EU approves 2,000-strong Kosovo police mission

Brussels: The European Union approved the launch of 2,000 police and justice mission for Kosovo on Saturday.

The mission comes a day before Kosovo is expected to make a Western-backed declaration of independence from Serbia.

None of the EU's 27 member states objected to an operation plan for the mission before an agreed deadline, a diplomatic source said.

"The silent procedure was not broken," the source said, referring to the low-profile method used to push through the legal documents authorising the mission.

After leaders of the Albanian majority declare independence, the EU will take over police, judicial and civil administration tasks from the current UN.