BELGRADE - The rule of law remains a priority for Eulex, as does the implementation of what has been agreed in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, the head of the EU rule of law mission in Kosovo, Bernd Borchardt, has said.

Borchardt, whose mandate has been extended until June 2016, told Monday's issue of Vecernje novosti that Eulex staff will no longer head the major judicial institutions in Kosovo, and that the mission's judges will be a minority in Kosovo's courts.

The mission's prosecutors will be working at the Kosovo special prosecution office, but the institution will no longer be headed by an international prosecutor, he said.

In its new mandate, Eulex will retain its role as an observer, mentor and adviser in Kosovo, with particular attention to be devoted to a strategic strengthening of institutions, he added.

In the north, we will still have advisers at police stations and our judges and prosecutors will continue to work until an agreement is reached between Pristina and Belgrade, Borchardt said.

We will have judges in panels, but the majority will be local judges, he said.

Borchardt expressed hope that Serb judges will soon join the panels of judges once Pristina and Belgrade reach an agreement on the judiciary.

I am certain that most citizens want to live in a safe environment based on a functional and just judiciary, he said, adding that Eulex wants to contribute to the establishment of a safe environment for all citizens, without organised crime and corruption, which he said is the only way to economic prosperity in northern Kosovo.

There have never been, and never will be, secret arrest lists for the north or any part of Kosovo, Borchardt noted in the statement to Vecernje novosti.