Caught in the middle : European Union’s role and intentions in the post-conflict negotiation process between Kosovo and Serbia
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2014-08
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en
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Settling an argument between two sides is a complicated, if not even an impossible task. Those who
have accepted the role of the ones being in the middle of a conflict and are trying to make amends
have chosen a difficult mission.
According to the Concept developed in 2009 by the General Secretariat of the European Council, “the
European Union, as a global actor committed to the promotion of peace, democracy, human rights
and sustainable development, is generally seen as a credible and ethical actor in situations of
instability and conflict and is thus well placed to mediate, facilitate or support mediation and
dialogue processes.” (The General Secreteriat of the Council, 2009) Peaceful dispute settlement is,
however, a team effort which requires substantial expertise, knowledge, technical capacity,
engagement at different levels over time as well as cooperation with other actors in order to be
effective and to improve its chances of success.
The European Union (EU) states that it aims to develop a more systematic approach to its peaceful
dispute settlement efforts and to strengthen its mediation support capacity in order to allow it to
contribute in a more efficient and effective way to preventing and resolving conflicts. It is the
Union’s ambition to strive to establish and promote the use of mediation as a tool of first response to
emerging or on-going crisis situations. As such, mediation could also be mainstreamed into other EU
conflict prevention and crisis management activities, wherever relevant. (The General Secreteriat of
the Council, 2009) Therefore, mediation support of the European Union is becoming stronger and
mediation has been promoted as a tool itself to be used when dealing with possible or on-going crisis
situations.
Strengthening the Union’s mediation support capacity involves the provision of operational support
to on-going mediation and dialogue initiatives, assessment of lessons learned, identification of best
practices and, as appropriate, the development of guidelines for the EU practice in the area of
mediation, developing training and capacity building regarding mediation as well as networking and
coordination with other actors in crisis management.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen