UNMIK and KFOR will make an exit, introducing a civilian EU presence, reminiscent of the Bosnian solution. Kosovo will be treated as an independent state, that is, this could be referred to as ‘conditional independence’”, Janjić said.

“This development makes a part of the negotiations superfluous. Kosovo is given access to the WTO, World Bank and IMF, so there is no need to negotiate about the economy. I’m afraid that the plan takes it as read that the question of Serbian demands is resolved, when it concerns debts and privatization. The meaning is taken out of a part of the negotiations led by Martti Ahtisaari. Back at the start of the year, some reports suggested Tadić and Koštunica and their teams were in agreement regarding Kosovo’s IMF and World Bank membership. What has been allocated the greatest importance, the economy, is now irrelevant. Now the question has to be asked: what are the July 24 talks for if all has already been decided. What the plan really does is force the negotiators to accept fait accompli”, Janjić concluded.

Ceku: “I don’t expect much”

On the other hand, Kosovo’s PM Agim Ceku said in Ljubljana he did not expect significant results at the first status talks meeting. “Knowing the Serbian side’s stance, honestly, I don’t expect much. I don’t expect us to reach an agreement in that meeting, but it is a good opportunity for both sides to present their views on Kosovo and then it’s up to Ahtisaari and his shuttle diplomacy to try and find a solution, in the words of the Slovenian FM Dimirij Rupel, a solution where everybody wins. We understand this, and the international community recognizes this more with time, that Kosovo’s independence is the only functional long-term solution. We hope that Belgrade too will come to terms with this”, Ceku said and added that he believed the process of determining Kosovo’s status will be over by the end of the year, making Kosovo and independent state.

Slovenian Defense minister: Independent Kosovo

Karl Erjavec, Slovenian Defense minister, announces Kosovo’s independence. A member of the Slovenian pensioners’ party DESUS, Erjavec writes in today’s Finance that the last unsolved status in the Balkans, that of Kosovo, will be solved with Kosovo’s independence, a solution supported by the entire Contact Group and Russia.

The minister adds this will represent a serious challenge for Serbia’s political infrastructure that shows increasing reluctance to modernize. “Besides, there is great danger of general instability in the wake of Kosovo’s independence, political and economic, endangering the security of the wider Balkan region”, Erjavec writes and adds that for this reason, Kosovo will have to develop a modern defensive system. Erjavec sees the solution to the problem in Kosovo’s NATO membership, and Slovenia is ready to assist in this, according to the minister.

“Many are firmly opposed to the creation of the Kosovo army. I have no such concerns”, Erjavec writes, adding that the Kosovo army would develop along NATO guidelines, therefore not representing a threat to the region. The minister then goes on to say that otherwise the least desirable scenario of various paramilitary formations being established will unfold. “Both Europe and NATO will have to consider how to best prepare Kosovo to master its own strategic and security space. Therefore UNMIK and KFOR must withdraw, since their presence cannot be permanent. The EU and the OSCE will remain, but that too will not last forever, because a self-sufficient security system must be a priority”, Erjavec writes.

The Slovenian Defense minister predicts that Kosovo will remain unstable even after the status decision if corruption control mechanisms are not put in place, if the institutions are not built, and if there isn’t a Kosovo security services modernization within the NATO framework. “In case all these are missing, Kosovo will remain a part of the Balkan question”, Erjavec concludes.