18 April 2013

The Head of EULEX Bernd Borchardt visited today the Gjilan/Gnjilane Basic Court and Dheu i Bardhë/Bela Zemlja crossing point (Gate 5).

At the Gjilan/Gnjilane Basic Court, Borchardt met the court president Zuhdi Haziri and the local judges, where he was briefed about the work of the judiciary in the region and the cooperation with the EULEX judges.

"I think the court in Gjilan is a very good example of the functioning cooperation. We are doing all cases in mixed panels. This is part of my goal in terms of our cooperation within the judiciary; for us to do things together as much as possible. Not EULEX alone, but together with our counterparts", said Borchardt adding that the mission's priority, as the way forward, is to broaden and deepen this partnership in other areas of the rule of law where EULEX is involved.

At Dheu i Bardhë/Bela Zemlja crossing point, Bernd Borchardt met Kosovo Border Police and Customs officers and their EULEX counterparts who are permanently present at this and other five crossing points between Kosovo and Serbia since the beginning of the implementation of the IBM agreements.

"Here, we are dealing with the agreements reached in relation to the border/boundary crossing points and that is going very smoothly. My colleagues haven't reported any significant problems, and the smaller things can be easily resolved. Of course, we stand ready to implement any further agreements (reached between Pristina and Belgrade)", said Borchardt.