RIA Novosti
Belgrade, June 5 (RIA Novosti) A decision on reorganising the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (Unmik) will be taken in the next few days, a UN spokesman said Thursday. “We will give detailed information on the UN’s future presence in Kosovo when we receive instructions on the reorganisation,” said Alexander Ivanko, a spokesman for the Unmik mission in the Balkan region which declared unilateral independence from Serbia in February.

The UN mission, stationed in the area since the end of an interethnic conflict in 1999, plans to reconfigure itself after June 15, when Kosovo adopts its first constitution and its government takes on the mission’s powers.

Kosovo, with a 90 percent ethnic-Albanian majority, has been formally recognized as a sovereign state by 42 countries including the US and most European Union (EU) members.

Russia, Serbia’s long-time ally and a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, has refused to recognize Kosovo’s independence.

The Unmik is expected to hand over its authority to the EU, which plans to deploy a 2,000-strong police and justice mission in Kosovo.

Russia opposes these plans, saying the move would be in violation of UN Security Council resolution and “must be stopped immediately”.
RIA Novosti