DEMOCRACY AND SECURITY in Southeastern Europe, No 1

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TO, ta ki ng up the ro le “that eve ry se cu ri ty fo rce has in
an inde pe nde nt co untry” and no ted that “the re mu st
be no se cu ri ty and de fe nse va cu um in Ko so vo”. 10
On the other si de, Be lgra de has co nti nu ou sly be en expre
ssi ng do ubts over NA TO ’s inte nti ons and mi ssi on
in Ko so vo. On the ve ry day that Ko so vo de cla red inde -
pe nde nce, on Fe bru ary 17 th 2008, vi rtu ally mi nu tes
after the pa rli ame nt in Pri sti na vo ted in fa vor of the
cre ati on of the inde pe nde nt Re pu blic of Ko so vo, in Be -
lgra de, then Pri me Mi ni ster of Se rbia Vo ji slav Ko stu ni -
ca, la be led Ko so vo as “a fa ke sta te, cre ated by NA TO
and Ame ri ca”. 11
This Se rbi an atti tu de has only re info rced the po si ti ve
vi ew amo ng Ko so va rs to wa rds NA TO and the US ,
whi le the Bo ndste el ba se, clo se to the to wn of Fe ri zaj,
has be co me a symbol of this, so to spe ak, “Ame ri can
Co nne cti on” be twe en NA TO and Ko so vo.
Whi le the US is almo st ado red in Ko so vo, that is not
the ca se wi th the Eu ro pe an Uni on, de spi te the fa ct that
Pri sti na ’s pri ma ry go al is sa id to be Eu ro pe an inte gra -
ti on and EU me mbe rship. The re aso ns are ma ny and
go be yo nd cu rre nt pro ble ms, to uchi ng de ep into the
hi sto ri ca lly co ntro ve rsi al invo lve me nt of big Eu ro pe an
po we rs in Ko so vo and the re gi on in the la st 100 ye ars;
wi th the fa ll of the Otto man Empi re and Wo rld War
I, pe ace co nfe re nces re su lted wi th agre eme nts that le -
ft Ko so vo under Se rbi an ru le, and Ko so var Alba ni ans
de ma nds we re igno red and di sre ga rded. 12
This hi sto ri cal expe ri ence is to day fo llo wed by fu rther
di si llu si onme nt wi th Eu ro pe, as the EU is co nti nu ing wi -
th its co ntro ve rsi al and ba si ca lly ine ffe cti ve po li cy to wa -
rds Ko so vo, wi th the la te st twi st of de fi ni ng itse lf as
“sta tus ne utral”. Be ca use fi ve EU sta tes do not re co gni -
ze Ko so vo, whi le a ma jo ri ty of 22 do es, the EU ’s ru le
of law mi ssi on in Ko so vo, EU LEX, which is su ppo sed to
assi st and mo ni tor Ko so vo ’s po li ce, ju sti ce and cu sto ms
syste ms, is ha vi ng wi de and lo ng-la sti ng di ffi cu lti es in de -
plo yme nt and ope ra ti on. Even tho ugh EU LEX is the la -
rge st ci vi li an mi ssi on ever la unched under the Eu ro pe an
Co mmon Se cu ri ty and De fe nse Po li cy (CSDP), and its
ma nda te was agre ed by EU Mi ni ste rs on Fe bru ary 4 th
2008, it to ok almo st a ye ar to de ploy. Be ca use of inte -
rnal di sa gre eme nts over Ko so vo ’s inde pe nde nce, EU -
LEX only sta rted its wo rk on De ce mber 9 th 2008, whi le
in no rthe rn pa rt of Ko so vo, which is do mi na ted by the
Se rbi an mi no ri ty po pu la ti on and effe cti ve ly co ntro lled
by Be lgra de-spo nso red pa ra llel insti tu ti ons, the EU mi -
ssi on is sti ll not fu lly de plo yed and ope ra ti onal. 13
He nce, mo re than two ye ars of the EU de ci di ng to se -
nd its mi ssi on to Ko so vo, EU LEX is yet to show Ko so -
va rs if it re ally me ans bu si ness and whe ther it is ca pa ble
of do ing what it oste nsi bly ca me to do.
Of co urse, the EU is a gro up of 27 co untri es, and Ko -
so vo is not the only insta nce in which the re is di vi si on
amo ng me mber sta tes, re su lti ng in co mpro mi ses or
even la ck of any po li cy at all. Co ntra ry to the Uni ted
Sta tes, the Eu ro pe an Uni on sti ll do es not ha ve a fu llyde
fi ned fo re ign po li cy, and the co nse nsus-dri ven pro -
cess of bu ildi ng co mmon po si ti ons has so me ti mes put
Bru sse ls at se ri ous ri sk of fa ili ng ma jor te sts, li ke the
one it is cu rre ntly fa ci ng in Ko so vo.
The pro ble ms of EU LEX are in mo re than one way
sympto ma tic for the EU expe ri ence in Ko so vo. Even
du ri ng the UN admi ni stra ti on, from 1999-2008, when
the EU had a pi llar wi thin UNMIK and was in cha rge
of re bu ildi ng Ko so vo ’s eco no my, re su lts we re dra ma ti -
ca lly la cki ng; To day, Ko so vo is sti ll stru ggli ng wi th hi gh
une mplo yme nt esti ma ted at 40 pe rce nt, extre me le ve -
ls of po ve rty wi th almo st 15 pe rce nt of pe ople li vi ng on
one eu ro per day, and hi gh le ve ls of co rru pti on in the
admi ni stra ti on and pu blic se ctor, which sca res off mo -