July 31 () –
Serbs in northern Kosovo have cut off two border crossings connecting the region with Serbia in protest at the entry into force this Monday of new Kosovar regulations on identity documents and license plates.
As of August 1, those entering the country from Serbia will have to surrender their Serbian identity documents for identity documents issued by Pristina valid for three months in reciprocity to the measure applied by Serbia to Kosovo citizens visiting Serbia, according to picks up the Radio Free Europe station.
In addition, the compulsory nature of official Kosovar license plates replaces those used by Serbo-Kosovar organizations since the effective separation of Kosovo from Serbia after the 1999 war.
Until now, Kosovo has considered license plates with the initials of the cities of Kosovska Mitrovica (KM), Pristina (PR) or Urosevac (UR) illegal, but has tolerated their use in the four Serbian-majority municipalities. Now license plates will have to bear the acronym for the Republic of Kosovo (RKS). The deadline for the change ends on September 30.
On July 31, the Kosovo Police announced the closure of the Jarinje and Brnjak border crossings due to roadblocks by Serb protesters. “All citizens are asked to use other border crossings to circulate,” said the Kosovar Police.
The dispute began in September 2021, when Kosovo mandated that all drivers entering Kosovo from Serbia use provisional license plates valid for 60 days, a measure that had already been in place for drivers entering Serbia from Kosovo since 2008.
Five EU countries, including Spain, do not recognize the Kosovar unilateral declaration of independence in 2008. The EU, however, acts as a mediator in the negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina, on which the general normalization of relations and the possibilities of accession of both countries to the community bloc.
The EU’s diplomatic initiative, which reactivated the dialogue process in 2020, seeks for the two parties to normalize their relations in binding terms and in accordance with international standards, something that it considers a ‘sine qua non’ condition for the European path.
Add Comment