E.U. Police and Military Intervention to enforce Secession from Serbia
by Michel Chossudovsky

The Kosovo Parliament endorsed the Independence of Kosovo in a special session on Sunday the 17th of February.

The European Union is sending in a police and military intervention force into Kosovo in derogation of Serbia's sovereignty and in violation of of international law.

This mission has all the features of an illegal occupation force by a foreign power, with a view to enforcing secession and installing an "Independent" Kosovo which will essentially function as an EU-US protectorate under military rule.
 

The European Union approved on Saturday the deployment of a 1,800-member "policing and administration mission" to Kosovo. Out of the 1500 police, some 700 SWAT experts ":trained in crowd and riot" control will be dispatched to Kosovo.

The mission is to be carried out under the European security and defense policy (ESDP). It will assist the Kosovar government, which is largely integrated by former KLA war criminals. It will provide support to the police and judicial authorities "in their progress towards sustainability and accountability".

The EU police mission is slated to take over several functions currently under the mandate of the UN Mission to Kosovo (UNMIK) including police, justice and border police.

"Once it reaches full operational capability the mission will have around 1900 police officers, judges, prosecutors and customs officials and approximately 1100 local staff and will be based in headquarters in Pristina.

The EU-LEX mission will be under the authority of a retired French general Yves de Kermabon. Moreover, Brussels has appointed an EU Special Representative (EUSR) for Kosovo to be headed by Dutch diplomat Pieter Feith.

Fait accompli
From one day to the next, the EU takes over the functions of a UN "peace-keeping mission", in derogation of United Nations procedures.

It would appear that the Secretary General of the UN has been consulted on the matter and has given the green light. No formal decision has been taken by the UN to hand over its authority to a military-civilian EU "peacekeeping" administration.

The communiqué states that EU-LEX will assist Kosovo in "further developing and strengthening an independent multiethnic justice system and multiethnic police and customs service ... free from political interference." The "customs service" pertains to the enforcement of a militarized border between Kosovo and the rest of Serbia, with a view to preventing Serbia from exercising its sovereignty over the province of Kosovo.

"In a legal text published Saturday, the EU said the mission, EU-LEX, will "assist the Kosovo institutions, judicial authorities and law enforcement agencies in their progress toward sustainability and accountability."

EU support for Kosovo "Independence" was announced in advance of a EU Foreign Ministers meeting slated for February 18th. It is slated to be ratified by an emergency session of the Kosovo parliament.

British Troops to the Balkans
In addition to the EU-LEX mission, more than 1000 British troops have been sent to Kosovo to join the 15,000 strong NATO garrison in occupied Kosovo. According to the Daily Telegraph:

"The imminent departure of the 1st Bn Welsh Guards to Kosovo has been ordered in response to fears that the newly formed independent state could slide into "ethnic cleansing". But last night MPs and former military chiefs described the move as "irresponsible" and "demented", accusing the [British] Ministry of Defence of being "bankrupt".(16 February 2008)

The US will be sending 1000 "non-EU experts" which will also include a new influx of private security and military contractors.

The NATO garrison of more than 15,000 troops in Kosovo together with private mercenaries under contract to NATO and the UN, are on hand to enforce the installation of an independent Kosovar government, which is known to have extensive links to organized crime. The main task of this military-police contingent will be to secure the borders of the newly "independent State".

The Russian Foreign Ministry "said on Friday that only the UN Security Council can make a relevant decision to change the format of the international mission in Kosovo."

"We are convinced that Security Council resolution 1244 is valid. And we draw the attention of our EU partners, who have said a great deal lately about their desire and decision to send an additional mission to the territory, that a change in the international makeup in Kosovo is possible only on the basis of a relevant decision by the Security Council," Mikhail Kamynin, a spokesman for the Russian ministry, said.

Kosovo "independence" as well as the sending of EU police and military to the Serbian province constitutes a violation of international law.

Global Research Articles by Michel Chossudovsky