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UN hands over to Kosovo Albanians | UN hands over to Kosovo Albanians |
(20 minutes later) | |
A new constitution has come into force in Kosovo, after the territory declared independence from Serbia in February. | A new constitution has come into force in Kosovo, after the territory declared independence from Serbia in February. |
Majority ethnic Albanian authorities will now run the territory although it remains unclear who will oversee Kosovo's Serb-dominated areas. | Majority ethnic Albanian authorities will now run the territory although it remains unclear who will oversee Kosovo's Serb-dominated areas. |
Security has been increased in the flash-point town of Mitrovica after a gunman attacked a police station. | |
The unidentified attacker was wounded along with a policeman in the incident on Saturday, police said. | |
It was not immediately clear in which part of the town the shooting took place. | |
Authority's boundaries | Authority's boundaries |
Under the new constitution, which came into force at midnight on Sunday, Kosovo's government assumes many of the powers held up till now by the UN. | |
The European Union is to deploy several missions to the territory and will take on a supervisory role in a move opposed by Serbia and Russia. | |
The new constitution is a milestone event in the history of Kosovo but, says the BBC's Nick Thorpe in Kosovo, there will be none of the festivities which marked the declaration of independence four months ago. | |
The leaders of the majority-Albanian province do not want to provoke the Serb minority, which remains bitterly opposed to independence. | The leaders of the majority-Albanian province do not want to provoke the Serb minority, which remains bitterly opposed to independence. |
Instead, a simple and low-key ceremony is expected on Sunday evening in a Pristina sports hall, attended by members of the government. | |
Earlier in the day, in the predominantly Serb north, the minister for Kosovo in the outgoing Serbian government, Slobodan Samardzic, is expected to announce that a new, rival Serb Parliament will be formed at the end of this month. | Earlier in the day, in the predominantly Serb north, the minister for Kosovo in the outgoing Serbian government, Slobodan Samardzic, is expected to announce that a new, rival Serb Parliament will be formed at the end of this month. |
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday spelt out his vision of how the country should now be run in letters to the authorities in Belgrade and Pristina. | UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday spelt out his vision of how the country should now be run in letters to the authorities in Belgrade and Pristina. |
But, says our correspondent, much confusion remains over exactly who will exercise local authority and where the boundaries of that authority will lie in different parts of Kosovo in the future. |