Pettifer: After The Hague, Kosovo Should Reconsider Its Relationship With International Missions

British Balkans expert James Pettifer has said in an interview with Radio Free Europe that after the Special Court’s verdict in The Hague, Kosovo should reconsider its relationship with the international missions in the country.

According to him, the relationship with NATO is essential and should not be touched — NATO was not involved in the Specialist Chambers process — but the situation with Europe is “entirely different”: missions like EULEX and the OSCE “belong to the past.” “Especially as far as EULEX is concerned, I see no reason why it should continue,” he said.

Pettifer said Kosovo was “naive” to cooperate with the Specialist Chambers without professionally negotiating the terms, leaving room for the process to be manipulated by outside interests. He said he had pointed this out to Kosovo’s diplomats in London, but they “didn’t really understand what the problem could be.”

He warned that the verdict could set the reconciliation process between Serbs and Albanians back a long way, since “there is a perception that the international community is not neutral.” He also criticized Prime Minister Kurti’s reaction as “somewhat weak”: “The government should address the question of the legitimacy of organizations like EULEX and whether they are still needed in Kosovo.”

He called on the parties to avoid violence, saying that “violence in the streets would greatly weaken the moral arguments against this judicial process,” while calling peaceful protests important.

Source: Radio Free Europe / Klan Kosova