EU backs Kosovo mission to Serb anger

By Ingrid Melander and Mark John

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders agreed on Friday to send administrators and police to Kosovo ahead of its expected secession from Serbia, which branded the mission an attempt to create a "puppet state" on its soil.

In a bid to soothe Balkan tensions over Kosovo's push for independence, they offered Serbia a fast-track route to EU entry once it met conditions for signing a first-step accord on ties.

But Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said the offer was an insult and said recognition of Kosovo's independence would be "the most dangerous precedent since World War Two.

"It is especially insulting to offer a crippled Serbia the reward of fast-track to the EU in exchange for its consent to violence," Kostunica said in a statement released in Belgrade.

EU leaders declared after a one-day summit that negotiations on Kosovo's future were exhausted, the status quo was untenable and there was a need to move towards a Kosovo settlement. They stopped short of endorsing independence.

"We took a political decision to send an ESDP mission to Kosovo. This is the clearest signal the EU could possibly give that Europe intends to lead on Kosovo and the future of the region," Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, the summit chairman, told a news conference.

ESDP is the European Security and Defence Policy. The 1,800-strong mission involves police, justice officials and civilian administrators.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the decision would be implemented after EU foreign ministers next meet on January 28, the clearest indication of when the force could start to deploy.