KIPRED's plan called "Ahtisaari Plus" looks at the special
political, economic, environmental and social challenges facing
Mitrovica and suggests an all-encompassing plan to deal with the
situation.
The plan is split in three phases. First phase or
establishment of the rule of law includes the full deployment and
functionality of EULEX in northern Kosovo with UNMIK and KFOR support.
The status of the customs services and Kosovo Police in the north would
be resolved during this phase as well as the disbanding of the parallel
security structures supported by Serbia.
The second phase
involves the implementation of decentralization and establishment of a
trust fund amounting to €30 - €50 million for infrastructural
development and reconstruction of Mitrovica South, Mitrovica North and
Zvecan municipalities. Legitimate local elections would also be held
during this time that would direct the spending of this fund.
The
third phase will create a special investment tax-free and customs-free
zone in the triangle between the three municipalities.
Kosovo Deputy
Prime Minister has dismissed the proposal as "not going beyond the work
of a think tank" and adding that the government has its own plan for
Mitrovica. He did not specify what that is.
Whether this plan stays relevant, however, will depend on the EULEX deployment scheduled for December.
KIPRED
Research Director Ilir Deda presenting the plan on Monday said
"Northern Kosovo has become a bleak example of the chaotic
reconfiguration due to Belgrade's enmity, the lack of political will in
Brussels and the obstructionist stance of the United Nations." Deda,
speaking at the Community Development Center near the dividing
Mitrovica bridge, said that the Kosovo government and the international
community have spend a decade focused on conflict management at the
Mitrovica bridge instead of creating development options.
"Northern
Mitrovica, an area of 1.5 square kilometer, is controlled by several
dozen Serbia’s Security Information Agency (BIA) and Serbia’s Ministry
of Internal Affairs (MUP) operatives and Belgrade sponsored criminal
groups, while the willingness of local Serbs to cooperate with
Albanians is swiftly blocked, usually through harsh intimidation and
pressure. At the same time, the inaction of international community in
the north has created a myth about Serbian parallel structures," states
the report.
On the web:
Looking Beyond Mitrovica Bridge: An Ahtisaari Plus Package Proposal
Hutasi
said:
 |
... It would be much more logical to implement that decentralization first. Just imagine how the Ahtisaari Plan looks now to Kosovo's Serbs: being harrassed by Albanian cops from Drenica. That is not the way to build trust. |
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