By Branislav Krstic

MITROVICA, Kosovo, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Thousands of Kosovo Serbs protested on Thursday against the deployment of a European Union police and justice mission which they see as a symbol of Kosovo's independence.

The European Union's rule of law mission (EULEX) deployment, designed to keep up an international presence in Kosovo, has faced long delays, and only several hundred out of a 2,200 mission personnel have arrived.

"Serbs are against the EULEX deployment because it is an occupation mission with the aim to take our country in which we live," said Marko Jaksic, a Kosovo Serb hardline leader during a protest in the flashpoint town of Mitrovica in north Kosovo.

The protest, held in three different towns without any reported incidents, was organised a day before the U.N. mission planned to re-open its court in Mitrovica.

The court was closed in March, a month after Kosovo declared independence, with Serb protesters occupying the building in protest over secession and preventing Albanian court workers from crossing the bridge over the Ibar River that divides Mitrovica into a Serb north and an Albanian south.

Around 120,000 Serbs who still live in Kosovo, as well as Serbia and Russia, say they reject the deployment of the EULEX mission without the United Nations' approval.

Kosovo unilaterally declared independence in February, after nine years under the United Nations' stewardship and 47 countries, including the United States and many EU member states, have recognised it.

Belgrade has vowed never to accept the independence of its former breakaway province and extended its authority over Serb areas. An "Early Warning" report released by the U.N. Development Programme on Thursday showed more than 60 percent of Kosovo Serbs concerned about their personal "safety". (Writing by Fatos Bytyci, editing by Gordana Filipovic)

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