EU wants to handle Kosovo issue

The EU warned Kosovo's probable new prime minister that it shouldn't rush a unilateral declaration of independence.

Former guerilla leader Hashim Thaci, who is expected to become prime minister of the majority ethnic Albanian province after Saturday's election, said parliament would declare independence after a December 10 deadline for international mediation efforts - a move that would almost certainly be resisted by Russia, the Daily Telegraph reported from Brussels today.

The EU is anxious to avoid a repeat of its dilemma in the 1990s, when internal splits over how to deal with the Balkan wars showed its ineffectiveness as a foreign policy player, letting the US handle the crisis.

"This is a European challenge. It is not one we can ask the United States to solve for us," said Jim Murphy, Britain's Europe minister.

Kinia