Nikolic: The arrival of EULEX advisors to the north is evidence that the Kosovo Police is not doing its job well

Political scientist Uros Nikolic stated to Kosovo Online that the additional engagement of a specialized team of six EULEX advisors deployed to the north of Kosovo to oversee the work of the Kosovo Police was evidence that these forces were not doing their job well.

"The Kosovo Police did not perform well in their job in the north, and no proof is needed for that. As for the engagement of EULEX advisors, it is more of their indirect acknowledgment that the situation in northern Kosovo has escalated to the extent that they simply had to make it look like they are doing something, that they want to repair some damage, appease the Serbs, and show how they will try to smooth out what has been happening in the past months and even the last year", Nikolic said, regarding the deployment of EULEX police advisors to northern Kosovo, with a mandate to advise the Kosovo Police on how to better conduct regular police activities.

Nikolic emphasizes that when it comes to the EULEX mission itself, it is known that the Serbs do not trust it, but it is assumed that in the north of Kosovo, everything is better than the Kosovo Police.

"EULEX has not proven its impartiality over all these years and decades. This mission served the purpose of building the independence of the so-called Kosovo. It turned out to be ineffective given the enormous funds invested, which were almost billions of euros. It turned out that these funds did not contribute to building institutions or stabilizing the situation but turned into one of the most corrupt missions the EU has ever had. When it comes to EULEX, we must be skeptical. This does not seem like a serious move but more like a means to appease, to say: here we are presenting ourselves to the Serbian community, trying to do something. Because again, it is assumed that for the Serbs in northern Kosovo and Metohija, despite their lack of trust in EULEX, anything is better than the Kosovo Police. Especially since the moment when the Serbs left the organs of the temporary institutions in Pristina, and now they are mono-ethnic", Nikolic said.

When asked if he expected any change in the behavior of the Kosovo Police after the arrival of EULEX advisors to the north, our interlocutor says that he hopes it is possible.

Top of Form

"Experience teaches us that both EULEX and KFOR have often failed to protect the Serbs from Kosovo institutions and the Albanians when it was needed. They are guided by their interests, and depending on whether they assess that the Serbs should not be touched and provoked too much, that it needs to be somehow pacified, they might exert pressure on the authorities in Pristina and do something to protect the Serbs. However, when they decide it is not in their interest, they may, on the contrary, allow various actions that shouldn't happen, and they have often done so. It all depends on the geopolitical situation and whether those who command and manage these missions believe that there should now be calm and a truce here, complete pacification due to the overall global situation in the world, or maybe not. Perhaps they need another front. They play the roles of both arsonists and firefighters alternately, playing with our destinies and the fate of our people in Kosovo. When it comes to EULEX, I am very skeptical, but they are certainly a less bad solution than the so-called KSF. Since the Serbs left these institutions, they have been in a very difficult situation, almost between a rock and a hard place. It is very challenging to live under this pressure now. People need some form of security, and I assume that was one of the reasons they sent these advisors. Realistically, what can six advisors do is highly debatable", Nikolic emphasized.

He emphasizes that monitoring by international missions is still needed in Kosovo, even though it wants to present itself as capable of being independent.

"Kosovo has been a protectorate since our authorities withdrew in 1999. It did not emerge with the goal of becoming an independent state someday, but rather as a vassal state in need of perpetual monitoring. Kosovo could not withstand even a month without these international institutions. We see this happening even today in Bosnia and Herzegovina with Christian Schmidt. In general, foreigners, especially the Western part of the international community, approach the Balkans as if we are children they need to manage, let alone towards the so-called Kosovo, which is their 100% project. Albin Kurti had some ideas in that regard, even when he had some disputes with Western partners, stating that Kosovo, which he considers independent, has the right to full sovereignty. However, that is truly a fiction. Kosovo and Metohija are under the dominant influence of the international factor and will remain so", Nikolic is explicit.Top of Form

He emphasizes that the additional engagement of EULEX advisors is a step backward for Kosovo.

"Once again, it has been shown that they cannot do anything without international institutions like EULEX. They need a tutor. This is the status quo. All that the European Union and EULEX are doing now represents more cosmetic changes to appease the Serbs, but on a concrete level, it is not any epochal change", Nikolic concludes.