The United Nations and Nato rushed on Thursday to iron out snags in the troubled international security presence for Kosovo in a move aimed at readying themselves to deal with any future tensions.
-- Ban plans to give EU role in UN Kosovo mission
-- Nato agrees to train Kosovo security forces
-- Russia demands disciplinary action against
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon put forward long-awaited proposals to "reconfigure" the activities of the eight-year-old UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and allow the European Union to pursue its goal of launching a police oversight mission there.
Separately, Nato states reached agreement on plans to train a lightly-armed Kosovo security force of some 2,500 troops, alliance officials said after talks in Brussels. The steps came just days before a June 15 deadline when a new Kosovo constitution will come into force, but leaves major questions unanswered over the exact role of the EU and how it will operate on the ground next to Nato.
"I believe that the United Nations is confronting a new reality in Kosovo, with operational implications for UNMIK that it must take into account," Ban said in a report to the UN Security Council obtained by Reuters.
"It is my assessment that not doing so could lead to increased tension within Kosovo, including between Kosovo's communities, and would contribute to an unwelcoming environment for the international civil presence." Ban proposed the 2,200-strong EU police mission, already months delayed because of Russian objections in the United Nations, be deployed under a UN legal "umbrella".
The UN chief stressed they would apply "for a limited duration and without prejudice to the status of the Kosovo". But in Moscow, Russia demanded disciplinary action against the head of UNMIK for preparing to hand over powers to a European Union mission that Moscow says is illegal.
"It is obvious that any actions with regard to UNMIK, or a changing in the format of the international presence in Kosovo, are only possible on the basis of a decision of the UN Security Council," a Russian Foreign ministry statement said.
Ban set out his plans in separate letters to Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu and Serb President Boris Tadic, proposing that Serbia has a say in deliberations over "technical and cross-boundary issues". In Pristina, Sejdiu told reporters: "I have received the letter from Ban. We cannot comment. We are still analysing it."
Serb officials have said they expect to be granted extensive rights to administer the Serb-dominated north of Kosovo as part of the UNMIK reconfiguration, in what some analysts fear could be the first step towards a de facto partition.
Separately, Nato states reached agreement on plans to train a lightly-armed Kosovo security force of some 2,500 troops. "Nato will ... supervise and support the stand-up and training of a civilian-controlled Kosovo Security Force," an alliance spokesman said after discussions in Brussels. However alliance sources said agreement was only possible after allies dropped efforts to upgrade Nato planning arrangements to define how it will operate with the EU mission.
Turkey had raised concerns that this could mean sharing sensitive military information with EU member Cyprus, the island at the centre of a decades-old Turkish-Greek dispute. "This is a recognition of reality," an alliance source, acknowledging that it was unclear how Nato's 16,500-head KFOR peacekeeping would co-ordinate with the future EU operation.
It is also not clear how the EU mission - dubbed EULEX - will interact with UNMIK, which it was originally due to replace. Diplomats say will not be possible for some time and that EULEX could be a target for the anger of Kosovo Serbs. Allies fear the continued question marks o could mean alliance troops are burdened with duties such as riot control for which they have not been trained. Yet despite their concerns, Nato officials stress Nato's core peacekeeping force in Kosovo will remain there.
"Nato KFOR will remain in Kosovo on the basis of UN Security Council 1244," Nato Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told the opening session of a meeting of allies defence ministers in Brussels.