Questions grow over EU mission in Kosovo

In one of the most extensive missions to be undertaken by the bloc, the EU agreed last year that it would mount a 2,200-strong operation to oversee police, judiciary and other tasks, hoping it could smooth over any turbulence from Kosovo's disputed secession from Serbia.

The EU insists the mission will go ahead but acknowledges its plans are being reviewed as Russia, which opposed Kosovo's Feb. 17 independence claim, uses its weight on the U.N. Security Council to prevent a transition of powers to the EU mission.

That is prompting speculation that UNMIK (the United Nations Mission in Kosovo) will stay on the ground after June. Some diplomats say that in turn could help cement a de facto "soft partition" of Kosovo, with a Serb-populated "UNMIKland" in the north and an Albanian majority "EULEXland" elsewhere.

"There are a lot of doubts, more questions than answers ... A number (of EU states) think the plan should be readjusted, to use an understatement," said one EU diplomat, citing a possible delay to the June target date for full deployment.

An EU spokeswoman stressed that preparations were going ahead and that the mission's goals were unchanged, despite a review by EU planners of some details of the operation in the absence of any agreed handover from the United Nations.

"Everybody is aware that the political situation is not the one that we wanted," Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said.

"We have to make our own adaptations ... This is a practical adaptation to a process of deployment that continues," she said, adding that any planning changes so far were minor.

Asked about the possibility of a delay to the EU mission, she said no such decision had been taken and added: "We will see it more clearly later on. We will see what they (EU mission planners) will propose."

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Earlier, the BBC quoted UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker as saying he expected UNMIK to retain some presence while the existing U.N. Security Council resolution on Kosovo was valid.

"One thing is for sure...As long as resolution 1244 is in place, we will always have a U.N. responsibility for Kosovo, and the exact shape and form of that U.N. mission is yet to be decided," he was quoted as saying on the BBC website.

The EU operation is due to mentor and monitor Kosovo police, judiciary and prison officials and have anti-riot units. The bloc still aims to assume executive powers by mid-June.

EU foreign ministers are to discuss the Balkans at a meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday but diplomats doubt there will be much debate on the Kosovo mission.

"There is a sensitivity to discuss this too publicly before the May 11 (Serbian) elections, especially as regards the north," one EU diplomat said.

The parliamentary election is seen as a crucial test of whether Belgrade takes a pro-European or nationalist direction and may be swayed by tensions surrounding the ethnic Serb minority in northern Kosovo.

Gallach said Solana was in frequent contact with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and gave no details of how the EU deployment was being adapted.

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