BRUSSELS (AFP)--The deployment of an E.U. mission to Kosovo has stalled in the face of Serbian and Russian opposition, forcing Europe to revise its hopes to help the would-be state, officials say.

Three months after Kosovo's Feb. 17 break from Serbia, only 220 members of a planned European justice mission of 1,900 personnel are in place helping Kosovo's new institutions.

They were to train and mentor police, border officials and judges to consolidate the rule of law throughout Kosovo, including Serbian majority areas, within four months.

None of the E.U. experts are in the north of Kosovo, where Serbs are in the majority and security has been precarious since ethnic Albanians leaders announced secession.

Under a widely-backed plan, but blocked at the U.N. Security Council by Russia, the U.N. mission that has administered Kosovo since 1999 would have transferred powers to local authorities on June 15.

Once the signal was given by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the E.U. mission would have assumed responsibility for police and justice while NATO continued to take care of security.

"It's quite possible that we won't progress much further by June 15, as long as we don't have a clearer political framework," mission head Yves de Kermabon told AFP.

"The mission is somewhat on standby waiting for decisions from the United Nations," he said.

While many nations have recognized Kosovo, Serbia and its ally Russia are vehemently opposed and this has been enough to block the E.U. mission.

The Europeans are waiting for a clear signal from Ban - chief interpreter of U.N. resolution 1244 governing Kosovo's international institutions - but no declaration or letter welcoming their engagement has come.

"Anytime Ban Ki-moon has looked like making a positive gesture, the Russians take action in the background to stop it," one E.U. diplomat said.
That means the U.N. mission in Kosovo must continue to play "a residual role" that still "remains to be defined", Kermabon said.

The E.U. mission faces a number of questions over its deployment.

For example, can the E.U. use the U.N. offices, vehicles or computers as originally planned, or will it be obliged to undertake the long and costly process of acquiring them itself?

These chiefly logistical problems could probably "be solved somewhat behind the scenes" between the E.U. and the U.N., said Dutch member of the European Parliament Joost Lagendijk, an expert on the issue.

"But the political problem is much harder to solve. You need the Russians and the Serbs," he said.

The E.U. hopes that the victory in last weekend's elections of Serbian President Boris Tadic - who like most Serbs opposes Kosovo's independence but wants to join the bloc - will help resolve the problem, one official said.

If the Serbs accept to cooperate on the E.U. mission, Russia would be forced to back down. "They can't take a tougher line than the Serbs themselves," the Brussels-based official said.

But while negotiations continue in Belgrade on the makeup of the new coalition government, Russia will have the most impact.

On Thursday, alongside his Chinese and Indian counterparts, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for fresh talks between Serbian and Kosovo leaders on the disputed territory.

Despite this, Kermabon remains optimistic. The E.U.'s goals will be realized, even if the timetable is set back by "one, two or three months," he said.