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BELGRADE-Serbia on Friday rejected a proposed European Union police mission for Kosovo and accused U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of overreaching his powers in its former province.Days before Kosovo's constitution comes into effect, Ban put forward a proposal to "reconfigure" the activities of the U.N. Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and allow the EU to pursue a police mission there."Ban Ki-moon overstepped his powers. The Security Council is the only relevant authority to decide whether the UNMIK mission should be reconfigured," Slobodan Samardzic, Serbia's minister for Kosovo, told reporters.The United Nations has administered Kosovo since a 1999 NATO bombing campaign to drive out Serb forces from the majority ethnic Albanian territory, but the EU wants to take on more tasks after Kosovo's disputed February 17 claim of independence.Ban proposed the 2,200-strong EU police mission, known as EULEX and months delayed because of Russian objections in the United Nations, be deployed under a U.N. legal "umbrella". The mission will operate alongside NATO's 16,500 peacekeepers.The U.N. chief stressed such arrangements would apply "without prejudice to the status of Kosovo", whose independence has been recognized by 43 U.N. members."I'm aware this package may not fully satisfy all sides, yet it is my honest belief ... that what I have proposed will prove to be the least objectionable course to all and can offer us a way forward," Ban told a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London."My aim has been to pursue a modus vivendi that is acceptable to the parties and would be supported by the key international stakeholders. I sincerely believe this package achieves that goal," he added.To read more go to:
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