EU decides to deploy police mission to Kosovo

BRUSSELS-European Union leaders decided Friday to deploy a vast police mission to Kosovo as the Serbian province edges toward independence, a move that could fuel tensions with Russia.The EU has been preparing the police and justice operation of around 1,800 personnel that was meant to be deployed under a UN proposal to grant Kosovo "supervised independence" but the move was blocked by Russia."This is the clearest signal that the European Union could possibly give that it intends to lead on the whole issue of Kosovo's future, its status and its role in the region," Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates told reporters after an EU summit in Brussels.
Socrates did not say when the mission would be deployed, but Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said: "Not before Christmas but immediately after."An EU official, speaking on condition that he not be named, said that the leaders had not set an exact date, "but quickly, that means that it could be decided at the council (of EU foreign ministers) in January".That meeting is scheduled for January 28.The mission would help ease the southern province's transition of power from the UN administration, which has been in place since 1999, to the local authorities.Kosovo has been administered by the UN since NATO bombed Belgrade in 1999 to end a crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians, and the Albanian majority has been impatient for independence ever since.Western officials and experts believe that Kosovo's leaders will announce next month their intention to declare independence, and then break away by May in "coordination" with its EU and US allies.When asked whether the deployment of the mission meant that EU nations were ready to recognise Kosovo when it does break away, Socrates said: "No.""What we are doing at the moment is undertaking negotiations in the (United Nations) Security Council," which meets on December 19 to debate Kosovo's status after the breakdown of talks between Belgrade and Pristina.After failing to prevent the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, the leaders want to show they can meet the credibility test posed by Kosovo.The EU must also send a clear diplomatic signal ahead of the security council debate on its position and possible intentions in the weeks and months ahead."The EU stands ready to play a leading role in strengthening stability in the region and in implementing a settlement defining Kosovo's future status," the leaders said in a text of conclusions from their summit.But while a core group of European countries and Washington are prepared to recognise eventual independence for Kosovo, EU member Cyprus, concerned about its own divisions, refuses to go along."We will not recognise a declaration of independence by Kosovo which is made unilaterally," Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos said. "We still believe there is room for a negotiated agreement."Cyprus is also unhappy about the police mission.But the EU official said: "The Cypriots could abstain, and abstaining would not be an obstacle. They could even make a declaration" to attach to any final EU position.Kosovo's leaders, meanwhile, have been careful to underscore that they intend to break away in "close coordination" with EU nations and the United States."Our schedule is synchronised with Washington and the EU," incoming Kosovo premier Hashim Thaci reaffirmed in the Berlin daily Tagesspiegel Friday.Serbian President Boris Tadic said Friday that Belgrade would never accept Kosovo's independence, but his country's defence minister has confirmed that no troops would be sent in if Pristina severs ties.
http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/071214175537.6ej5hi73.html

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