UNMIK as Established by UN

UNMIK as established by UN resolution 1244 in June 1994: Mission, rationale, and results

The purpose of UN Resolution 1244, passed in June 1999, following a 78 day-long NATO (North American Treaty Organization) led military campaign was to bring to a successful political conclusion to the strife in Kosovo. It combined immediate UN actions with a long-term program to create peace and stability in the region. The former nation of Yugoslavia had fragmented into a piecemeal conglomerate of nation-states and ethnic republics, all torn apart by in-fighting. Kosovo proved to be one of the most difficult situations to resolve. NATO felt it was compelled to take military action to prevent further Serbian infringements of human rights in Kosovo. "After Yugoslavia refused to accept the Rambouillet Agreement, NATO began bombing targets in Belgrade and other Serbian cities...June of 1999, Milosevic withdrew his troops, allowing NATO peacekeeping troops KFOR [Kosovo Force] to move in" (Werkhauseren 2009).

The UN's mandate was characterized as unprecedented and sweeping at the time. It was the first-ever operation of this type. "UNMIK initially brought together four pillars under United Nations leadership. With the emergency stage over, Pillar I (humanitarian assistance), led by the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), was phased out at the end of June 2000" ("What is UNMIK," UN, 3009). Pillar II: Civil Administration, under the United Nations is still in force, as is Pillar III: Democratization and Institution Building, under the authority of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and Pillar IV: Reconstruction and Economic Development, administered by the European Union (EU) ("What is UNMIK," UN, 3009).

The first step of UNMIK was to restore basic civilian order and routine public service operations such as education, health, and garbage collection, to prevent further social destabilization and chaos. To administrate these operations, "UNMIK set up a regional structure with five Regional Administrators and 30 Municipal Administrators….One key department, the Central Fiscal Authority prepared the Kosovo Consolidated Budget. The internationally recruited UNMIK Police later in conjunction with the newly founded Kosovo Police Service sought to maintain law and order. A Kosovo Protection Corps was created to provide emergency response and reconstruction services, thereby absorbing the energies of some of the manpower of the former Kosovo Liberation Army" ("What is UNMIK," UN, 3009). Today, the nationally-administered Kosovo Police Services commands all 33 police stations and five out of six Regional Police Headquarters across Kosovo, while the UNMIK Police "has assumed a supporting and monitoring role while retaining overall supervisory authority of the UNMIK Police Commissioner" ("UNMIK -- at a glance," UN, 2009).

The ultimate aim of UNMIK has always been to restore local authority and control over Kosovo, not to maintain a permanent presence in the region. Six months after UNMIK was passed, it set up the Joint Interim Administrative Structure (JIAS) to create joint efforts between local counterparts and the UN authorities responsible for administering the province. The first leaders were appointed but later, at the municipal level, they were elected. They were meant to be representatives of a broad, ethnically and religiously representative cross-section of Kosovo. This was also essential to quell political and factional tensions. "This enabled full involvement of minority groups in the decision-making processes, especially those concerned with preparations for elections. By February 2000, JIAS had officially replaced all previous parallel security and administrative structures. By end-2000, elected Municipal Assemblies with Presidents, Deputies, Chief Executive Officers and mandatory committees on Policy and Finance, Communities, and Mediation were in place in most municipalities" ("What is UNMIK," UN, 3009).

Gradually, over the eight years since it was first instated, as Kosovo's Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG) were established "UNMIK has moved back from an executive role to one of monitoring and support to local institutions. UNMIK, in its present form, is now into its final chapter before status resolution" ("What is UNMIK," UN, 2009). Customs, banking regulation, and general governmental functions are some of the other responsibilities assumed by local authorities since the establishment of UN control. However, the UNMIK Department of Justice (DOJ) continues to prosecute serious crimes, "including cases of corruption, terrorism, war crimes and March 2004 riot cases" and other cases that are the fall-out of the type of longstanding ethnic rivalries that precipitated UN intervention and the creation of UNMIK in the first place ("What is UNMIK," UN, 2009).

Although the UN has declared UNMIK as success, in recent years, Kosovo state authorities have begun to chafe under its authority. As they are "under great pressure from opposition parties, during the last months have consistently reiterated that Resolution 1244 is no longer relevant and that Kosovo institutions are not subject to any legal obligation…meanwhile, the current UNMIK presence is being cut down to less than 10%, which was advised by the UN after Kosovo declared independence and enacted its new constitution" ("Ban Ki-moon: Kosovo wants to discontinue UNMIK mission," New Kosovo Report, 2009). Kosovo state authorities argue that the original mission of stability and fair administration has been achieved, and the rationale of UN intervention to protect human rights is no longer supported by the situation on the ground.

The reasons for such hostility towards the continued presence of the UN are the result of economic disagreements, as well as political and ethnic hostilities. The intervention of the UN transformed Kosovo's economy: "During the 1990s, Kosovo's economy suffered from years of under-investment and was burdened by the legacy of central planning, which greatly reduced Kosovo's capacity to produce and compete. It was clear that a fundamental reform was needed and KTA [Kosovo Trust Agency] was established in order to assist, through appropriate governance, development and privatization strategies, in the transition of Kosovo's economy towards a successful market economy" ("What is UNMIK," UN, 2009).