Solana and Ban to “intensify” discussions on Eulex
The European Union and the United Nations will “continue and intensify” discussions on the modalities of possible functioning of the Eulex mission in Kosovo, EU officials said after a meeting between UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and EU High Representative Javier Solana.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Friday, May 30, 2008
Ban and Solana met in Stockholm on Thursday, on the margins of an Iraq conference, but did reach any agreement on the future of Eulex, a mission which the EU sent unilaterally to Kosovo, but which is now blocked due to a lack of UN legitimacy.
Sources at the EU told KosovoCompromise.com that the option of an UN "umbrella" for the Eulex is "just one of the options".
They said the EU and the UN needed to resolve the ways of authorizing the Eulex mission, but also to clarify the roles of different international missions in Kosovo.
"There is no need to have overlaps, to have five organizations doing the same thing in Kosovo", EU sources underlined.
The next wave of Eulex deployment to Kosovo is due next week, when the number of international officers will reach 300.
Eulex chief Yves De Kermabon will move to Pristina "in the next several weeks", EU sources said.
Meanwhile, Russian ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said the Eulex mission could be deployed in Kosovo "only on a UN basis" and with agreement from Serbia.
Chizhov said Russia is not against a "certain role by the EU" in resolving the Kosovo question, and would not be against the mission if it had an adequate legal basis.
"For that, a UN Security Council resolution is needed, and this is still not the case", Chizhov said.
