The European Union is cutting back its rule of law mission in Kosovo, EULEX, by bringing the judicial executive part of the mission’s mandate to an end, European Council said.

Pristina-based EULEX was established 10 years, after Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

According to the European Council statement released on June 8, for now Kosovo will assume responsibility for all transferred investigations, prosecutions and trials.

The council will refocus the EULEX mandate on monitoring selected cases and trials in Kosovo's criminal and civil justice institutions as well as on monitoring, mentoring and advising the Kosovo correctional service.

It will also continue support for the implementation of EU-facilitated dialogue agreements for the normalisation of relations with Serbia.

“The mission will retain certain limited executive responsibilities in the areas of witness protection and support for the specialist chambers and the specialist prosecutor’s office, as well as responsibility for ensuring the maintenance and promotion of security as second security responder,” the statement said.

The revised mandate will be valid until June 14, 2020. The council decided to allocate a combined budget of €169.8mn for the mission's operations in Kosovo and for the specialist chambers and the specialist prosecutor's office for the next two two years.

The EULEX Kosovo mission's expenditures will be covered with €83.6mn, while €86.2mn will be allocated for the support of the specialist chambers and the specialist prosecutor's office.

The specialist chambers and the specialist prosecutor's office will prosecute alleged war crimes committed by members of the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) against ethnic Serbs during Kosovo's independence war in 1998-2000. The institutions were set up in 2015 in The Hague but will work under Kosovo's jurisdiction.

Alexandra Papadopoulou has been the head of the EULEX mission since July 2016 and her mandate was extended earlier this month until June 14, 2019.