Irish Times: Kosovo rejects deal on deployment of EU mission - by Daniel McLaughlin

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Kosovo rejects deal on deployment of EU mission - by Daniel McLaughlin

A 2000 strong EU mission to oversee policing and justice in Kosovo could suffer further delays after leaders of the newly independent state rejected a deal on the mission's deployment that had been agreed by Brussels, Serbia and United Nations officials. The EU had hoped to deploy the mission soon after Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders declared independence from Serbia in February, but it has been blocked by opposition from Belgrade, by Serbia's main ally, Russia, and by the ethnic Serbs who dominate much of northern Kosovo.

Serbs see the EU mission as a symbol of Kosovo's sovereignty - which they vow never to accept - and instead want policing and justice powers to remain with the UN mission that has run Kosovo since 1999, when Nato bombing ended a brutal Serb crackdown on separatist rebels.