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P 241335Z SEP 08
FM USEU BRUSSELS
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 001486 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE, EUR/ERA, INL/CIV 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL EUN UNMIK KV
SUBJECT: EULEX KOSOVO COMMITTEE OF CONTRIBUTORS WELCOME 
RENEWED EULEX DEPLOYMENT 
 
REF: USEU BRUSSELS 1088 
 
This message is Sensitive But Unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  During the September 22 EULEX Kosovo 
Committee of Contributors meeting, EU Civilian Operations 
Commander Kees Klompenhouwer and EULEX Head of Mission 
General Yves de Kermabon told EU member and third-state 
contributors that deployment had resumed as of September 21. 
The EU and UN were make making progress in finalizing UNMIK 
reconfiguration details.  While acknowledging that the 
handover between UNMIK and EULEX was "not at the expected 
pace," Klompenhouwer reported that UNMIK would reduce its 
staffing by 70 percent over the next three months, 
transferring authority only once EULEX was fully ready to 
assume its responsibilities.  De Kermabon outlined his 
"bottom up" and "top down" approaches, engaging Serbs both on 
the ground and in Belgrade in an effort to achieve Serbian 
buy-in for the EULEX mission.  While both reported being 
cautiously optimistic about recent signs from Belgrade, they 
cautioned not to give Belgrade "a blank check on rule of law" 
and called for contributors to "keep up the pressure on 
Belgrade."  EULEX Justice Component head Alberto Perduca 
reported that approximately 32 judges and prosecutors had 
deployed to date, focusing their efforts primarily on 
compiling an inventory of UNMIK and local justice cases, and 
establishing the instruments necessary to carry out their 
mission successfully.  The contributing state representatives 
welcomed reports of progress on the ground and regular 
consultation with the mission heads.  They asked substantive 
questions about the mission, to include whether contingency 
planning was being conducted and noting the absence of 
Participation Agreements between the EU and third-state 
contributors such as the U.S. and Croatia.  End Summary. 
 
Klompenhouwer Mission Update 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) EU Civilian Operations Commander Kees Klompenhouwer 
opened the third EULEX Committee of Contributors (CoC) 
meeting on September 22 by providing a brief overview of 
developments both in Brussels and on the ground in Kosovo. 
While noting that the handover between UNMIK and EULEX had 
begun, Klompenhouwer reported that it was "not yet up to 
expected pace."  He said that UNMIK would reduce staffing by 
70 percent over the next three months, transferring authority 
only once EULEX was fully ready to assume its 
responsibilities.  On EULEX staffing, Klompenhouwer reported 
that EULEX had activated its deployment plan as of the end of 
August, sending contribution letters to contributing states 
on a bi-monthly basis.  He said that the next call for 
contributions in early October would be especially important 
as many key positions would be included in this call.  On 
Privileges and Immunities (P/Is), Klompenhouwer reported that 
in addition to local laws, EULEX "expected an UNMIK decision 
in this regard, keeping dialogue ongoing." 
 
De Kermabon on Deployment 
------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Opening by saying "today is an important day," EULEX 
Head of Mission Yves de Kermabon reported that EULEX had 
resumed deployment as of September 21.  De Kermabon added 
that it was especially important to have the support of 
contributing states during the deployment phase.  He said 
that deployment was on track for EULEX to assume its mandate 
"on or about the end of Autumn."  While characterizing the 
situation on the ground as "quiet and stable despite economic 
weakness," de Kermabon warned that hard-liners remained 
active in the north and that smuggling activity had increased 
in recent weeks.  He said that contacts with the Government 
of Kosovo were "excellent," describing the government's 
efforts vis-a-vis EULEX as "most helpful."  De Kermabon also 
outlined his outreach efforts to the Serbian community, 
recounting recent visits to Serbian enclaves, churches, and 
meetings with Serbian political leaders.  He said that 
"bottom up" efforts such as these had to be combined with a 
"top down" approach.  While saying he was "cautiously 
optimistic about signals from Belgrade," de Kermabon 
cautioned that it was "vital not to give them a blank check 
on rule of law." 
 
BRUSSELS 00001486  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) De Kermabon outlined the key objectives for EULEX 
for the near term.  He said EULEX's first objective was to 
maintain rule of law and to avoid any security gaps, followed 
up by Kosovo-wide deployment "as soon as possible." 
According to de Kermabon, the first phase would last until 
the "end of Autumn," with UNMIK reconfiguring while EULEX 
built up its capabilities.  Once this phase was complete, 
EULEX would be in a position to take over the rule of law 
mission from UNMIK.  Before this could happen, de Kermabon 
said, some 1,800 international staff and 1,000 local staff 
would need to be in place.  De Kermabon suggested that EULEX 
could meet the "end of Autumn" timeline if its staffing 
requirements were met.  To accomplish this, the first of 14 
waves of deployment (each wave consisting of approximately 80 
to 100 personnel) had begun.  He stressed the need for the 
contributing states to notify EULEX of any dropouts to 
maintain this momentum.  De Kermabon said EULEX was 
encountering difficulties in the "special police area," but 
he was optimistic that the sixth call for contributors would 
provide an opportunity to fill these and other critical 
positions. 
 
