EU police mission in Macedonia extended one year

BRUSSELS, Dec 14 (AFP) - The European Union police mission in Macedonia has been extended for one year and is to be led by German General Jurgen Paul Scholz, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana's office announced Tuesday.
The extension of the mission, known as Proxima, was requested by Skopje, the office said in a statement.
"Building on the achievements of the first year, Proxima will continue to support the development of an efficient and professional police service based on European standards, in full partnership with the government," the statement said.
The mission's mandate is to train local police to combat organized crime and to enforce law and order along Macedonia's borders with Kosovo, Serbia and Albania.
Proxima replaced the EU's Concordia peacekeeping mission last December.
In March 2003 Concordia had itself replaced a NATO force deployed in September 2001 to enforce a peace accord reached after seven months of fighting between government forces and ethnic Albanian guerrillas.

12/14/2004 19:17 GMT - AFP