The European Union (EU) civilian mission is to cover the whole territory of Kosovo, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said here Monday.

Solana made the remarks at a joint press conference with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer after talks on Kosovo and Afghanistan.

"Our mission, as agreed by member states, covers the whole territory of Kosovo," Solana said, pledging that the EU mission, composed of more than 2,000 police officers, judges and prosecutors, would cooperate with NATO forces in Kosovo to maintain stability there and the whole Balkan region.

The EU withdrew staff, who had been preparing for the deployment of the EU mission, from the northern Kosovo city of Mitrovica after violent protests by the Serb minority against Kosovo's declaration of independence on Feb. 17.

In ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo, Mitrovica is inhabited by half of the region's 120,000 minority Serbs, who have been protesting against Kosovo's independence from Serbia and the deployment of the EU mission.

Both Serbia and Russia strongly oppose Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence and the EU presence there, charging that both moves violate international law and U.N. resolutions.

Scheffer expressed his support for the EU mission, saying the EU's presence in Kosovo was "important" and would play a "role to secure Kosovo."

He echoed EU leaders in saying that the mission was not against U.N. Security Resolution 1244 as Serbia and Russia had claimed.

The two added that their organizations would like to establish a close relationship with Serbia.

Scheffer said that Serbia was "important in the region."

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