¶5. (SBU) De Kermabon said that 350 EULEX staff members were 
currently on the ground, temporarily set up in two adjacent 
private houses while administrative functions were taking 
place at UNMIK headquarters.  De Kermabon said that EULEX 
police were deploying to the downtown UNMIK location 
(Pristina) and were preparing to co-locate at "regional 
houses" in Prizren and Gnjilane.  He stressed that the 
resumptio of deployment was due to the Technical Agreemet 
(TA) reached between the UN and EU August 1.  In addition to 
the deployment of personnel the TA was assisting in the 
transfer of asses, to include the first transfer of radio 
equipment one week before.  Concerning the deployment to 
non-majority areas, de Kermabon said that this would most 
likely be tense and that he might have to ask for "temporary 
reinforcements of a few months" while the EU pressured 
Belgrade at the same time to support EULEX deployment to 
these areas. 
 
Perduca on Justice Issues 
------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) EULEX Justice Component head Alberto Perduca 
reported that approximately 32 judges and prosecutors had 
deployed to date, focusing their efforts on an inventory of 
UNMIK and local justice cases, and establishing the 
instruments - primarily guidelines - necessary to carry out 
their mission successfully.  Perduca reported that to ensure 
judges and prosecutors were ready to assume their 
responsibilities upon completion of reconfiguration, they had 
been deployed as early as July in an effort to get them 
familiarized with current issues.  Perduca said that their 
first task had been to inventory the backlog of UNMIK and 
local justice cases.  EULEX staff were allowed access to only 
140 UNMIK files - less than half of UNMIK's backlog - and 
called for access to be improved.  Of these UNMIK files, the 
greatest percentage involved issues of war crimes (20), 
murder (15), terrorism (15), corruption (15), financial 
crimes (10), and human trafficking (10).  Of the 900 local 
cases reviewed, 840 were deemed to be outside of EULEX's 
primary competence, requiring only that these cases be 
monitored.  As for the roughly 22,000 remaining claims for 
compensation, Perduca reported that approximately 18,500 came 
from Kosovo's Serbian community.  Perduca said that these 
claims - still frozen and primarily against KFOR, UNMIK, and 
the Government of Kosovo - would need to be addressed with 
great sensitivity. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Perduca reported that with regard to the instruments 
necessary to carry out their mission, EULEX judges and 
prosecutors had made great strides with local justices in 
elaborating the guidelines of their mentoring and supervision 
efforts.  In addition to this coordination with local 
judicial officials, he reported that a five-week course was 
devised and run for judges and prosecutors in the April-June 
time frame and that another two courses were envisioned for 
newer judicial staff. 
 
Contributors Weigh In 
--------------------- 
 
BRUSSELS 00001486  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) Representatives from Norway, Turkey and the UK 
sought clarification from EULEX staff on a number of 
substantive issues.  The Turkish representative was concerned 
about the possibility of a security gap during the transition 
from UNMIK to EULEX.  He asked how EULEX intended to mitigate 
this risk.  The Norwegian representative was concerned about 
the low number of states which have so far recognized Kosovo. 
 She asked if this had complicated EULEX's efforts and 
whether contingency plans were being prepared by EULEX staff 
in the event of any difficulties.  The UK representative 
flagged three areas of concern.  He stressed the need for 
Participation Agreements (PA) to be concluded quickly with 
the U.S. and Croatia.  The UK representative sought 
clarification on what "the end of Autumn" meant as this 
related to EULEX deployment, and also warned that while HMG 
was encouraged by recent signs from Belgrade, "the integrity 
of the mission needed to be protected."  USEU DCM welcomed 
renewed deployment and reported that the U.S. hoped to have 
its PA completed within the next 2-3 weeks.  He asked what 
guidance was being provided to participants on important 
issues such as rules on the use of force. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Klompenhouwer responded that he hoped the U.S. PA 
could be signed soon.  With regard to contingency planning, 
he said that discussions were ongoing with the UN about 
issues such as the meaning of the "UN umbrella" and 
Privileges and Immunities (P/Is).  Klompenhouwer said that he 
saw a "slowly reconfiguring UN," and that he was confident 
EULEX would be able to take on its responsibilities 
throughout Kosovo.  De Kermabon said that while EULEX had not 
yet taken charge, EULEX looked forward to doing so by the end 
of reconfiguration.  In order to be ready, de Kermabon said, 
EULEX was following closely UNMIK's actions, to include the 
recent reopening of the Mitrovica courthouse.  He reported 
that two task forces involving the transition had been stood 
up with UNMIK, one for logistical matters, the other for the 
tactics or strategy of the handover.  De Kermabon said that 
the aim of these consultations was to avoid any security gap 
and that UNMIK would not transfer authority until EULEX was 
fully ready.  De Kermabon went on to say that he did not see 
any difficulty deploying Kosovo-wide, not by force, but 
through the bottom up and top down approach.  He said the 
question was political and all depended on Belgrade's 
attitude.  He ended by saying that he would request 
reinforcements (150 police officers) in the North to reduce 
the possibility of provocations.  He renewed his call for 
"constant pressure" to be exerted on Belgrade. 
.