During this time, it will reduce its staff numbers, Alexander Ivanko of the UN mission in the province was quoted as saying.

As the Albanian language media in Priština reported on Friday, he announced that t besides in that town, UNMIK would also continue to be present in Peć, Gračanica and Štrpce, where it would have only one representative, while the office with the most staff would be the one in Kosovska Mitrovica.

"We are no longer part of the civil administration, this is over," he said.

"We will have one professional person in Peć, Štrpce and Gračanica, and these three officials will monitor the situation and submit political reports," Ivanko said.

"Due to well known reasons", he continued, the office in Kosovska Mitrovica will have more employees.

According to this spokesman, the police in the northern part of the region are still presenting reports to UNMIK.

"A number of issues are still unresolved there and this is why we need to have a bigger office, but this office will also be reconfigured and made smaller," he explained.

Ivanko rejected the possibility that UNMIK and EULEX will deploy in Kosovo "on an ethnic basis", according to Tanjug.