The European External Action Service (EEAS) requested in the 2019 Strategic Review of the EULEX Kosovo mission that it be extended until 14 June 2022 with a budget of around €77 million.
The mission’s mandate runs until 14 June 2020 (see EUROPE 12037/23).
In the document to the Political and Security Committee, dated 15 November, of which EUROPE has received a copy, the EEAS requests the suspension of the transfer to the EU Kosovo Office of the monitoring, supervisory and advisory tasks entrusted to EULEX. According to the document, it is “unlikely” that these tasks can be transferred in 2020 and such a transfer is “not recommended”. For the EEAS, it must be postponed to 2022.
“This is not due to a failure in the vision of achieving the final objective, but to the assessment that the support provided by the Mission has been more necessary than expected, either because of a clear interest on the part of Kosovo, the preservation of EULEX’s legacy or its exceptional contribution to the dialogue” between Serbia and Kosovo, says the EEAS.
“Given that EULEX’s monitoring tasks continue to add value to EU interests, their transfer in 2020 – as initially planned – is no longer recommended and should be postponed to 2022. A transfer by June 2020 could be detrimental to safeguarding EULEX’s legacy”, the European diplomatic service insists.
The EEAS considers that EULEX should continue to carry out its monitoring tasks, “either because the situation so requires (support for the implementation of the Dialogue) or because the activities, in the framework of which results have been achieved, do not so far meet the conditions for a transfer to the Legal and Advisory Section for the Rule of Law of the EU Office in Kosovo”.
According to the document, it is therefore necessary to temporarily suspend the transfer of these tasks and resume it as of June 2022. “While the Office has already achieved visible results, it seems that a temporary break would be useful to allow it to consolidate its operational procedures, complete its staffing and ensure its achievements before resuming the transfer of tasks in the future”, the document explains. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)