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08BRUSSELS1486
2008-09-24 13:35:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
USEU Brussels
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EULEX KOSOVO COMMITTEE OF CONTRIBUTORS WELCOME

Tags:  PREL EUN UNMIK KV 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 001486 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE, EUR/ERA, INL/CIV

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL EUN UNMIK KV
SUBJECT: EULEX KOSOVO COMMITTEE OF CONTRIBUTORS WELCOME
RENEWED EULEX DEPLOYMENT

REF: USEU BRUSSELS 1088

This message is Sensitive But Unclassified. Please protect
accordingly.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 001486

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE, EUR/ERA, INL/CIV

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL EUN UNMIK KV
SUBJECT: EULEX KOSOVO COMMITTEE OF CONTRIBUTORS WELCOME
RENEWED EULEX DEPLOYMENT

REF: USEU BRUSSELS 1088

This message is Sensitive But Unclassified. Please protect
accordingly.


1. (SBU) Summary: During the September 22 EULEX Kosovo
Committee of Contributors meeting, EU Civilian Operations
Commander Kees Klompenhouwer and EULEX Head of Mission
General Yves de Kermabon told EU member and third-state
contributors that deployment had resumed as of September 21.
The EU and UN were make making progress in finalizing UNMIK
reconfiguration details. While acknowledging that the
handover between UNMIK and EULEX was "not at the expected
pace," Klompenhouwer reported that UNMIK would reduce its
staffing by 70 percent over the next three months,
transferring authority only once EULEX was fully ready to
assume its responsibilities. De Kermabon outlined his
"bottom up" and "top down" approaches, engaging Serbs both on
the ground and in Belgrade in an effort to achieve Serbian
buy-in for the EULEX mission. While both reported being
cautiously optimistic about recent signs from Belgrade, they
cautioned not to give Belgrade "a blank check on rule of law"
and called for contributors to "keep up the pressure on
Belgrade." EULEX Justice Component head Alberto Perduca
reported that approximately 32 judges and prosecutors had
deployed to date, focusing their efforts primarily on
compiling an inventory of UNMIK and local justice cases, and
establishing the instruments necessary to carry out their
mission successfully. The contributing state representatives
welcomed reports of progress on the ground and regular
consultation with the mission heads. They asked substantive
questions about the mission, to include whether contingency
planning was being conducted and noting the absence of
Participation Agreements between the EU and third-state
contributors such as the U.S. and Croatia. End Summary.

Klompenhouwer Mission Update
--------------


2. (SBU) EU Civilian Operations Commander Kees Klompenhouwer
opened the third EULEX Committee of Contributors (CoC)
meeting on September 22 by providing a brief overview of
developments both in Brussels and on the ground in Kosovo.
While noting that the handover between UNMIK and EULEX had
begun, Klompenhouwer reported that it was "not yet up to
expected pace." He said that UNMIK would reduce staffing by

70 percent over the next three months, transferring authority
only once EULEX was fully ready to assume its
responsibilities. On EULEX staffing, Klompenhouwer reported
that EULEX had activated its deployment plan as of the end of
August, sending contribution letters to contributing states
on a bi-monthly basis. He said that the next call for
contributions in early October would be especially important
as many key positions would be included in this call. On
Privileges and Immunities (P/Is),Klompenhouwer reported that
in addition to local laws, EULEX "expected an UNMIK decision
in this regard, keeping dialogue ongoing."

De Kermabon on Deployment
--------------


3. (SBU) Opening by saying "today is an important day," EULEX
Head of Mission Yves de Kermabon reported that EULEX had
resumed deployment as of September 21. De Kermabon added
that it was especially important to have the support of
contributing states during the deployment phase. He said
that deployment was on track for EULEX to assume its mandate
"on or about the end of Autumn." While characterizing the
situation on the ground as "quiet and stable despite economic
weakness," de Kermabon warned that hard-liners remained
active in the north and that smuggling activity had increased
in recent weeks. He said that contacts with the Government
of Kosovo were "excellent," describing the government's
efforts vis-a-vis EULEX as "most helpful." De Kermabon also
outlined his outreach efforts to the Serbian community,
recounting recent visits to Serbian enclaves, churches, and
meetings with Serbian political leaders. He said that
"bottom up" efforts such as these had to be combined with a
"top down" approach. While saying he was "cautiously
optimistic about signals from Belgrade," de Kermabon
cautioned that it was "vital not to give them a blank check
on rule of law."

BRUSSELS 00001486 002 OF 003




4. (SBU) De Kermabon outlined the key objectives for EULEX
for the near term. He said EULEX's first objective was to
maintain rule of law and to avoid any security gaps, followed
up by Kosovo-wide deployment "as soon as possible."
According to de Kermabon, the first phase would last until
the "end of Autumn," with UNMIK reconfiguring while EULEX
built up its capabilities. Once this phase was complete,
EULEX would be in a position to take over the rule of law
mission from UNMIK. Before this could happen, de Kermabon
said, some 1,800 international staff and 1,000 local staff
would need to be in place. De Kermabon suggested that EULEX
could meet the "end of Autumn" timeline if its staffing
requirements were met. To accomplish this, the first of 14
waves of deployment (each wave consisting of approximately 80
to 100 personnel) had begun. He stressed the need for the
contributing states to notify EULEX of any dropouts to
maintain this momentum. De Kermabon said EULEX was
encountering difficulties in the "special police area," but
he was optimistic that the sixth call for contributors would
provide an opportunity to fill these and other critical
positions.


