EULEX chief pleased with KPS returns

EULEX Chief Yves de Kermabon says that he is very happy with the fact that more than 300 Serb police officers have returned to the Kosovo Police Service (KPS). He said, however, that there had been no negotiations, conditions or agreements with the government in Belgrade regarding the return of Serbs to the KPS. EULEX chief pleased with KPS returns In an interview with the FoNet news agency, he said that his mission would not tolerate future blockades of checkpoints near Leposavic and Zubin Potok, and that EULEX would take measures against “extremists and so-called businessmen.” “We have been asking Serb officers to return for a long time and join the Kosovo police, and that is the reason why we encouraged the Serbian government to support their return,” de Kermabon said. He added that the return of Serbs to the KPS was “in the best interest of these people and the community.” Asked whether there had been talks over a special chain of command for Serb officers, he said that there had been no negotiations with the Serbian government, only “technical talks, in order to improve the situation with the rule of law in Kosovo.” De Kermabon said that EULEX would “work on getting Serbs into command positions in the Kosovo police” and that the province needed a multi-ethnic police force, adding that the KPS deputy director was a Serb. Asked whether EULEX’s status really was neutral on the ground, de Kermabon said that this mission had nothing to do with status or political issues. “EULEX is a technical mission working in the sectors of the rule of law, police, customs and the judiciary. In so doing, we may be creating scope for political talks, but that is not our mission,” he said. “That is why we are holding technical meetings with Serb officials, in order to improve the rule of law in Kosovo,” de Kermabon said, adding that the Vidovdan celebration were an example of “a job well done.” Yves de Kermabon (FoNet, archive)

EULEX chief pleased with KPS returns

In an interview with the FoNet news agency, he said that his mission would not tolerate future blockades of checkpoints near Leposavić and Zubin Potok, and that EULEX would take measures against “extremists and so-called businessmen.”

“We have been asking Serb officers to return for a long time and join the Kosovo police, and that is the reason why we encouraged the Serbian government to support their return,” de Kermabon said.

He added that the return of Serbs to the KPS was “in the best interest of these people and the community.”

Asked whether there had been talks over a special chain of command for Serb officers, he said that there had been no negotiations with the Serbian government, only “technical talks, in order to improve the situation with the rule of law in Kosovo.”

De Kermabon said that EULEX would “work on getting Serbs into command positions in the Kosovo police” and that the province needed a multi-ethnic police force, adding that the KPS deputy director was a Serb.

Asked whether EULEX’s status really was neutral on the ground, de Kermabon said that this mission had nothing to do with status or political issues.

“EULEX is a technical mission working in the sectors of the rule of law, police, customs and the judiciary. In so doing, we may be creating scope for political talks, but that is not our mission,” he said.

“That is why we are holding technical meetings with Serb officials, in order to improve the rule of law in Kosovo,” de Kermabon said, adding that the Vidovdan celebration were an example of “a job well done.”