Internationale gemeenschap moet 'exit-strategie' voor Kosovo bedenken (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The international community should focus on finding an "exit strategy" for Kosovo and handing power back to the locals instead of wondering what else it can do in the province, the head of the OSCE mission in Kosovo has said.
"Yes of course, you can always do more, everywhere in the world. But it's very dangerous because we are overstretching the limit of the capacity of our governments to spend more money, to send more people [etc.]," Swiss diplomat Tim Guldimann told a conference organised by the Brussels-based European Policy Centre (EPC) think-tank on Monday (26 November).
What should be done is to think up an "exit strategy", he said.
The mission of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) employs around 1,000 people in Kosovo who work on monitoring democracy and human rights in the province.
The OSCE was also charged with organising the parliamentary elections on 17 November.
However, Mr Guldimann stressed that he would rather that these 1,000 people "work more for [a] handing-over capacity", and underlined that "if you ask me 'can we do more', I answer `no, I hope we can do less'".
The Balkans - a 'labour market' for international workers
According to the senior diplomat, handing over power to the local government is crucial in such situations and it should be done as quickly as possible.
Referring to "frozen conflicts with strong international commitment", Mr Guldimann said that if they drag on for a long time then "the real problems start."
In this situation, international consent is increasingly harder to secure; the legitimacy of the actions is increasingly harder to justify; and the readiness of the different governments involved in the concrete crises to contribute progressively decreases, the diplomat argued.
The need to move to the stage of self-governance is just as valid for the Balkan region, he added.
"The Balkans over the last 10 years have become a huge labour market for internationals, they go from one mission to the next (_), they justify what they are doing. [But] these people have to run themselves, we shouldn't take care of everything. (_) This is not about helping, this is about monitoring. These people know exactly what they have to do".
The Serbian breakaway province of Kosovo has been governed by the United Nations since 1999.
Talks on its future status are still ongoing with Kosovars demanding independence but the Serbians are unwilling to grant it to them.
The latest and possibly last round of talks between the two sides before a December deadline started on Monday near Vienna and has shown little progress so far.
This round of talks is to close on Wednesday (28 November), while the international troika composed of EU, Russian and US diplomats is to report to the UN on the outcome of its mediation efforts on 10 December.