Feith: EU to wait for Serbian elections

Pieter Feith says that the EU will wait until after the Serbian elections to deploy EULEX forces to northern Kosovo. The EU special envoy for Kosovo said, according to daily Politika, that the member states were treating the mission and the recognition of Kosovo as two separate issues, adding that recognition was an individual matter that depended on the countries themselves and their legal procedures. Feith: EU to wait for Serbian elections “That division within the EU does not have to weaken my position or the mission’s capacity. We must help Kosovo, regardless of whether or not everyone recognizes it immediately. Recognition can happen later, and it does not have to, one decision is not tied to the other, but it enables us somehow to be present in Kosovo,” Feith explained. The EU envoy said that United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 1244 was the legal basis for the mission and his work. “The UN has stated on several occasions that UNMIK is no longer sustainable. EU leaders said that they were ready to take responsibility, and in January, the secretary-general said the same too. We are keeping the secretary general abreast of current developments,” he said. “I think that the EU is very determined to have its forces spread around the entire territory of Kosovo, including the north. How long this will last, how much effort will be required, and when it will finally happen, are all questions that need a little time to be answered. Elections will be held in Serbia in May, and it will be very important for us whether the winner will be a moderate with a pro-EU orientation, or the nationalist powers,” Feith stressed. Asked whether there was any communication with the Serbian side currently, Feith said, “All I can say is that we have had contact with the Serbian side in a certain way. We don’t need to be ‘door to door’ in order to communicate,” the EU envoy pointed out.

Feith: EU to wait for Serbian elections

“That division within the EU does not have to weaken my position or the mission’s capacity. We must help Kosovo, regardless of whether or not everyone recognizes it immediately. Recognition can happen later, and it does not have to, one decision is not tied to the other, but it enables us somehow to be present in Kosovo,” Feith explained.

The EU envoy said that United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 1244 was the legal basis for the mission and his work.

“The UN has stated on several occasions that UNMIK is no longer sustainable. EU leaders said that they were ready to take responsibility, and in January, the secretary-general said the same too. We are keeping the secretary general abreast of current developments,” he said.

“I think that the EU is very determined to have its forces spread around the entire territory of Kosovo, including the north. How long this will last, how much effort will be required, and when it will finally happen, are all questions that need a little time to be answered. Elections will be held in Serbia in May, and it will be very important for us whether the winner will be a moderate with a pro-EU orientation, or the nationalist powers,” Feith stressed.

Asked whether there was any communication with the Serbian side currently, Feith said, “All I can say is that we have had contact with the Serbian side in a certain way. We don’t need to be ‘door to door’ in order to communicate,” the EU envoy pointed out.