International

The SP will, at next week's Strasbourg plenary session of the European Parliament, vote against the report, by Joost Lagendijks of the Netherlands' Green Left (GroenLinks), on Kosovo and the role played there by the EU.

From independence to dependency

“The report creates problems rather than solving them,” says SP Euro-MP Erik Meijer. “The idea of EULEX, the EU executive in the locality which in reality makes Kosovo into an EU protectorate, is plainly at odds with the independence which Kosovo declared earlier and which a year ago was recognised by a majority of EU member states. Perhaps directly after the declaration of independence EU guidance might have made some sort of sense. But now, a year on, this interference simply means that self-government is being denied, taken out of the hands of the Kosovars. All of this has happened in an atmosphere of confusion which is making all agreements arrived at open to misinterpretation. If we want to achieve an unequivocal solution which will put an end to conflict, then we must listen not only to the governing parties but also to those groups which aren't happy with EULEX. Amongst these are the ethnic Albanian movement Vetevendosje and the representatives of the Serbs who live north of the River Ibar.”