FM Rupel Says EU Mission and Kosovo Independence Separate Issues

Nicosia, 18 January

The deployment of an EU mission to Kosovo and the independence of the province are two separate issues, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said after a meeting of EU foreign ministers from the Mediterranean in Cyprus on Friday.

The EU foreign policy chiefs are slated to discuss on 28 January the technical details of the police and civilian mission, but they are expected to postpone concrete decisions to February.
They will have to decide whether to deploy the 1,800-strong mission immediately or after Kosovo declares independence. Diplomatic sources in Brussels have said Slovenia favours immediate deployment.
Rupel said today that Kosovo was a "very sensitive and important issue" and voiced the hope for a substantive debate at the January meeting which would pave the way for subsequent decisions.
According to him, the options are still open, including the signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Serbia.
The ministers meeting in Cyprus today called for an early signing of the accord, but the Netherlands, Belgium and Scandinavian countries make it conditional on the extradition of war crime suspect Ratko Mladic.
Cyprus and Greece, on the other hand, have reservations about the independence of Kosovo.
"Most member states would like Cyprus and Greece...to adopt a position that helps us move forward," Rupel said. "This may or may not happen. This is not pressure, it is my hope."
Ten ministers also voiced support for a deliberation on the formation of a Mediterranean Union, but said that the initiative of the French president cannot replace the accession prospects of candidate countries.
The proposal for the formation of a Mediterranean Union had been launched by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, but it has been received cooly as it is seen as yet another attempt by France to shut the EU's door on Turkey.
The meeting in the Cypriot resort of Paphos featured the foreign ministers of Spain, France, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Slovenia, Romania, Malta, Bulgaria and Cyprus.

FM Rupel Says EU Mission and Kosovo Independence Separate Issues

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