EU moves to fill vacuum as Bosnia mission collapses Â

The European Union pledged to step into the breach yesterday and take over the United Nations police mission in Bosnia, as tension increased over America's threat to block the operation.

Already committed to running the police mission from the end of the year, the EU made clear that it will be able to move much quicker than planned to fill any vacuum.

Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, said Europe could move "very fast" to take over responsibility, while initially operating under the aegis of the existing UN mandate. "We have everything planned for a smooth transition; the chief of police will continue. He is from Denmark [an EU member state] and is already in place," he said.

The EU appears keen to use the diplomatic rift to increase its leadership role in the Balkans and Mr Solana said that financing for bringing forward the police mission has been agreed in principle. Only technical and logistical details now need to be resolved.

Officials moved quickly to allay fears that the row over the International Criminal Court could destabilise the region. After briefing EU ambassadors in Brussels, the special representative for Bosnia, Lord Ashdown, said that a failure to resolve the dispute with the US would be a setback but would not provoke a crisis.

"It would be serious but not catastrophic if these talks fail. It will make a tough job tougher. It will put success a little further away and I would rather that did not happen," said Lord Ashdown, the former Liberal Democrat leader.

Nevertheless, the rift over the ICC is the latest in a long line of differences with the US on issues ranging from steel tariffs to global warming. Washington opposes the court because it is worried that it could order the arrest, trial and imprisonment of citizens of the United States.

That stance came in for direct criticism from the EU's external relations commissioner, Chris Patten, who said the EU "would let nobody water down the commitments contained in the ICC treaty". Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark, which holds the EU presidency, reaffirmed his support for the court, adding: "I deeply regret that conflicting views on this court threaten to jeopardise UN peace-keeping."

The present UN operation involves 1,500 officers from about 40 nations, including 46 Americans, who train and support Bosnian police. The EU mission will be about one-third of the size and more targeted on supervising the local police, ensuring, for example, that war crimes suspects have been weeded out of their ranks. That is seen as vital if confidence is to be restored and refugees are to be encouraged to return.

Lord Ashdown said that, while he backed efforts to move swiftly, he was anxious that "there is no legal daylight between the end of one mandate [from the UN] and the beginning of another" from the EU.

The special representative described it as a "watershed moment" for the EU. He said: "We have now committed across the Balkans 40,000 troops with €800m [£514m] per annum going into the Balkans.

"Europe is in the Balkans for good and, in due course, the Balkans will be in Europe."

Before the EU can take over the mission, a host of technical problems have to be faced, including issues such as how the police will be paid, and who would provide for other costs such as medical insurance.