EU gaat Kosovo mogelijk als onafhankelijke staat beschouwen (en)

The wording of a new policy paper by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana i and enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn i reveals that Brussels is ready to treat Kosovo as an independent state.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday (17 July) were presented with the Solana-Rehn paper on the "future EU Role and Contribution in Kosovo" after the resolution of the future status of the territory - expected at the end of this year or early 2007.

The paper spells out concrete plans for EU engagement in Kosovo after the wrapping up of the status talks, in spheres like policing, the judiciary and the economy.

But the language of the document also suggests the EU should prepare to treat Kosovo as an independent country from Serbia, by building bilateral relations with Kosovo as it does with other EU aspirants of the Western Balkan region, writes Balkan news agency DTT-NET.COM.

The text highlights the term "Copenhagen political criteria" - the EU's human rights and democracy standards for EU accession.

"The EU has sent a clear message to Kosovo's authorities that fulfilment of the UN standards is not only needed to pave the way for a status settlement, but also for the fulfilment of the Copenhagen political criteria in the longer term," according to the document.

"The common objective of the EU and Kosovo is to ensure that Kosovo becomes a reliable partner, progressing towards integration with the EU together with the rest of the region," the text says.

The paper adds that "all instruments presently available for the Western Balkan region should be made available to Kosovo, including the prospect of contractual relations with the EUs."

Driving force

The idea of treating Kosovo as moving towards the EU separately from Serbia is a clear signal that the bloc will accept the territory as an independent state, EU diplomats said.

"That's what the paper is trying to say," said one source.

Kosovo has been administrated by a UN mission (UNMIK) since June 1999, when NATO intervened to end the Serbian forces crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

UNMIK is to end its mandate next year at a time when the status of Kosovo should already be resolved, with the EU vowing to take up a major stabilising role in the post- UNMIK era.

"The EU intends to become the driving force within the future international presence" Mr Solana and Mr Rehn said.

Brussels has launched preparations to lead the future international civilian presence in Kosovo comparable to its current role in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a strong police mission, helping local authorities improve law and order and holding an advisory role for the local economy.

Most ethnic Albanians, who represent around 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million population insist on Kosovan independence, but Belgrade and the Serbian minority in Kosovo are

against it, proposing Kosovan autonomy inside Serbia instead.

Concrete UN-mediated talks on the political status of Kosovo are to take place later this month between Prishtina and Belgrade but the two camps are not expected to agree on a compromise solution.

Washington and London

Senior EU diplomats said earlier this month that failure to reach an agreement would oblige the UN Security Council to take a decision on the future of Kosovo, with the US and the UK pushing for independence.

But Russia has lately been signalling that it could form an obstacle to Washington and London's push, as it wants to take advantage of Kosovo's independence and in return get independence or annexation of the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and Moldovan Transdnistria.

The US and UK have said however that these regions should be treated separately from the Kosovo issue.