EU urges Serbs to cooperate, quits northern Kosovo

By Fatos Bytyci

PRISTINA, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The European Union's Kosovo envoy, Peter Feith, appealed to Serbs on Saturday to cooperate with his mission in the new republic, and confirmed that the EU mission had moved its staff from the tense Serb-dominated north.

An international official told Reuters on Friday the small EU team had been relocated a week ago from the Serb stronghold of north Mitrovica due to security concerns, which have worsened since Kosovo Albanians declared independence last weekend.

Mobs have twice attacked the U.S. embassy in Belgrade and on Tuesday hundreds of Serbs burned down two border posts in north Kosovo, in a violent response to Kosovo's secession. British, German, Croatian and Turkish missions were also attacked.

"I would like to appeal to the Serb community to be generous and to turn the page and look forward to working together with us," Feith told reporters in the southern town of Prizren.

"We have temporarily brought back our personnel but we will maintain our office in the north," he added. "We hope that conditions will soon allow us to resume our activities."

The EU's sub-office stands empty, locked and guarded by two Kosovo Serb police officers.

The 2,000-strong EU rule of law mission is taking over supervision of Kosovo from the United Nations, following Pristina's declaration of independence from Serbia on Sunday. The United States and major EU powers have recognised the move.



NATIONAL IDENTITY

Overseen by Dutch diplomat Feith, it is the European Union's biggest "nation building" mission yet.

But imposing its authority in the Serb-dominated north has proven to be a challenge for the EU and the violence has fuelled Albanian fears that Kosovo could be heading for partition.

The north, home to just under half of Kosovo's 120,000 remaining Serbs, has served notice that the EU mission will be treated as "occupiers". It has the backing of Serbia and Russia.

Many Serbs regard Kosovo as the cradle of their religion and national identity, steeped in myth and rich in Orthodox Christian heritage.

Hundreds of Serbs - including many bussed in from Serbia - burned down two border posts in the north on Tuesday, forcing NATO to intervene, evacuate U.N. staff and shut down the border.

French and Belgian peacekeepers with the 16,000-strong NATO peace force, KFOR, have significantly stepped up security in Mitrovica, particularly at the bridges over the River Ibar that divides the town between Serbs and Albanians.

The territory of 2 million people has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombed to drive out Serb forces to halt the killing and ethnic cleansing of Albanians in a two-year counter-insurgency war.

Serbs in north Mitrovica are holding daily protests against its secession. Albanian prisoners being held in the Mitrovica prison - located in the north - were quietly transferred south on Thursday "for their safety", officials said. (Writing by Matt Robinson; Editing by Jon Boyle)