Pristina  - The European Union's mission in Kosovo began deploying personnel Tuesday with the ultimate aim of helping the territory enforce the rule of law.

The mission, the Eulex, said it would comprise 1,900 foreign officials when fully deployed throughout Kosovo, building from the 1,400 there at the launch.

Some 1,100 local staff would also join the Eulex to help Kosovo establish the elusive rule of law by coaching, advising and in some cases ordering local authorities.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February, but remains plagued by ethnic hatred, segregation, crime and corruption, thriving amid widespread poverty and a staggering rate of unemployment.

The Eulex would operate throughout Kosovo, including the northern one-quarter of its territory that is dominated by Serbs. Everywhere else in Kosovo, Albanians make up the overwhelming majority.

The new mission entered the state institutions in northern Mitrovica, the capital of the Serbian-dominated part of Kosovo, where a UN policeman was killed in riots 10 months earlier.

Belgrade established and maintains a huge influence among Kosovo Serbs, so its role in their accepting the Eulex is crucial.

While disappointed at the concessions the EU made to appease Serbia, such as to define the mission as status-neutral, Albanian leaders welcomed and even urged the Eulex deployment.

The Serbs say they are to be persuaded that the Eulex would look after their interests, while many among the Albanians see it as another obstacle to Kosovo's full-fledged sovereignty.

The mission, with a two-year mandate, faces a difficult task because of the de facto separation of Kosovo and the hostility between Serbs and Albanians.

One of the Eulex priorities is to curb organized crime, one of the few enterprises which easily passes ethnic barriers to run billion- dollar businesses as the illegal trafficking of drugs and people.

The mission also faces a "massive backlog of crimes," the human rights watchdog Amnesty International warned Monday. The crimes include war crimes and human rights violations.

Kosovo was the scene of an Albanian insurgency and a heavy-handed response by Serbian security forces in 1998.

In 1999 NATO ousted Belgrade's police and military and paved the way to a United Nations mission, which is to be replaced by Eulex, though at a slower rate in the Serb enclaves.

Following the February 17 declaration of independence, 53 countries, including the United States and most EU nations, recognized Kosovo. But Belgrade, backed by Russia, continues to challenge the secession. (dpa)