Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-02-04-Speech-3-226"
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"en.20090204.15.3-226"2
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".
It took EULEX nearly a year before it was able to carry out its original mandate. It is good to briefly remind ourselves today what this original mandate involved.
EULEX, the largest European mission to date – as someone already pointed out – was to develop, and be active all over, Kosovo, both north and south of the river Ibar. EULEX was also to take charge in three areas: customs, police and jurisdiction and crucially, there was to be no – and I mean no – ambiguous relationship between EULEX on the one hand and UNMIK, the UN organisation, on the other. Let alone that EULEX’s activities would result in that country being split into north and south. That was absolutely not what was intended.
For a very long time, it looked as if it was impossible to carry out the original mandate on account of the notorious blockade in the Security Council. It is only since November last year, in fact, that it looks as if things will work out after all. It is good – two, three months on from the activities actually getting underway – to take stock and to see whether things are working out or, let me couch this in more cautious terms, things appear to be working out.
The Kosovar police are delighted with the excellent cooperation they are enjoying with EULEX. Customs offices are finally up and running again, also, and particularly in the northern part of Kosovo, after they were burnt down last year by Kosovan Serbs. Finally, a start has been made on the huge backlog of lawsuits in the fields of inter-ethnic violence and corruption, which demonstrates once more that EULEX’s activities are in the interests of all the communities, not just the Albanians or the Serbs.
What I really hope is that EULEX’s progress over the last couple of months will be sustained in a positive manner. I also sincerely hope that Belgrade realises that its current approach of constructively working with the European Union is far and away more effective than trying to re-write history all the time. Above all, I hope that the Kosovar authorities manage to solve this huge stack of problems that they still face. At long last, corruption will be tackled, as well as organised crime, which is still far too prevalent in Kosovo. At long last, Kosovo will have a durable energy supply, based on EU legislation, and at long last, the Kosovan economy will take off.
Kosovo is an independent state and, whether this Parliament likes it or not, there is no going back. We, the European Union, stand to gain from Kosovo developing into a viable state. This is why we are there and why we need to remain there."@en1
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