Bremen, 30/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - Supporting the proposals of Martti Ahtisaari on the status for Kosovo, which they hope will be included in a resolution of the United Nations Security Council, the Europeans are preparing to manage the transition. At their informal meeting in Bremen, Germany, the foreign affairs ministers of the 27 sought on Friday to get behind the plan of the UN special envoy, which recommends independence under international supervision for the current Serb province. “We stand by the agreed European line and we continue to support Mr Ahtisaari's line”, repeated Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German foreign affairs minister, who chaired Friday's Gymnich. Certain member states, such as Greece and Spain, have to date voiced their preference for reaching a negotiated solution between Belgrade and Pristina and would not be against an extension of the talks. “It would not be a serious problem if the negotiations are prolonged for a few months”, said the Spanish secretary of state for European affairs, Alberto Navarro, although he does not wish to “break EU unity”.
Pending a clear final solution, preparations for a future international presence in Kosovo are making good progress. The EU will have a leading role in this, taking up where the UN mission (UNMIK) left off, working to ensure the correct implementation of the future status. On Friday, Olli Rehn and Javier Solana presented the ministers with their joint report, which takes stock of the state of progress of the future international civil mission, and which also confirms the European future of Kosovo and the Balkan States.
The International Civil Office (ICO) will be headed up by a European, who will also take on the role of EU special representative to Kosovo, and will have the necessary executive powers to ensure the correct application of the status, Mr Rehn and Mr Solana pointed out. The ICO will also include other partners, including the United States, they also add in their document. The future ESDP mission, which will focus on the rule of law, will assist the judicial and law enforcement agencies and ensure the implementation of a sustainable and accountable system. To this end, the UN Security Council should grant the European mission executive powers in the legal sector (bringing organised crime cases to justice, property rights, etc) and the police sector (organised crime, war crimes, inter-ethnic crimes, financial investigations, controls on corruption and borders, amongst other things).
At the same time, Kosovo has seen its European perspectives confirmed, with the possibility of committing to a stabilisation and association process. Kosovo's movement towards the EU will take place under the same conditions as those set for the other countries of the region and the Commission is prepared, when the conditions are met (particularly in terms of implementation of the status, rule of law, the fight against corruption, good governance and public administration reforms), to prepare a feasibility study on Kosovo's capacity to enter into contractual relations. €200 million have been allocated to Kosovo for the next three years, the report points out.
The implementation of Kosovo's status will not come free and the member states, and the international community as a whole, will have to be prepared to take part in its funding. The Commission indicates that it is putting together a more specific assessment of a financial package to be submitted to a future conference of the donors. It will be necessary to cover the cost of international presence on the ground as well as transferring a proportion of Serbian debt, expenditure incurred in ensuring the conditions laid down in the status and the economic development of the country. The initial figures put forward are in the region of €1.5 billion for the first three years 2008-2010. (ab)