Moving goalposts

By Tal Ben Yakir

 

Friday 17 June 2022*

 

On day three of being in Kosovo with our Peace Lab class, we went to visit EULEX. In their own words, EULEX is the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo. During the previous two days, we had mostly met with local organizations: young voices from Kosovo itself, initiatives headed by students and activists and born-and-bred locals. EULEX — while also employing mostly locals — is not a local organisation, neither in spirit nor in mandate. 

 

International presence in Kosovo is a sensitive topic. Some people think it is necessary (EU officials certainly do), and many believe Kosovo still stands to gain much from the presence of normative organisations such as the EU. However, plenty of people, both citizens and those in power, believe the EU has overstayed its welcome. The prime minister is known for his dislike of the international presence in the country. Many locals on the street support his views, especially when it comes to the EU. While people are eager to be a part of the EU, there is some exasperation among citizens: the EU is moving the goalposts every time when it comes to Kosovo's membership. Kosovars are frustrated that they are following every requirement set out by the EU, yet membership seems no more likely than it was ten years before. For the past decade, EULEX’s mandate was supposed to end every year, only to be renewed. This lack of clarity and the vagueness adds to a lot of people’s frustrations.

 

The people on the street are quite divided about the organisation — for good reason. For example, these international organisations tend to pay European salaries. Meanwhile regular Kosovars get paid far less and struggle financially. This creates an almost separate upper class in Prishtina (the capital), which is subjected to resentment from regular people who struggle with issues of employment and salaries — a widespread problem for Kosovo. 

 

 Visiting EULEX was an interesting experience. The people who hosted us were gracious and polite, but clearly this was an organisation with European money and values. The busy and informal streets of Prishtina felt like a world away. Everything inside the EULEX building is polished, the AC is on high, and English sounded through the halls. Meanwhile outside, cars honked and vendors sold popcorn on the main boulevard and at least half the people on the street would not have spoken English if you would ask them. 

 

We heard about EULEX’s actual role in Kosovo, and asked the difficult questions: seeing how well Kosovo’s institutions are doing, what is EULEX still doing in the country? The answer we got was a diplomatic one: clearly there is still work to do, because the EU keeps extending EULEX’s mandate. Yet, one has to wonder which political considerations drive the continued extension of the mandate. If the EU would disband EULEX, it would be as good as saying “That’s it Kosovo! You’re a fully functioning liberal democracy now!” Once that message is sent into the world, the EU is pretty much forced to admit Kosovo to the EU, or they stand to lose face, and seriously anger some important neighbours. It would send a message that the EU is not really in the business of keeping promises, and has no further wish to grow. While this might be the case in reality, with many EU countries preferring the EU become a more closed rather than bigger community, it is not a message that would be taken lightly by the world. 

 

*Please note that the  blogposts are not appearing in chronological order of the days of the trip.