EU office in Kosovo to remain without ambassador for a while

Therefore, several weeks or months may pass until the appointment of chief of the office in Pristina, which because of its importance, has the status of the EU special representative.

An Italian diplomat, experienced by the EU diplomatic service and with diplomatic experience also from the region, was unofficially chosen to lead the European Union's office in Kosovo.

In that post he had to be a descendant of diplomat Estones Aivo Ora, who has already started the mandate of the European Union's ambassador to Turkey's capital, Ankara.

But, as KOHA learns from some diplomatic sources, the formal appointment of the new ambassador to Kosovo has not passed, and now this office of particular importance is expected for a time to remain without number one, with a task officer.

The office in Kosovo, along with that in Sarajevo, has a special status because they are also guided by EU special representatives. Such statistics have ambassadors of the Union around the world who are in countries considered the most problematic „“from the security aspect.

The post of” special representative” also has Peter Sorensen in the quality of facilitator dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.

Some diplomats in the EU have indicated they were extremely satisfied with the work that during his incomplete mandate in Kosovo had made former EU office chief Aivo Ora. His mandate was in a difficult period with the political crisis in Kosovo as new institutions were not formed on the basis of elections, and at a time when Kosovo's reports with the EU were damaged due to the distrust and punishment measures the European Union imposed on Kosovo.

Diplomatic sources in Brussels have not mentioned why the EU ambassador to Kosovo has not yet been appointed. These sources say even those “are not sure what is happening“saying that “is up to high representative Kaya Kallas to decide and then member states to comply with her” decision.

It is now somewhat unclear, but expectations are to have a new process for the appointment of EU ambassador to Kosovo.

Some diplomatic sources in Brussels have speculated that, as an informal obstacle, it may also have been the fact that there are already some Italian diplomats in the Balkan region, and also in high positions in Brussels dealing with the Western Balkans. From Italy are EU ambassadors to Tirana and Sarajevo, while former EU ambassador to Belgrade, as well as Italian, has launched a top post in the EU Foreign Action Service (EEAS) in Brussels. If an Italian diplomat is the EU ambassador to Kosovo then 3 of the 6 EU ambassadors in the region would be from this state.

This may not be any formal obstacle, but there are diplomats from several member countries who have said that “would prefer to have more geographical balance in the network of EU diplomats in the Western Balkans”. On the other hand, there are diplomats who say that “is not Italy's fault if it has more interest than other EU countries for the Western Balkan region”. Diplomats in Brussels note that Italy is most interested in Albania and Serbia in its commitment during discussions on European Union structures.

Italy is certainly among the countries that have the most interest in the region, and it also expresses it in running its diplomats for positions in the EU and NATO dealing with the region. And the boss of EULEX is from Italy, and this country has mostly had command of the KFOR mission in Kosovo. Italy also has the largest number of soldiers on this mission with over 900 soldiers followed by some 600 members of the United States of America.

Until the EU's next ambassador to Kosovo is formally elected, the office in Pristina will be run by Eva Palatova in the quality of the task manager.

Some diplomats of member states would prefer the EU to appoint the ambassador to Kosovo as soon as possible and to increase the dynamic of EU reports with Kosovo. They say that “has been cautioning that Kosovo has been neglected” and, as an example, they also get the fact that Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos has never visited Kosovo in 14 months since he visited other countries in the region, some more than once.

And senior representative Kaya Kallas had visited Kosovo under a tour throughout the region. But because of the lack of more frequent contacts in the EU, they have often reasoned with the fact that Kosovo has been “in the permanent electoral phase” that “has not had full legitimacy institutions” and in some cases even because of punitive measures which were also political.

But all of this has already been overcome after the measures have been removed. However, a new political stalemate in Kosovo would also undermine Kosovo's progress towards the EU and could also have an impact on the dynamics of reports between Kosovo and the European Union.