New northern Kosovo strategy draws fire (SETimes.com)

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Linda Karadaku
18 January 2010

A newly drafted plan by the Kosovo government and the International Civilian Presence (ICO) that outlines a new approach and strategy for Kosovo's volatile north, has drawn fire from Serb representatives, according to local media reports.

The strategy envisions the creation of a Northern Mitrovica municipality by mid-year. It also stipulates that the Kosovo government organise local elections this year in three northern municipalities -- Zvecan, Leposavic and Zubin Potok.

According to Pristina, the new approach will help marginalise the structures of Serbia, which are operating in that part of Kosovo, and foresees an increased EULEX presence.

"The strong, fair and multiethnic rule-of-law institutions for all communities are the only option. This will be a guarantee for a fair justice and will make the so-called parallel structures irrelevant," EULEX chief Yves de Kermabon said.

He said that EULEX's top priority is to get Kosovo Serb and Kosovo Albanian judges and prosecutors back to the Mitrovica District Court, so that justice can be delivered by a local, multiethnic and single judiciary.

"Nowhere else in Europe have we two judicial systems operating at the same time and in the same place. Two jurisdictions would result in no justice being delivered, but trigger conflicting decisions that would go against the rights of the people. There can be only one judicial system in Kosovo," he said.

Prime Minister Hashim Thaci expressed support for the new strategy. "The establishment of the rule of law in the entire territory of Kosovo also means the disbanding of the structures or the avoidance of the obstacles coming from individuals who do not recognise the institutions and the laws of Kosovo," Thaci said.

He added that the new plan also aims to improve the economic situation in the area.

"The strategy has four main fields: strengthening the rule of law on the entire territory of Kosovo, decentralisation and the formation of new municipalities in northern Mitrovica, the issue of municipal governments in the three northern municipalities and improving the social-economic situation in this part of Kosovo."

However, according to Serb National Council for Northern Kosovo President Milan Ivanovic, Serbs wish to remain under Belgrade's constitutional and legal system. The new plan, therefore, would lead to a destabilisation in the north.

"This intended strategy to expel UNMIK, which is supposed to work in the spirit of Resolution 1244, from Kosovo, and that EULEX should take its place -- an organisation which comes from the countries that created that independent Kosovo -- is certainly not beneficial for the final solution, just as the elections in [Mitrovica] will not succeed, " he said.

Serbian President Boris Tadic told radio Glas Srbije that the Kosovo question is not over for Serbia. Belgrade wants to negotiate with the Kosovo Albanians to find a compromise, "which entails Serbia" in Kosovo. He insisted that while Serbia "would never recognise Kosovo independence", it "has no intention to run lives of the Kosovo Albanians".

On January 12th, Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu told the World Affairs Council in San Francisco that Kosovo has challenges in the north, "where we have more of a concentration of the parallel structures, which are financed from the official Belgrade".

"There are a lot of people in these structures who owe a lot to justice. Their leaders are people with a criminal past, who have committed crimes in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. Without having put these people in front of justice, it is difficult to think of stability in that part of Kosovo, which, unfortunately, has been transformed in an area where smuggling also flourishes," Sejdiu said.

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