Pristina - Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu called on Wednesday the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to end its presence, Sejdiu's office said in a statement. "In the past 10 years Kosovo's institutions and UNMIK have marked an overall progress in the country's renewal. But we think that time has come for this mission to end successfully," Sejdiu was quoted as saying in a personal message to the UN special representative in Kosovo Lamberto Zannier.
Since the deployment of European law enforcing mission in Kosovo (Eulex) last year, UNMIK has been cutting back its operation to make room for the new European Union mission in Kosovo. According to the latest estimates, UNMIK will have a 500-strong force in Kosovo by the end of July.
Kosovo's Albanian majority declared independence from Serbia in February 2008 after nine years of international supervision. More than 55 countries have recognized Kosovo, including United States and most of the EU, which deployed its own law enforcing mission to Kosovo at the end of last year.
Serbia, backed by Russia, opposes Kosovo's independence and the Serbian minority living mainly in northern Kosovo opposes the EU's mission and insists that the UN mission remains.
