The announced formation of a provisional Serb parliament in the province is “regrettable” – said the European Union’s civil administrator for Kosovo Pieter Feith yesterday.

Feith stated that it would be “regrettable if another set of parallel institutions were to be formed in Kosovo”, and stressed that “the state of Kosovo must rule in its entire territory”.

The Dutch diplomat said, “The mandate I was given was to establish a multi-ethnic society in Kosovo, to work to build Kosovo’s future, to protect the minorities and to start the reconciliation process among the communities. That is my plan.”

The Kosovo Serb parliament was announced to be formed on June 15, by the local DSS and SRS branches in the province earlier this week, when new municipal government was appointed in Kosovska Mitrovica. It was announced that the parliament will have 45 delegates, with two seats reserved for ethnic minorities. But the DS, G17 Plus and SPS local officials have said that this decision should be made in agreement with the state institutions in Belgrade.