EU plans to "start deploying in north"

The EU mission to Kosovo will start deploying in the north next week, one of its officials says. Yves de Kermabon said today in Brussels that the mission, dubbed EULEX by the EU, will work in the turbulent north of the province as well. EU plans to "start deploying in north" However, the media in Slovenia, the country holding the six-month rotating presidency over the EU, report that the deployment will "complete in four months". In the meantime, Kermabon said, the EU will be able to "see how things develop". "We must wait a while, to see how our politicians can once again establish relations," the French general was quoted. "Later on, perhaps the framework and span of activity of EULEX may have to be modified," he also said. Last week, EULEX chief Pieter Feith decided to temporarily withdraw all staff from the northern, Serb-dominated part of the province. Serbs in Kosovo reject the EU mission. Belgrade and Moscow have declared it illegal, and not based in valid UN Resolution 1244, as Brussels claims is the case. Russia has repeatedly warned UNMIK and KFOR in Kosovo not to use force against the Serbs, should they decide to reject the EU mission. UNMIK has transition plan, but no green light The EU preparatory team, the government in Pristina UNMIK have developed a plan for the transition and implementation of powers from UNMIK to the EU mission and the provisional Kosovo institutions, UNMIK spokesman Alexander Ivanko said on Tuesday. Ivanko told Kosovska Mitrovica Contact Plus radio that UNMIK "has not implemented the plan in question and that it is currently operating within the framework of UN Security Council Resolution 1244." "We have to plan for any potential reconfiguration of UNMIK, the plans will be carried out only if we get instructions from the New York headquarters, which have not arrived until now," Ivanko set out. He stated that the UN mission in Kosovo plans to transfer its powers to the representatives of the EU mission, but that "nothing has been done so far".

EU plans to "start deploying in north"

However, the media in Slovenia, the country holding the six-month rotating presidency over the EU, report that the deployment will "complete in four months".

In the meantime, Kermabon said, the EU will be able to "see how things develop".

"We must wait a while, to see how our politicians can once again establish relations," the French general was quoted.

"Later on, perhaps the framework and span of activity of EULEX may have to be modified," he also said.

Last week, EULEX chief Pieter Feith decided to temporarily withdraw all staff from the northern, Serb-dominated part of the province.

Serbs in Kosovo reject the EU mission. Belgrade and Moscow have declared it illegal, and not based in valid UN Resolution 1244, as Brussels claims is the case.

Russia has repeatedly warned UNMIK and KFOR in Kosovo not to use force against the Serbs, should they decide to reject the EU mission.

UNMIK has transition plan, but no green light

The EU preparatory team, the government in Priština UNMIK have developed a plan for the transition and implementation of powers from UNMIK to the EU mission and the provisional Kosovo institutions, UNMIK spokesman Alexander Ivanko said on Tuesday.

Ivanko told Kosovska Mitrovica Contact Plus radio that UNMIK "has not implemented the plan in question and that it is currently operating within the framework of UN Security Council Resolution 1244."

"We have to plan for any potential reconfiguration of UNMIK, the plans will be carried out only if we get instructions from the New York headquarters, which have not arrived until now," Ivanko set out.

He stated that the UN mission in Kosovo plans to transfer its powers to the representatives of the EU mission, but that "nothing has been done so far".