EULEX KOSOVO COMMITTEE OF CONTRIBUTORS WELCOME

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. .