EU’s appointee Marian Petre’s at Eulex mission triggers reactions in Kosovo 

The decision of European authorities to name Romanian colonel Marian Petre as chief of the special police department, part of the EULEX Kosovo mission triggers reactions in Kosovo. Vetesendosje movement, the second biggest opposition group in the Parliament forwarded a letter to the EU Foreign Affairs Representative, Catherine Ashton in which it requests the annulment of the appointment.

Reactions follow events involving Romanian officers, dislocated with UNMIK, who were accused of firing rubber bullets against a crowd of protesters in Pristine in February 2007 killing two Vetevendosje activists and injuring another 80, SETimes.com reads.

The group writes in the letter that since Romanians have never apologized for the events, Petre’s appointment is considered a serious insult to the Kosovo population. Romanian colonel Marian Petre was not in a mission in Kosovo in 2007 and therefore had no connection with the events, Interior Ministry officials declared. The said that Petre, at the time, was commander of the Training Center at Ochiuri.