EU to postpone sending mission to Kosovo

[Crvena zvezda]

EU to postpone sending mission to Kosovo15 January 2008 | 09:22 -> 18:18 | Source: B92, Beta BRUSSELS, LJUBLJANA -- Sources from Brussels say that the EU will likely decide to postpone its decision to send an EU mission to Kosovo.

The same sources said that this will be done because there is still no official legal basis for sending the mission to the province, rather than because of the January 28 Serbian presidential election.

Earlier, Beta news agency reported from Brussels that most EU member-states believe that there are not enough legal grounds for sending the mission based on Article 10 of UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

Not even UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has given the go-ahead for the EU to take over from UNMIK in Kosovo. The next Kosovo session within the UN SC is scheduled for January 16.

Those are the true reasons for the postponement of the EU mission to the province, not the Serbian presidential elections, Beta’s sources say, adding that Europe does not wish to influence the election outcome in any way.

On Saturday, the Slovenian EU presidency scheduled a meeting of the Contact Group with EU High Representative Javier Solana and Commissioner Olli Rehn, in order to analyze the situation and the EU’s policies towards Kosovo.

The training of the judiciary and police officials needed for the EU mission is not yet complete, and there is still recruiting to be done.

In the meantime, discussions will continue within the EU in an effort to define the legal basis on which to send the mission.