UN and EU set to discuss Kosovo status
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is scheduled to have a series of high-level consultations ahead of Contact Group Troika’s Dec. 10 report on negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina aimed at defining Kosovo’s future status.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Monday, November 26, 2007
First in line is EU's Security and Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana, who will arrive in New York on Wednesday, a day after attending U.S. brokered negotiations between Palestinians and Israel, which will be held in Annapolis, MD.
UN chief and Solana will continue discussions on EU's future role in Kosovo, including the transfer of authority from UNMIK to an upcoming European civil and security mission.
However, no serious actions on behalf of UN Secretary General will be expected ahead of Dec. 10 report of the international Troika and consultations which will follow at the Security Council.
UN and EU officials already held a round of discussions on that matter in mid-November, as UN Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno discussed the future operations with EU's high-ranking diplomat Stefan Lehne.
He also talked with two future chiefs of the European mission in Kosovo - Peter Faith, who is set to take charge of civil part of the undertaking, and French general Yves de Cermabon who will overlook policing and security issues.
European diplomats in New York have said that EU seems to be ready for intensive activity aimed at establishing a new mission in Kosovo, and that the latest meeting with the chief of UN peacekeeping operations represents a part of wider preparations to take charge of Kosovo issues from the hands of the world body.
UN and EU officials discussed the deployment of European mission in Serbian breakaway province, despite the fact that there is still no agreement on the future status of Kosovo.
