PRISTINA, June 15: Kosovo’s constitution entered into force on Sunday, four months after it split from Serbia, paving the way for majority Albanians take over from a nine-year-old UN mission under European guidance.

Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu will mark the imposition of the newly independent state’s first constitution by signing some laws for the first time, before a low-key ceremony to celebrate the turning point.

Belgrade, which regards Kosovo as an integral part of its territory and medieval heartland, has branded the constitution “illegal” and at best “symbolic,” according to its Kosovo minister, Slobodan Samardzic.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon this week gave Sejdiu and his Serbian counterpart Boris Tadic plans to restructure the UN mission by transferring many of its powers to the European Union.

The United Nations interim mission -- dubbed UNMIK -- has run Kosovo since 1999, when Nato forces took control of it after ousting forces loyal to late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

The shake-up is based on a blueprint for Kosovo’s “supervised independence” put forth by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari, after status talks between

Kosovo Albanian and Serbian leaders collapsed at the end of 2006.

The charter, which was approved by all deputies present at a special session of Kosovo’s parliament on April 9, paves the way for the introduction of EULEX, a 2,000-strong European Union police and justice mission.

In line with the Ahtisaari settlement, it enshrines principles of a multi-ethnic society governing itself democratically with full respect for the rule of law and international human rights standards.

As part of moves to implement the constitution, Kosovo this week passed laws on a national anthem and the creation of a security force to be trained by Nato, which still has 15,000 troops in the territory.

According to the law, the force of 2,500 will be a professional, multi-ethnic and civilian-controlled force which will be lightly armed and possess no heavy weapons.

But it remains unclear how the constitution will be imposed in areas populated by Serbs, particularly in the ethnically divided northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica, where violence has repeatedly flared since independence.

“For Albanians, it probably means something but, for Serbs, it (means) absolutely nothing,” Oliver Ivanovic, a moderate Kosovo Serb leader, said on Sunday.

“It has lessened the possibility that Serbs and Albanians converge in the future.

“Serbs will be more inclined to turn to their parallel institutions, which could lead to more conflict,” said Ivanovic, expressing sorrow at the lost opportunity for a settlement agreed by both sides.

Kosovo, whose Albanians outnumber Serbs and other minorities by more than nine-to-one, declared its independence on Feb 17.

It has since been recognised by around 40 nations, led by the United States and most EU members.

But Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, vehemently opposes Kosovan independence.

Since the declaration, violence has erupted on several occasions in Serb-populated areas of northern Kosovo, especially in Mitrovica.

In the latest clash at the weekend, a police officer and a man suffered wounds during a gun battle in the southern Albanian-populated half of the flashpoint town.—AFP