ICJ Today - Post Decision

(EULEX, KP, and KFOR on the north side of the bridge)

The town of Mitrovica was relatively quiet; there was one protest with around 1,000 people further north of the city with no violence. This group did not make it to the main bridge where KP, EULEX, and KFOR stood tall. (And by not making it to the bridge or inciting violence means it was a quiet day! Again I missed this protest because I did not venture that far into Mitrovica North, only just a few blocks over the bridge.) There were groups of people (mostly Kosovar Serbs) standing around the bridge and along the main street, waiting to see if something was stirring up (as of 6pm, nothing did).

The south side, which is predominately Kosovar Albanian, was more lively, with cars driving around with flags (Albanian, Kosovo, United States, Germany, Sweden mainly) in the windows and honking their horns. There were also kids with vuvuzelas, which became quite infamous at the World Cup in South Africa. Fortunately there were no provocations from the south side and the cars did not get close to the bridge.

So what's next? Basically Serbia still will not recognize Kosovo's independence and will argue Kosovo will always be within its territorial integrity. Serbia will now dispatch diplomats to 55 different countries to present its point of view on this decision as well as the upcoming UN General Assembly meeting in September to try to draft a resolution on Kosovo's status (this will be much harder now that the ICJ ruled in favor of Kosovo). For Kosovo, I have heard that there is a possibility that 3-4 countries will recognize Kosovo tonight, and another 36 or so countries will recognize Kosovo over the coming months. Kosovo hopes to have over 100 recognitions by the General Assembly meeting, aiming for the 120 recognition threshold (1/3) which is needed to be a member of the UN. Kosovo will also need China and Russia not to veto Kosovo's acceptance into the UN, which most likely will not happen. This all remains to be seen, but all in all it was a good day for all of Kosovo.

Interesting developments in the North

In the municipality of Mitrovica, there is an accepted chain of law enforcement:

1. The Kosovo Police are the supposed first responders and deal with all issues, having a leadership role in most of the issues.
2. EULEX defers to the Kosovo Police, but they do take on their own investigations, give the Kosovo Police necessary support, and use their own judges for trials in Mitrovica.
3. KFOR (NATO's mission) is really in Mitrovica more for security reasons, and are the last resort if a situation gets out of hand. They are hands off on investigations and most criminal issues; however because they have the best resources, they can really come in whenever they want to quell an event. KFOR also controls the airspace over Mitrovica and runs practice missions there.

Now regarding the July 2nd protest (as an aside, Serbia's President Boris Tadic called on the United Nations Security Council to have a meeting on the July 2nd protest) and the July 5th shooting of a Serbian government official, initially the Kosovo Police were investigating these incidents. But according to this article from Serbia's B92 news, EULEX is now taking the lead in the investigation, which means that the investigation will be stepped up (and hopefully unbiased). EULEX taking over Kosovo Police's investigations is not uncommon, and either EULEX can step in or the Police can request EULEX assistance.

For the time being, EULEX investigating these two early July incidents is a good thing, because there is now the confrontation between Kosovo and Serbia of Kosovo's decision to send a special policing unit into the north of Kosovo. According to Gallucci's blog, Kosovo already sent up a special unit (KPS/ROSU) in June; however this special unit in which I speak of has yet to be deployed (again) to patrol. The unit is made up of mainly Kosovar Albanians. Interestingly, Kosovo believes that it has the capacity and resource to sustain this unit in the North without the help of EULEX. EULEX has already stated in multiple articles that they will not collaborate with the Kosovo Police on this mission nor do they think that it is useful for Kosovo to do so. To further this, NATO Commander of Allied Joint Force Command Admiral Mark Fitzgerald visited Kosovo yesterday and said "The situation all over Kosovo was and continues to be absolutely calm, peaceful and very safe." He does not foresee increased security in the country, which is probably directed at the announcement of the special policing unit in the North.

