EU:The EU conceded yesterday that it was unlikely to be able to take over policing in Kosovo from the UN in June, confirming widespread expectations that Kosovo's security situation will be unclear for some time.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian government wanted the EU to take over policing when it declared independence from Serbia in February - infuriating not only Serbia but also its minority Serb population. Kosovo's failure to secure Serbian or Russian recognition means the UN Security Council has not transferred the policing mandate from the existing UN mission in Kosovo.
With Russia blocking a formal handover, diplomats have been saying privately for weeks that a June 15th target for the 2,200-strong police mission to start operations was untenable.
"We are aware that June 15th will be very difficult for us to be deployed and fully operational," the EU force's spokesman, Victor Reuter, said yesterday.
A second EU official said: "We are still deploying, but the logistics required to get everything done by then [June 15th] will be difficult now. It is unlikely."
Tensions with the ethnic Serb minority in northern Kosovo erupted into riots last month in which one UN police officer was killed and dozens injured. Nato peacekeepers say conditions have been relatively calm since.
The EU already has some 300 staff on the ground, and others are due to arrive in the coming weeks. It is unclear when or whether the UN mission will pull out. Russia questions the legality of the EU deployment in the absence of a UN mandate.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon has said only that he takes note of the EU's desire to help.
Kosovo mission chief Joachim Rücker has said the UN force will stay in the country as long as the existing UN Resolution 1244 remains valid.
Apart from raising questions over how the EU force and UN Kosovo mission would work together, it means the EU cannot as expected take over the premises and vehicles being used by the UN force.
The EU has long sought a security role in Kosovo to show it can take on responsibility in the Balkans, after it failed to halt the wars there in the 1990s.
EU officials stress no changes had been decided to the objectives of the EU mission, due to mentor and monitor local police across the territory and have anti-riot units. - (Reuters)