European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said here on Thursday that the European Union's civilian mission to Kosovo has not violated international law.
"In our opinion, the EU mission is not in contradiction with UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and international law," Barroso said at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in a reply to a question whether the mission goes against UN resolution and international law.
"In fact the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 authorizes international organizations, including the European Union to establish international civil presence in Kosovo," he said.
The resolution "authorize UN secretary general, with the assistance of relevant international organizations, to establish an international civil presence in Kosovo" to oversee "the transfer of authority from Kosovo's provisional institutions to institutions established under a political settlement," Barroso added.
Under Resolution 1244, he said, the international mandate in Kosovo could continue "unless the Security Council decides otherwise."
The EU is planning to deploy a civilian mission of more than 2,000 police and legal personnel to help the transition from UN administration to local rule in the ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on Sunday.
The Serbian province has been under the UN administration since1999.
Serbia and Russia, both strongly oppose the independence, said that the EU mission violates UN Resolution 1244 and international law.
On his part, Brown said that he understood the sensitiveness in some countries, especially in Serbia, "but I want to assure Serbia that we look forward to a European future for Serbia."
Britain was among the first group of countries to recognize on Monday Kosovo as an independent state.
Source:Xinhua
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