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Log book: Defense subcommittee chairman Karl von Wogau in Kosovo (Englisch)
Europolitics
has decided to hand the
pen to European leaders during their
missions or displacements. The first ‘log
book’ comes from a delegation of the
European Parliament’s Defence Subcommittee,
which visited
Kosovo between 6
and 8 February. Made
up of Angelika Beer
(Greens-EFA, Germany),
the subcommittee’s
Vice-Chairwoman,
Ana Maria Gomes
(PES, Portugal), and its
Chair, Karl von Wogau
(EPP-ED, Germany),
the delegation met various
leaders: from the
future EULEX mission
(Roy Reeve), from the
Union’s civil mission
(Jonas Jonsson and
Renzo Daviddi), from
KFOR (General Gerhard Stelz) and
from NGOs and local authorities.
In Pristina, it was cold and grey. This
added to the general atmosphere of
depression that hit us on arriving in this
country, while crossing the towns and
villages. The buildings are not cheerful.
Lots of grey, concrete and ruins.
Often, constructions, which seem to
have been started a decade ago, are still
not finished. There are roofs and walls
missing – many houses are uninhabitable.
The roads leave an impression of
dirtiness, bottles and plastic waste lie
everywhere.
In all our meetings, we were faced
with the fact that aside from the issue
of security policy, it is the economic
and social situation which is the most
problematic. In effect, though everyone
says that there could be local tensions,
independence could happen without a
large outbreak of violence. Or at least
such outbreaks would remain controllable.
The Serbian minorities can be
protected. KFOR forces confirmed to
us that they have enough resources for
that. “The main risk is to find the Mitrovica
bridge blocked, not by Albanians or
Serbs but by... television crews,” one soldier
told us. More seriously, uncertainty
remains, once the festive lanterns have
gone out and the cameras have disappeared.
What is going to happen to the
Serbs then? We can see perfectly well
that Belgrade is supporting the Serbian
minority by paying subsidies to people,
by putting in place parallel structures
(social security, schools, etc) to convince
them to stay, or even to return (for
those who have left). But our impression
is that the Serbs who live outside are not
going to come back to the country voluntarily.
This same sentiment prevails
among expatriated Albanians, that we
will not see them return because of the
country’s poor economic outlook.
For most inhabitants, there is little
outlook. Many people do not have a job
[unemployment stands at 50% to 80%,
according to unreliable data – Ed].
School teaching is a disaster [50% of the
population is under 20 and the schools
lack teachers – Ed]. There is also a crucial
lack of general infrastructures. The
energy problem is recurrent, with erratic
supply during the day.
Certainly, many
Kosovars expect that independence
will change all this, that businesses are
going to thrive and that the country will
become a flourishing state. But, from
the international representatives’ point
of view, it’s only a dream. After the declaration
of independence, it is social
and economic uncertainty which could
reign and be a real threat for the country,
without including the influence of
organised crime. We can legitimately
wonder: what have the country and the
international authorities done in recent
years to get to such
a serious economic
situation? And what
will Europe do, if the
influence of organised
crime increases? Will
we have to help a corrupt
government?
Certainly, the EU’s
representatives are
looking to differentiate
themselves from
the UN administration
by stating that they are
not there to administer
the country, but just to
give support to local
authorities – except in
the field of organised crime, where the
EU will be the main player. They hope
to profit from the faith that the Kosovars
see in this arrival the start of a path
toward Europe.
We have been struck
by the great European preparations,
especially of the EULEX rule of law
mission. But certain problems remain,
particularly in relations between the
NATO and EU forces. The Turks have
blocked the signing of a joint document
regulating the exchange of information
between the different forces. Instructions
have therefore been given to each
troop, but separately, with a risk of
different interpretations.
Ultimately, the most important for the
European Union, in the medium and
long term, seems to be to maintain security
and provide prospects. The general
infrastructure must be improved – particularly
regarding electricity, as well as
in training and education. The example
of Lycée Loyola – which we visited – and
the work which has been done there is
very encouraging. Young Kosovars, girls
and boys learning together - this is the future of Kosovo.
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