After months of tug-of-war, Serbia and Kosovo have agreed on a solution to the car number plate dispute, averting an imminent escalation of the conflict. “We have a deal,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell wrote on Twitter late Wednesday evening. Accordingly, Kosovo will not take any further steps to re-register vehicles, while Serbia will not issue new number plates for its former province.
In recent months, the authorities in Pristina have been pushing massively for the replacement of the Serbian number plates in the country. According to estimates, another 10,000 vehicles, mainly in the predominantly Serb north of Kosovo, have a corresponding number plate. Their owners must be fined 150 euros from Tuesday.
EU intervention successful
After intervention by the US embassy, the Kosovo government postponed the entry into force of this regulation until Thursday. The current agreement makes enforcement of the measure superfluous.
A top-level meeting between Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti failed on Monday. Negotiations led by EU-Kosovo representative Miroslav Lajčák have now led to a breakthrough.
Follow further steps
“I am very pleased that the EU-brokered chief negotiators of Kosovo and Serbia have agreed on measures to prevent further escalation and to fully focus on normalizing their relations,” Borrell wrote. “Serbia will stop issuing license plates with the names of Kosovar cities, and Kosovo will refrain from any further actions regarding vehicle re-registration.” The two sides are expected to discuss further steps in the coming days.
Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) was also pleased with the agreement. This deal between Kosovo and Serbia is important to maintain momentum for further progress in the dialogue between the two states, the foreign minister wrote in English on Twitter. “We need de-escalation, not another conflict,” Schallenberg said.
The conflict reached a dangerous climax
Kosovo authorities began implementing a regulation on 1 November that aims to replace Serbian plates with Kosovan ones by 21 April. Initially, the Kosovo police only warned car owners, now they too must be punished.
The conflict had already escalated dangerously in the summer after the Kosovo government first questioned the validity of Serbian license plates in the country. Kosovo Serbs then blocked the border crossings into Serbia. By the beginning of the month, almost all Kosovo police officers of Serbian origin had resigned in protest against the ordinance.
Kosovo independence controversy
Kosovo, largely inhabited by Albanians, unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia in early 2008. Belgrade does not recognize this move and continues to regard Kosovo as a southern Serbian province, just like the Serbs living there. Kosovo was placed under UN administration in 1999 to protect the Albanians living there from attacks by Serbian security forces.
Source: Krone
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