Kosovo constitution came into force on Sunday, four months after the territory declared independence from Serbia on February 17.

Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu signed 41 new laws which were adopted by the Kosovo parliament and were drafted in full accordance with the Status Settlement Proposal of the UN Kosovo envoy Martti Ahtisaari, which envisages the internationally supervised independence for Kosovo.

"This is a massage to the world, that Kosovo has a democratic orientation," said Sejdiu after he signed the package of laws.

To mark the event, the Kosovo government has announced a ceremony on Sunday evening in a Pristina sports hall, and invited some international officials to the event.

New anthem of Kosovo, adopted on June 11, will be played at the beginning of the ceremony, for the first time in an official event in Kosovo.

According to the constitution, majority ethnic Albanian authorities will take over much of the powers held up by the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), including internal and foreign affairs.

The European Union (EU) is to take supervisory role replacing the UNMIK, which is in a process of reconfiguration, but Russia has blocked the handover claiming it is an illegal move.

The EU has to deploy a 2,200-strong Law and Justice Mission (EULEX) to Kosovo. It has been planned to start its work this weekend, but Russia has blocked the handover, since it has not been approved by the UN Security Council.

The move occurred one day after the attack on a police station in the northern town of Mitrovica. Police said the unidentified attacker was wounded along with a policeman.

The constitution defines Kosovo as a multi-ethnic society, but Kosovo's Serb community opposes it as well as the declaration of independence.

Until the new constitution took effect, the highest legal act in Kosovo had been the Constitutional Framework of UNMIK, adopted on May 15, 2001.

(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2008)