EU to shoulder responsibility for Kosovo

PanARMENIAN.Net - On February 1, Ambassadors of 27 EU member states have agreed to dispatch a mission to Kosovo.



A 1,800-strong mission of policemen, judges, prosecutors and customs officials is meant to stabilize Kosovo after the province officially secedes from Serbia.



European Union Foreign Ministers are expected to give formal approval.



The EU plans to send a first batch of law and order officials even before Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders declare independence, a step that some EU diplomats predict will happen in March. All 27 EU member-states except Cyprus support the prompt dispatch of the mission, but Cyprus is expected to object rather than block the decision, NEWSru.com reports.



Meanwhile, some states, including Spain, Romania, Greece and Slovakia do not support unilateral independence of Kosovo. Romanian President Traian Basescu warned that a declaration of independence without an agreement with Serbia or full backing from the United Nations would violate international law and set a dangerous precedent for separatist groups elsewhere.