Working paper on implementation of EU crisis response in Serbia and Kosovo

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This paper analyzes the role of the EU and other international actors in the context of practice-level crisis management on the ground in Kosovo. We focus on activities performed by the EU and the member states in support of stabilization as well as in support of the ‘normalization dialogue‘ between Belgrade and Pristina launched in 2013. In addition, we look at the implementation and practices of the EU rule of law mission in Kosovo (EULEX), highlighting EU’s challenges in mounting an executive mission. This paper builds on organization theory oriented institutionalist approaches in political science and analyzes the EU’s role on the ground in Kosovo by focusing on three aspects: negotiating the context of competing institutional logics of political order; constructive ambiguity of criteria for ‘normalization’; and competing priorities in the EU-supported processes on the ground.