EU 77: Letter to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

from the Chairman

 

 

Thank you for the material which you and your officials have provided in follow-up to the evidence which you gave to the Committee on 10 December. There is one further issue which the Committee has asked me to pursue with you, namely the EU ESDP mission in Kosovo, EULEX. You discussed this with the Committee on 10 December at Qq 63-64.

In your evidence, you said that there was no contradiction between the EULEX mandate on the one hand, and, on the other, the UK's support for Kosovo's independence, under a single constitution applied according to the Ahtisaari plan, and with "no parallel court, police or judicial structures" (Q 64). The Government's position would appear to raise two issues:

1. The 'status-neutral' nature of EULEX, as opposed to the independence of Kosovo set out in the Ahtisaari plan, Kosovo's declaration of independence and constitution, and the UK's recognition of Kosovo.

2. The roles of the EU and UN missions in the Serb-dominated areas of Kosovo as opposed to the rest of Kosovo.

The Committee would like clarification from you of EULEX's remit and role in the Serb-dominated areas of Kosovo, in the light in particular of the six-point UN plan which has been agreed for the deployment of EULEX and the reconfiguration of UNMIK. Why does the Government consider the special provisions which are to apply to the EULEX mission in Serb-dominated areas not to undermine the territorial integrity and unitary nature of independent Kosovo which the Government supports?

With his permission, I enclose a copy of a note provided to Sir John Stanley by the House of Commons Library on these matters.[1] The Committee would welcome any comment on its content which the FCO would like to make.

A reply by 9 February 2009 would be much appreciated.

 

 

19 January 2009

 

---

[1] Not published.