The Serbian negotiating team for Kosovo's future status criticized on Wednesday a decision by the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to create ministries of justice and interior in the Serbian province.

The team, led by Serbian top leaders, said in a statement that the transfer of UNMIK's authorities in the field of internal affairs and judiciary to Kosovo's provisional institutions was a hasty and dangerous political move.

"If this really happened, all efforts of the international community and authorities in Belgrade to create an atmosphere of trust and goodwill by opening political talks on the future status of Kosovo would be threatened," the statement said.

Kosovo, a Serbian pro-independence province, has been administered by the United Nations since mid-1999. The direct talks on its future status between Kosovo's Albanian majority and Serbian authorities are expected to be held in early next year under the auspices of UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari.

The UNMIK on Tuesday officially approved the creation of a ministry of justice, a ministry of the interior, and a judiciary council in Kosovo, as the first phase in the transfer of powers from UNMIK to interim institutions of Kosovo in the judiciary and police sectors.

The Serbian negotiating team said the UNMIK's decision violated item No. 39 of a report of Kai Eide, UN special envoy for the implementation of standards in Kosovo, which clearly warned of numerous negative consequences of the possible transfer of authority from police and the judiciary to Kosovo's provisional institutions.

The team called upon the UNMIK to review the decision, since it's threatened the Serb and all other non-Albanian communities in the province and directly hampers the political talks on the future status of Kosovo."

(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2005)