Byzantine Blog

Maj. General Raul Cunha: Kosovo Problem Created, Not Solved by the West

"The policy of the European Union and West toward Kosovo is completely hypocritical and incoherent, it is the policy that leads to instability", Major General Raul Cunha, UNMIK's Chief Military Liaison Officer told Italian Osservatorio sui Balcani.

General Cunha, the highest ranking military officer within the UN structures based in southern Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija, especially criticized the way illegal EU mission is being imposed in the province, stressing it is essential for UNMIK to remain in the regions populated by the Serbs.

"UNMIK (UN Mission in Kosovo) is the sole authority Serbs recognize [in Kosovo province], especially in the regions where minority ethnic communities have the executive power. I'm talking about the municipalities where there are Serbian mayors who do not recognize Albanian institutions", Portuguese officer said.

"If there was no UNMIK, those mayors would be presidents of the autonomous governments within Kosovo, which seems illogical," he added.

He assessed that the UN will have to stay in Kosovo and Metohija province until the Serbs accept "some form of transition" which, according to Cunha, is "practically impossible", at least "until the European Union creates an El Dorado there."

"Only then the Serbian community might, perhaps, accept the EU presence... But it will take years and years before the El Dorado of the European Union becomes a reality — if ever", General Cunha said.

Brussels Pays Itself in Kosovo Province, by Financing its Own "Consultants"

Portuguese general sharply criticized the "incoherence of the Western part of the international community", accusing the EU of "appallingly" spending the moneys designated for the economic development of Kosovo province.

"The situation here is not good and we bear a lot of responsibility, the Western part of the international community," said General Cunha, claiming that Brussels has spent €4 billion supposedly for the economic development, but is, in fact, paying that money to itself.

"We have been investing here in the worst possible way, and we weren't very careful with the money either... When I look at the numbers, I see that 80 percent of that amount was spent on the 'consulting services' and 'building the capacities', except that, frankly speaking, none of those capacities were built," he said.

Elite EU States are Profiteering through Kosovo-Metohija

"The money was spent appallingly... If we had invested it in the development of one real power plant, in schools and good universities, perhaps we would see some results," said Cunha, accusing the EU for those failures, because the pillar of UNMIK assigned the task of rebuilding and economic development was, from 1999, in the Brussels' hands.

UNMIK's military chief asserted that the EU pillar within UNMIK has done absolutely nothing during the past 9 years, except denationalizing Serbian companies and "placing them in the hands of the rather unsavory individuals."

General Cunha explained that out of €4 billion the EU has 'invested' in economic development, 80 percent was spent on 'building the capacities' and for consulting fees, "which means that €3,2 billion were returned to 'the base', and that 'base' consists of two or three EU states".

"The EU is paying as a whole, and two or three states are profiteering in Kosovo. That's right — profiteering, that is the proper word for it. Therefore, prolonging a situation like this might be in their interest," the Portuguese general said.

He said that many within UNMIK don't have the clean hands either.

"However, regarding the corruption and the large sums of money, I'm sure that the worst offenses took place precisely in the rebuilding and economic development sector, run by the EU," the general added.

Serbs will Never Accept the EU Rule

He stressed that it was naive to think that "the Serbs will accept everything as long as the EU keeps dangling a carrot".

"Such thinking created an excess of optimism, which was proven unfounded," Cunha said.

General Cunha assessed that Kosovo Serbs will probably "never accept the EU rule".

He also criticized the KFOR (NATO) commander who recently stated that the "Kosovo problem can be solved only biologically".

"This could mean that the majority of the Serbian residents in Kosovo are elderly [...] and that only when those people die, the problem of the Serbian community will disappear", Cunha said.

"Men on the ground know that the concept of the multiethnic society looks perfect on paper, but having the two ethnic communities leading completely separate lives, as is the case in Kosovo, certainly does not represent the multiethnic society", he said.

Imposing the EU Colonial Governor Won't Succeed

General Cunha added that he supported the idea of the EULEX (EU mission) being integrated in the UNMIK structures in Kosovo-Metohija province, as a department assigned the police and justice, being that the UN Security Council has not approved the deployment of the EU mission.

"What is not possible is to integrate the position of the international civil representative in the UNMIK", a position assigned to Peter Feith by the countries which have recognized the unilateral declaration of independence by the Pristina separatists, said Cunha.

"The only way would be if that 'international civil representative' is, at the same time, the UN secretary general's special envoy", Cunha said.

"We are Either Liars of Hypocrites"

He assessed that the current process is "discrediting and weakening the UN role".

"Discrediting of the Security Council and of the UN Secretary General in regards to Kosovo will lead to discrediting the UN on a global level", the Portuguese general believes.

"Solana keeps saying that we are creating stability in the Balkans", even though all along "the way this operation is being run actually leads to instability, not to stability," said General Cunha.

"When we say this is the 'unique case' which doesn't represent a precedent, we are either lying or we are being hypocritical. Of course that no two cases are identical. Each is unique, but all of them have something in common: a desire of one group to secede from the other to create its own state. That is the same everywhere," Major General Raul Cunha said.

Recommended: Confusion and Corruption in Kosovo: Part 1, Part 2, by Walter Mayr (SpiegelOnline.com)