EU Calls its Kosovo Mission "EULEX"

Pristina _ The European Union’s forthcoming police and justice mission in Kosovo is to be called EULEX, Balkan Insight can reveal.

“Yesterday [Thursday] Brussels decided on the official name of the future EU mission in Kosovo,” the Deputy Head of the EU Planning team in Pristina, Alessio Zuccarini, told Balkan Insight.

“Lex”, the Latin word for law, will be attached to the European Union’s initials to form the name of the new mission.

EULEX is expected to have a supervisory role over justice and policing in Kosovo whose ethnic Albanian-dominated Assembly is set to declare independence from Serbia in the near future.

Since the end of the 1999 Kosovo war those functions have been in the hands of the UN administration in Kosovo, UNMIK, which will now be replaced in practice by the new EU mission.

Zuccarini explained that “EULEX is ready”, and he added that “it is only awaiting the green light” to go ahead with its deployment.

The EU summit in December agreed in principle on the deployment of the mission, however, a planned discussion by EU foreign ministers on its details, scheduled for January 28, did not take place.

It has not been made public when EULEX is to arrive in the UN-administered territory.

However, observers in Brussels say a final decision the mission’s deployment may be taken before Kosovo declares its independence, so that EU members that are opposed to Kosovo’s statehood without the UN’s approval, will not be seen as endorsing independence.

“There is broad support from member states for the deployment of EULEX,” Zuccarini said in the interview for Balkan Insight.

An EU Planning team has been working in Kosovo on preparing and coordinating the mechanisms required for the establishment and successful operation of EULEX.

According to expectations, it will take a transitional period of four months before EULEX takes charge of all activities assigned to it.