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Pristina is still opposed to the compromise deal between Serbia, the European Union and the United Nations on the deployment of EULEX, the EU's police and justice mission in Kosovo, and its stance will not change, Kosovo's prime minister, Hashim Thaci, said on Sunday (16 November). "Kosovo will not change its position. It is the points of this plan that need to change. We have a state position and we will defend that position until the end," Mr Thaci was reported as saying by Serbian news portal B92.net.

Under pressure from Belgrade, the UN presented a revised six-point plan to Kosovo leaders last week, under which EULEX would be neutral regarding Kosovo's status and would enter the Serb-dominated parts of Kosovo. Pristina considers that the revised proposal clashes with its interests, however.

The constitution is expected to come into effect on 15 June - around the time when the European Union's mission, known as EULEX, is supposed to take over authority from the United Nations.

The aim of EULEX, consisting of over 2,000 personnel, is to help the Kosovo authorities in all areas related to the rule of law, in particular in the police, judiciary, customs and correctional services. However, it is still uncertain when exactly the transfer of power will take place, as the move lacks UN approval. Its top body, the Security Council, is divided over the issue, with Russia - Serbia's key ally - being the main opposition force.

After a re-run of the general election in Macedonia and the entry into force of Kosovo's new constitution on Sunday, EU foreign ministers will convene today (16 June) to review the situation in the neighbouring Western Balkans.

Ministers will likely welcome the peaceful re-run of parliamentary elections in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on Sunday, just two weeks after ethnic violence marred the first elections on 1 June. 

While Kosovo is not on the foreign ministers' agenda, it is unlikely that they will be able to avoid the topic, after the fledgling state's constitution entered into force on Sunday.  The EU is also poised to take over policing and justice tasks from the United Nations after the UN's Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week put forward proposals to "reconfigure" the activities of the UN Mission UNMIK to allow the EU to deploy its contested EU-Lex police mission there (EurActiv 29/05/08).  "It is my intention to reconfigure the structure and profile of the international civil presence [...] enabling the European Union to assume an enhanced operational role," said the secretary general in letters to Kosovo and Serbian leaders.  But the handover, which is foreseen in Kosovo's constitution, remains strongly opposed by both Serbia and Russia, who insist that the EU mission is illegal because it has not been approved by the UN Security Council. 

The EU's police and civil administration mission for Kosovo, EULEX, is set to start work side-by-side with the existing UN mission, UNMIK, in a legal and organisational mess surrounding Kosovo's struggle to establish independence.

A new UN resolution drafted in 2007 was to see UNMIK cede powers to the government of an independent Kosovo, supported by the 2,200-strong EULEX police and customs force and overseen by an EU special representative and his International Civilian Office. Russia blocked the new UN resolution but Kosovo declared independence unilaterally on 17 February, creating the current situation in which just 20 of the 27 EU states have recognised Kosovo independence and just 300 EULEX officials have so far been deployed.

The legal problems encountered by EU-Lex, the EU mission in Kosovo, could soon be solved, with diplomats currently in talks over plans to share the leadership with UNMIK, the United Nations peace-keeping mission.

Background: The EU decided in February 2008 to deploy a 2,200 strong 'Rule of Law' mission to Kosovo under the name 'EU-Lex Kosovo'. Its deployment has already started, after having been delayed for both technical and political reasons.  The initial objective was for EU-Lex to take over from UNMIK, the civilian mission established in the Serbian province following the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 in June 1999. But Serbia and Russia strongly protest against EU-Lex, because this mission has not been endorsed by the UN Security Council (EurActiv 16/04/08). The objective of setting up an EU mission in Kosovo is highly political. The EU has ambitions to take over the post-crisis management of a territory on European soil. It previously failed to do so in 1999 when it had to resort to NATO to stop the ethnic cleansing and acts of extreme violence perpetrated by the regime of Slobodan Milosevic. 

Under plans originally foreseen by the EU, the 2,200 strong EU-Lex mission would eventually replace UNMIK as the leading rule-of-law mission in the new-born state of Kosovo.  But faced with rejection from Serbia and Russia, which have both challenged the mission's legal legitimacy, diplomats are now drawing up plans for the two missions to co-exist under joint command.  The solution would provide the EU with a face-saving trick, according to diplomats who were speaking to EurActiv on condition of anonymity. This is because UNMIK has already been accepted by Serbia and Russia, which has a permanent seat at the UN Security Council. 

As the EU prepares to assume responsibility for policing Kosovo from the UN, French and British diplomats have warned Serbia that its strong opposition to the EU mission and its decision to seize the UN International Court of Justice over the legality of Kosovo's declaration of independence could complicate the country's EU membership bid.

The European Union has taken a significant step towards deploying a 1,800-strong police and civilian mission in Serbia's breakaway province of Kosovo following a meeting of EU diplomats in Brussels on Monday.

According to one EU diplomat, Monday's decision on the so-called joint action marks "an important step" in the process of launching the mission. "90 percent of preparatory work has been done", the diplomat said. However, the operation does not enjoy the unconditional support of the entire 27-nation EU bloc. Cyprus took advantage of a so-called "constructive abstention" mechanism, meaning that Nicosia will not participate in the mission, but will not block it.

Romania and Cyprus said on Thursday (31 January) that they would not recognise a unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo. "Cyprus, for reasons of principle, cannot recognise and will not recognise a unilateral declaration of independence", Cypriot foreign minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis was quoted as saying by French news agency AFP.

On the same day, Romanian president Traian Basescu made an even stronger statement after a meeting with NATO secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Schefferat in Brussels. "My country will not be able to recognise an independence proclamation by Kosovo on any level (...) whether coordinated or unilaterally proclaimed", he said according to Serbian news site B92.net.

With just three years of European Union membership under its belt, Slovenia will take on the EU presidency today (1 January) landing itself a highly politicised agenda. Of all the issues that the small ex-Yugoslav state will have to deal with over the next six months, two are set to dominate the agenda - the Kosovo question and the EU renewable energy package.

The 1244 resolution - adopted in 1999 - authorised international civil and military presence in Kosovo, then part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, placing it under interim UN administration. Europe is trying to use the same resolution to authorise a partial shift of power from UN to EU authorities enabling them to provide an initial supervision of the soon-to be declared independent Kosovo. Such an approach would be referred to as a "coordinated" statement of independence, as opposed to a unilateral step and would enable the EU - including other sceptical states such as Romania, Slovakia, Greece and Spain - to recognize the move.