EU leaders decided on 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 said after an EU summit in Brussels.
PHOTO: EPA
In a friendly gesture to Serbia, which implacably opposes Kosovan independence, EU leaders in written conclusions also voiced confidence that Serbia's "progress on the road towards the EU, including candidate status, can be accelerated."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Serbia had "a future" in the EU "if it respects human rights and the independence of Kosovo."
Socrates did not say when the police mission would be deployed, but Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said: "Not before Christmas but immediately after."
An EU official said there was no exact date set.
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 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 if the deployment of the mission meant that EU nations were ready to recognize Kosovo when it does break away, Socrates said: "No."
"What we are doing at the moment is undertaking negotiations in the [UN] Security Council," which meets on Thursday 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 their text of conclusions.
But while some European countries and Washington are prepared to recognize eventual independence for Kosovo, EU member Cyprus, concerned about its own divisions, refuses to go along.
"We will not recognize a declaration of independence by Kosovo which is made unilaterally," Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos said on Friday. "We still believe there is room for a negotiated agreement."
But he also 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 have been careful to say that they intend to break away in "close coordination" with EU nations and the US.
Serbian President Boris Tadic said on Friday that Belgrade would never accept Kosovo's independence, but his country's defense minister has confirmed that no troops would be sent in if Pristina severs ties.
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