Since EULEX celebrated its 10^th anniversary last year, and in view of the last- major- reconfiguration and readjustment in its mandate, the idea to honour in particular all the local colleagues that at one point or another served in the Mission has been brewing and preparations went into motion accordingly. Former and current EULEX local staff were to be invited to a casual gathering to celebrate each other and their contribution to the Mission over these last ten years.

So, on a pleasant Wednesday evening, a big number of us gathered to reminisce and share memories of the past decade.

“Any EU field mission is a large family with both international and local staff contributing to its achievements and facing together its challenges. But the nature of this business is such that internationals tend to come and go, while local staff stay longer and inevitably become the ‘backbone’ of a mission. And EULEX has been no exception”, stated the Head of Mission on this occasion.

The evening surprise was a video compilation of all 4 previous and current Head of Mission, each thanking in a much personalised manner, former and current local staff for their invaluable contribution to the EULEX Mission, something that is and will remain part of EULEX’s legacy in the Kosovo society.