EU official: No Kosovo deal yet

BELGRADE, Serbia, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- The European Union hasn't officially accepted Serbia's demands that a police force to be deployed in Kosovo be neutral on its independence, officials said.

Despite earlier reports to the contrary, an EU official told Serbia's B92.net news Web site over the weekend that no agreement has been reached on whether the EULEX security force, which hasn't been deployed, would be supportive of Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence, the EU Observer reported.

Pieter Feith, the EU's special representative in Kosovo, contradicted reports indicating Pierre Mirel, the European Commission's western Balkans director, had said the EU would accept Serbian demands that its planned 2,200-strong EULEX mission be neutral regarding Kosovo's status.

"Comments that are attributed to a European Commission official are not the EU's official position," Feith reportedly told B92.net.

The U.N. Security Council is to meet Tuesday to discuss disagreements between Serbian and Kosovar leaders over whether the EU force will be part of the United Nation's so-called Ahtisaari plan, an effort that Serbia says provided justification for its former province to declare independence last year, the Observer reported.