EU's Kosovo mission extended two years
(BRUSSELS) - The European Union's police, customs and judicial mission in Kosovo, the bloc's largest-ever civilian operation abroad, was extended Tuesday for a further two years until June 2014.
In a statement, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said its mandate would remain "largely unchanged" but that the currently 3,000-strong EULEX -- European rule of law mission in Kosovo -- would be reconfigured to make it "stronger, leaner and more efficient."
Staff would be cut by around 25 percent and the accent placed on the justice sector, she said.
The mission, which has been on the ground for more than three years, would be allocated a 111-million-euro ($138-million) budget for the first year of the extension, Ashton said.
International staff will be cut from 1,950 to 1,250 people and local staff from 1,200 to 1,000, she said.