To break it down: NATO as well as EULEX do not see an inflamed security situation in Mitrovica North, or the North of Kosovo, due to the two incidents that occurred in the beginning of July. Kosovo understands these views, but at the same time, government officials see the special policing unit as a way to sustain stability, create greater stability (if one can do so), and contribute to the overall security and peace in the region. Belgrade on the other hand, views the deployment of this policing force as an affront to the Serb population in the North and as an informal act of war, mainly because Kosovo will be imposing the police unit without speaking to any of the authorities in the region. As a reminder, Belgrade has a strong influence in the north of Kosovo which consists of a large Serbian population, especially in Mitrovica North, where there is also an illegally elected municipal administration that 'runs' that part of the city. Belgrade does not want to give this region up to Kosovo, nor does Kosovo want to partition it to Serbia. We will see what happens in the near future, but it is a bit of mess in the North right now.

Non-fatal Shooting in Mitrovica

Peter Miletic, a Kosovar Serbian who serves in the Kosovo parliament, was shot four times today outside of his home in Mitrovica North. It was so important that Yahoo! covered it, or posted it from Reuters. As the investigation pursues, the media may play this onto the incidents that occurred last Friday (scroll down to my previous blog posts). However, it could also just be a coincidence; but either way it shows that there is anger with the work of the government (and perhaps more personally with Miletic, since there is a contingent of Serbians who view any other Serbians working with the Kosovo government as a traitor. I was in Mitrovica today and there were no uprisings or anything because of this. Although I did not go to Miletic's house, I was on the northern side and nothing seemed out of place, so that this did not cause anything further, from either the north or south side, was good. Although Miletic is a Serbian politician holding one of the 20 minority seats in the Kosovo Parliament, I could not see the Albanians rising to the occasion to protest his shooting, but if this would have happened, then it would have showed some sort of unification (if you will) to have Kosovar Albanians support a Kosovo Serbian in the municipality of Mitrovica.

On another note, there was increased security on the bridge, with NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR) French quadrant having a presence on the main bridge. They usually do not station trucks on both sides of the bridge, but today was a bit different. Switzerland and Denmark also have KFOR presence in Mitrovica, and you can see them patrolling the streets.

A quick lesson: There is a line of responsibility for safety, protection, and ultimately security in Mitrovica. First it is the Kosovo Police force, then EULEX patrols, and lastly KFOR. KFOR, under NATO is there mainly for protection purposes and if things get out of hand and NATO wants to withdraw troops, because if they can do this, this shows 'progress' is being made in the municipality. In certain situations, KFOR can be asked to help out or be utilized for preventive/security measures here. But in this case, from anecdotal evidence, KFOR was not really asked to have a presence on the bridge, rather they did so on their own (but if asked about it, they would really say they were asked to do this). Perhaps with the shooting this morning it might have been warranted, but it also takes away from the sovereignty and authority of the Kosovo Police, which may still be 5-10 years away from patrolling Mitrovica without any international help. It's a very sticky and confusing situation in Mitrovica, but one that is highly interesting and relevant to international security, urban security theory, and especially ethnic security studies (i.e. dilemmas). Below there is a picture of Kosovo Police patrolling the southern side of the Iber River.

As a follow up to the protest last Friday, my colleague Jose Reymondez and I also ventured to Kosovo Ministry of Interior's Civil Registry Office in Mitrovica North. This was what caused the protest and one death on Friday morning (see my blog post below). There was also heightened security there too, with Kosovo Police in charge, French KFOR police men, and even an EULEX patrolman. The first security contingent was set up about 100 feet away from the office, then there was a second contingent stationed outside the office. Jose asked the French KFOR if I could take a picture, and in correct order as I mentioned above, the French officer deferred to the Kosovo Police officers. The K-officers replied in English 'no problem.'

The building, which was not in a main part of town, had three employees in it, sitting around and drinking coffee. This is no surprise that anyone has come to register to receive an official Kosovo ID card and be put in the system, probably for fear of an attack afterwards. It is not an incredibly bad idea for the Kosovo government to try to establish itself in the Mitrovica North with its first building and hand out ID cards; but at the same time there are many other issues the K-government needs to focus on rather than trying to just get a presence in the North.

I found out that there was an issue with posting the sign on the building (see right). The Kosovo government, the International Civilian Office (ICO), and EULEX has a consensus that the sign was to be posted. The ICO had discussions with the Serbian parallel structures in Mitrovica North, meaning the political parties that are in power but seen as illegal by Kosovo and the international community, and at first the Serbian politicians agreed the sign was to be posted. Then later they protested, but it was too late, and the sign was posted. Even if the sign was not posted to indicate where the building is located, the protest would still have occurred, because word can get around in Kosovo.