An Italian has been appointed as head judge in a new European Union mission in Kosovo which will be responsible for maintaining civil law and order in the breakaway Serbian province after it declares independence.
Well informed sources said that Italian magistrate Alberto Perduca will be in charge of the European magistrates engaged in the EULEX mission which will replace the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) in the overseeing of justice and policing in the province.
Perduca, who until now was responsible for investigations and operations at the EU office for combating fraud (OLAF), ''will be in charge of the 250 judges and prosecutors in the mission, which will also include 1,500 international police officers, 750 of whom will come from special operations squads, and 250 customs agents and civil administration officials,'' the sources said.
Italy, together with Germany, is the biggest contributor to EULEX, with 200 people enlisted in the mission, followed respectively by France and Britain.
Germany's Hainer Kuhne will command the EULEX police force while Briton Paul Acda will head the customs agents.
Yves de Kermabon has been put in change of the whole EULEX mission, with Peter Feith acting as the EU's special representative in Kosovo.
The Kosovar parliament is expected to pass a declaration of intent for full independence at the weekend, while independence itself will be declared sometime in March.
The EU decided to give its green light to EULEX before Kosovo declared independence because members Cyprus and Romania did not want the mission to appear as an endorsement of the unilateral declaration, which they oppose.
EULEX's initial mandate is reported to be for 16 months with a budget of 205 million euros. It is expected to be fully up and running within four months while 16,000 UN KFOR forces will remain in the province to offer backup support.
Italy is the biggest contributor to KFOR with 2,567 troops.
The mission's name combines EU with the Latin world for law: lex.
