Pristina - Kosovo on Wednesday again dismissed a revised
plan for a European Union mission proposed by by Brussels and the
United Nations, worrying that it would threaten its sovereignty over
the restive Serb territory.
Prime Minister Hashim Thaci told reporters Pristina has extended a
'warm welcome and invitation' to the EU mission, the Eulex, but only
if it deploys as planned, 'in the entire territory of Kosovo.'
But the plan has changed after Belgrade, which continues to fight
Kosovo's slide to full-fledged independence in diplomacy, won
concessions from the West.
Eulex, a law-enforcing presence of 2,000 police, judicial and
customs officials, was to take over from a UN mission that governed
Kosovo since NATO ousted Serbian forces from there in 1999.
In February, backed by the west, Pristina declared independence
from Serbia, which sees the province as its heartland territory.
Kosovo is vastly dominated by Albanians, though its northern
one-quarter has a Serb majority.
However, backed by its ally Russia, Serbia locked the UN in Kosovo
as it was under the nine-year old mandate and eventually pestered
Brussels into shaping the Eulex differently.
On Monday Pristina was offered a modified plan for a mission that
would remain under UN command - and so ultimately under Belgrade's
influence - in the northern, Serb section of Kosovo. In the remaining
part of Kosovo, Eulex would be run by Brussels.
Kosovo Albanian leaders rejected the plan, fearing that it would
only cement the already existing partition of the territory along
ethnic lines.
Belgrade, which continues fighting Pristina's secession, said it
would endorse the plan in case the mission remains under the UN
umbrella and was declared neutral in regard to Kosovo's legal status.
Thaci's position caused the delay of a UN Security Council meeting
on Tuesday, when Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was due to present the
modified plan and formally pave the way for the Eulex.
Ban on Tuesday urged the Kosovo government to show 'pragmatism
and flexibility' by agreeing to the mission with a revamped
framework, but Thaci remained adamant.
'The international community understands ... that Eulex deploys in
the entire territory of Kosovo,' he told reporters in Pristina. 'In
this regard, our door has always been open.'
So far 52 countries, including United States and most EU nations,
recognized Kosovo, but its full promotion in the UN was blocked by
Russia, which has the power of veto in the Security Council.
In a bid to discourage more states from recognizing Kosovo, Serbia
has filed a petition to the International Court of Justice at The
Hague for an advisory opinion on whether Kosovo's declaration of
independence was legal under international law.
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