UN to hand over Kosovo to EU

The UN Security Council has unanimously backed secretary-general Ban Ki-moon's plan to hand over peacekeeping duties in Kosovo, one of the states which emerged from the former Yugoslavia, to EU troops.

Earlier this week both Kosovo and Serbia said they approved the suggestion that the 2,000-strong EU mission should take over police and customs duties from the UN in September this year.

The plan does not refer to the issue of Kosovo's independence from Serbia, which it declared earlier this year in a move strongly resisted by Belgrade. The UN has not recognised Kosovo's independence, while most EU states have done so.