5. (SBU) De Kermabon said that 350 EULEX staff members were
currently on the ground, temporarily set up in two adjacent
private houses while administrative functions were taking
place at UNMIK headquarters. De Kermabon said that EULEX
police were deploying to the downtown UNMIK location
(Pristina) and were preparing to co-locate at "regional
houses" in Prizren and Gnjilane. He stressed that the
resumptio of deployment was due to the Technical Agreemet
(TA) reached between the UN and EU August 1. In addition to
the deployment of personnel the TA was assisting in the
transfer of asses, to include the first transfer of radio
equipment one week before. Concerning the deployment to
non-majority areas, de Kermabon said that this would most
likely be tense and that he might have to ask for "temporary
reinforcements of a few months" while the EU pressured
Belgrade at the same time to support EULEX deployment to
these areas.

Perduca on Justice Issues
--------------


6. (SBU) EULEX Justice Component head Alberto Perduca
reported that approximately 32 judges and prosecutors had
deployed to date, focusing their efforts on an inventory of
UNMIK and local justice cases, and establishing the
instruments - primarily guidelines - necessary to carry out
their mission successfully. Perduca reported that to ensure
judges and prosecutors were ready to assume their
responsibilities upon completion of reconfiguration, they had
been deployed as early as July in an effort to get them
familiarized with current issues. Perduca said that their
first task had been to inventory the backlog of UNMIK and
local justice cases. EULEX staff were allowed access to only
140 UNMIK files - less than half of UNMIK's backlog - and
called for access to be improved. Of these UNMIK files, the
greatest percentage involved issues of war crimes (20),
murder (15),terrorism (15),corruption (15),financial
crimes (10),and human trafficking (10). Of the 900 local
cases reviewed, 840 were deemed to be outside of EULEX's
primary competence, requiring only that these cases be
monitored. As for the roughly 22,000 remaining claims for
compensation, Perduca reported that approximately 18,500 came
from Kosovo's Serbian community. Perduca said that these
claims - still frozen and primarily against KFOR, UNMIK, and
the Government of Kosovo - would need to be addressed with
great sensitivity.


7. (SBU) Perduca reported that with regard to the instruments
necessary to carry out their mission, EULEX judges and
prosecutors had made great strides with local justices in
elaborating the guidelines of their mentoring and supervision
efforts. In addition to this coordination with local
judicial officials, he reported that a five-week course was
devised and run for judges and prosecutors in the April-June
time frame and that another two courses were envisioned for
newer judicial staff.

Contributors Weigh In
--------------

BRUSSELS 00001486 003 OF 003




8. (SBU) Representatives from Norway, Turkey and the UK
sought clarification from EULEX staff on a number of
substantive issues. The Turkish representative was concerned
about the possibility of a security gap during the transition
from UNMIK to EULEX. He asked how EULEX intended to mitigate
this risk. The Norwegian representative was concerned about
the low number of states which have so far recognized Kosovo.
She asked if this had complicated EULEX's efforts and
whether contingency plans were being prepared by EULEX staff
in the event of any difficulties. The UK representative
flagged three areas of concern. He stressed the need for
Participation Agreements (PA) to be concluded quickly with
the U.S. and Croatia. The UK representative sought
clarification on what "the end of Autumn" meant as this
related to EULEX deployment, and also warned that while HMG
was encouraged by recent signs from Belgrade, "the integrity
of the mission needed to be protected." USEU DCM welcomed
renewed deployment and reported that the U.S. hoped to have
its PA completed within the next 2-3 weeks. He asked what
guidance was being provided to participants on important
issues such as rules on the use of force.


9. (SBU) Klompenhouwer responded that he hoped the U.S. PA
could be signed soon. With regard to contingency planning,
he said that discussions were ongoing with the UN about
issues such as the meaning of the "UN umbrella" and
Privileges and Immunities (P/Is). Klompenhouwer said that he
saw a "slowly reconfiguring UN," and that he was confident
EULEX would be able to take on its responsibilities
throughout Kosovo. De Kermabon said that while EULEX had not
yet taken charge, EULEX looked forward to doing so by the end
of reconfiguration. In order to be ready, de Kermabon said,
EULEX was following closely UNMIK's actions, to include the
recent reopening of the Mitrovica courthouse. He reported
that two task forces involving the transition had been stood
up with UNMIK, one for logistical matters, the other for the
tactics or strategy of the handover. De Kermabon said that
the aim of these consultations was to avoid any security gap
and that UNMIK would not transfer authority until EULEX was
fully ready. De Kermabon went on to say that he did not see
any difficulty deploying Kosovo-wide, not by force, but
through the bottom up and top down approach. He said the
question was political and all depended on Belgrade's
attitude. He ended by saying that he would request
reinforcements (150 police officers) in the North to reduce
the possibility of provocations. He renewed his call for
"constant pressure" to be exerted on Belgrade.
.