EULEX Begins in Kosovo

Two months ago, European Union troops rolled into the volatile buffer zones around Georgia's breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Tuesday, some 1,000 miles west across the Black Sea, the EU finally launched its much-delayed police mission in Kosovo. Together, these deployments represent an important test for the EU and its ability to serve as a meaningful force in international peace and security.

Beginning on December 9, hundreds of EU officials will join an international police force designed to resolve the chaotic affairs in Kosovo. The European Rule of Law Mission, more commonly known as EULEX, will take control of police, justice, and customs duties with the support from local staff. No doubt, EULEX will need to address the tactical turmoil that has plagued Kosovo since it declared independence from Serbia in February. While the mission was first approved in December 2007, the intervening months have seen only false starts and operational hangups.

More pressing, however, is the need to combat deep-rooted corruption, a roaring narcotics trade, and human trafficking. Kosovo is strategically located along one of the most lucrative trading routes for heroin and sex-slave smuggling. Drugs from Afghanistan and Central Asia enter Europe from distribution centers in Kosovo. The heroin is often carried across the Adriatic Sea to members of the vast Kosovo Albanian mafia living abroad. Some analysts suggest that these smugglers handle more than 5 tonnes of heroin a month, as it travels to Turkey, Greece, Italy, Germany, and Switzerland. The multi-billion dollar industry is by far the most lucrative in Kosovo.

EULEX is replacing the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) that was operating under a United Nations mandate in the region. The complex web of international bodies that have previously, or are currently, operating in Kosovo can be traced back to the guerrilla war fought in 1998-99. Serbia (who still considers Kosovo to be one of its provinces) has claimed control over the former Ottoman province since 1912. For its part, however, the ethnic Albanian-Kosovo population has continually resisted any assimilation or submission to centralized authority.

These tensions broke open in the final months of 1998, as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) repeatedly attacked Serbian security personnel. NATO bombings, launched under the auspices of humanitarian intervention, also struck Yugoslav military and civilian targets that ultimately forced the Serbian military out of Kosovo. In 1999, once hostilities subdued, KFOR was deployed so as to promote security and assist hundreds-of-thousands of refugees.

EULEX was initially favored by officials in Prishtina, Kosovo's capital city because it was thought to lessen the pressure of the UN. KFOR was closely linked to the UN Security Council, where Russia (a staunch ally of Serbia and opponent of Kosovo's independence) holds veto power. By contrast the EU is dominated by countries that have already recognized Kosovo as an independent state.

Now it seems the mood has changed. Serbia believes it can still influence the EULEX mission through the UN (likely the case, given their organizational overlap). What is more, officials in Prishtina are worried that anti-corruption measures will cost political support among well-connected traffickers and their facilitators. Thus,
it seems EULEX is walking into a very different situation than it envisioned when the force was first drafted.

Belgrade would like EULEX to remain status-neutral on Kosovo. There are perhaps enough countries within the EU that have not recognized Kosovo (chiefly Spain, Greece, and Romania) that this request could be honored. Still it is unlikely that EULEX will be able to make either, let alone both, of these bitter rivals happy. Such conflict could be a serious problem not just for this specific mission, but for the future of EUpeacekeeping operations.

In many respects EULEX is a test case for the European Union. It is the largest-ever mission undertaken by the EU (the startup budget alone is $266m) and takes on vast responsibility for regional development. A failure to deliver in Kosovo would certainly undercut the strategic relevance of EU forces around the globe.

If the last 12 months are any indication, it could be a tough road ahead for Europe.