UNMIK, EULEX sign memorandum

UNMIK and the EU Planning Team have signed a memorandum of understanding today. The document, signed without the presence of the public, will order relations in the transfer of responsibilities from UNMIK to EULEX in the areas of justice, police and customs, UNMIK spokesman Alexander Ivanko told B92 earlier in the day. UNMIK, EULEX sign memorandum He said that the memorandum would be signed by UNMIK Chief Lamberto Zannier, who returned from holiday yesterday, and the head of the EU Planning Team Roy Reeve. In Belgrade, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said that the position of the Serb side is that the government does not accept EULEX. "What they are signing now, we don't consider that it is what Serbia has insisted on," Cvetkovic was quoted as saying on Monday. Kosovo Minister State Secretary Oliver Ivanovic believes that the memorandum "only prescribes technical details for the EULEX mission’s functioning, but that the government will nonetheless react in the UN". “That is a technical memorandum concerning technical details, space, cars, equipment, but that memorandum cannot sanction the mission. As with every similar provocatiion, this technical move cannot be ignored, and the government will submit a protest to the Security Council. You can’t go about it this way,” said Ivanovic. Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac said that the signing of was "a violation of international law". "It's a bad move… there is no a United Nations decision for that," Sutanovac, DS, told reporters near Bujanovac. Sutanovac also said that the Serbian Army and KFOR cooperate very well and in the interest of safety of Serbs in Kosovo. He expressed his expectations that Serbia's initiative to have the UN General Assembly in September ask the International Court of Justice for its opinion on the legality of the Kosovo Albanians' unilateral declaration of independence will be supported. Sutanovac reiterated that "the crisis in Kosovo and Metohija may not be solved in a military but only in a diplomatic way". Meanwhile, the opposition Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) said today that the signing of the document presents the most severe violation of international law and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, and that it is a demonstration that the policy of force can provide official status to the illegal mission of the European Union in Kosovo, EULEX. In a statement given to Tanjug, DSS Vice President Slobodan Samardzic said on Monday said there have been repeated attempts at the United Nations Security Council to provide legality to the illegal mission EULEX, aimed at implementing the Ahtisaari plan to create an independent Kosovo. "One by one, all these attempts have failed, and now UNMIK is making an agreement with EULEX without the approval of the Security Council. It is necessary that the Serbian authorities react most energetically, in keeping with the resolutions adopted by the National Assembly, and make an unequivocal announcement that the EULEX mission is illegal and that its presence in the province has absolutely no legal meaning for Serbia," Samardzic said. And while the Kosovo Albanians believe that the Memorandum serves to clarify EULEX’s role in Kosovo during the period of UNMIK reconfiguration, things are not going quite to plan six months after the unilateral declaration of independence. Pristina daily Koha Ditore says that owing to the small number of countries that have recognized Kosovo—45—the opportunity for Kosovo to become a UN member this year has been lost, which had been one of the Kosovo government’s goals.

UNMIK, EULEX sign memorandum

He said that the memorandum would be signed by UNMIK Chief Lamberto Zannier, who returned from holiday yesterday, and the head of the EU Planning Team Roy Reeve.

In Belgrade, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković said that the position of the Serb side is that the government does not accept EULEX.

"What they are signing now, we don't consider that it is what Serbia has insisted on," Cvetković was quoted as saying on Monday.

Kosovo Minister State Secretary Oliver Ivanović believes that the memorandum "only prescribes technical details for the EULEX mission’s functioning, but that the government will nonetheless react in the UN".

“That is a technical memorandum concerning technical details, space, cars, equipment, but that memorandum cannot sanction the mission. As with every similar provocatiion, this technical move cannot be ignored, and the government will submit a protest to the Security Council. You can’t go about it this way,” said Ivanović.

Defense Minister Dragan Šutanovac said that the signing of was "a violation of international law".

"It's a bad move… there is no a United Nations decision for that," Šutanovac, DS, told reporters near Bujanovac.

Šutanovac also said that the Serbian Army and KFOR cooperate very well and in the interest of safety of Serbs in Kosovo.

He expressed his expectations that Serbia's initiative to have the UN General Assembly in September ask the International Court of Justice for its opinion on the legality of the Kosovo Albanians' unilateral declaration of independence will be supported.

Šutanovac reiterated that "the crisis in Kosovo and Metohija may not be solved in a military but only in a diplomatic way".

Meanwhile, the opposition Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) said today that the signing of the document presents the most severe violation of international law and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, and that it is a demonstration that the policy of force can provide official status to the illegal mission of the European Union in Kosovo, EULEX.

In a statement given to Tanjug, DSS Vice President Slobodan Samardžić said on Monday said there have been repeated attempts at the United Nations Security Council to provide legality to the illegal mission EULEX, aimed at implementing the Ahtisaari plan to create an independent Kosovo.

"One by one, all these attempts have failed, and now UNMIK is making an agreement with EULEX without the approval of the Security Council. It is necessary that the Serbian authorities react most energetically, in keeping with the resolutions adopted by the National Assembly, and make an unequivocal announcement that the EULEX mission is illegal and that its presence in the province has absolutely no legal meaning for Serbia," Samardžić said.

And while the Kosovo Albanians believe that the Memorandum serves to clarify EULEX’s role in Kosovo during the period of UNMIK reconfiguration, things are not going quite to plan six months after the unilateral declaration of independence.

Priština daily Koha Ditore says that owing to the small number of countries that have recognized Kosovo—45—the opportunity for Kosovo to become a UN member this year has been lost, which had been one of the Kosovo government’s goals.