(KOSOVSKA MITROVICA) - Around 2,000 Serbs protested in northern Kosovo Thursday against the deployment of an EU rule of law mission to the territory which proclaimed its independence in February.

The protesters reiterated the opposition of Kosovo Serbs to the deployment of the mission known as EULEX, in particular in the zones where the Serbs are in the majority, as in northern Kosovo.

They also demanded that Belgrade reinforce the Serbian state institutions in Kosovo saying this would be the best response to the independence proclaimed by the Kosovo Albanian authorities on February 17.

Some 200 Serbs also staged a separate protest against the EULEX deployment at Gracanica, the large Serbian enclave close to Pristina.

Despite initial delays, the 2,000-member mission is expected to be fully deployed by the end of autumn.

So far, the EU mission has deployed around 300 officials including police, judges, prosecutors and custom officers in Kosovo.

Since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia it has been recognised by 47 countries.

But Serbia -- together with Russia, its principal ally on the world stage -- maintains the move violates international law, and both continue to regard Kosovo as a province of Serbia.

Due to the strong Serbian opposition to EULEX, the mission will initially operate under the auspices of the UN mission to Kosovo (UNMIK).

UNMIK has run Kosovo under UN Resolution 1244 since a NATO bombing campaign in 1999 ousted Serbian forces then waging a brutal crackdown on the Albanian majority.

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