NATO vows to respond firmly to Kosovo violence

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo will deal firmly with any violence in the territory in line with the U.N. mandate for the operation, an alliance spokesman said on Monday.

"NATO condemns in the strongest form the violence we have seen in northern Kosovo today," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said by telephone after alliance troops came under fire during Serb riots in the flashpoint town of Mitrovica.

"(The NATO-led force) KFOR will respond firmly to any acts of violence, as is its mandate from the United Nations," he said of incidents that were the worst violence in the territory since the Albanian majority declared independence last month.

Separately the European Union, which is deploying a 2,200-strong police supervisory mission to take over from the United Nations in Kosovo, said it was watching with concern.

"I hope very much that the calm will be recuperated ... I appeal to everybody who can calm the situation to do their utmost," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said in Ljubljana.

He rejected suggestions that the violence would delay the EU mission, which is due to take over by mid-June.

"Let me be very clear. The answer is no. The mission is continuing its deployment according to the calendar that has been established," Solana said.

(Reporting by Mark John in Brussels and Marja Novak in

Ljubljana; Editing by Dale Hudson)