The EU announces an agreement between Serbia and Kosovo to end the “tuition crisis”

27 (EUROPE PRESS)

The European Union announced this Saturday an agreement between Serbia and Kosovo to put an end to the crisis opened by the controversial Kosovar law that requires people from Serbia to change their license plates and hand over their identity documents, to be replaced by others issued in pristine.

“We have an agreement,” the High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, announced on Twitter this Saturday.

“Serbia has agreed to abolish entry/exit documents for Kosovo identity card holders, while the Kosovar side has agreed not to introduce them for Serbian identity card holders,” it explained.

“Kosovar Serbs, as well as all other citizens, will be able to travel freely between Kosovo and Serbia using their ID cards. The EU has just received guarantees from Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to this end,” added Borrell.

The highest diplomatic official of the EU has welcomed the end of this conflict thanks to “a European solution”. “We congratulate both leaders for this decision and their leadership,” he added.

Serbia and Kosovo have staged another episode in their longstanding standoff since Kosovar authorities planned to stop recognizing Serb identity documents in early August. The Serbian authorities do not recognize Kosovar documents.

In response, Serb militants ended up blocking access to two border crossings in northern Kosovo, which is predominantly populated by Serbs. The Kosovo Police reported that unidentified perpetrators fired at Kosovar officers. Nobody was hurt.

The crisis forced the NATO mission in Kosovo to speak out, recalling that it is ready to take whatever measures are necessary to guarantee stability in Kosovo, including a greater deployment of troops.

Kosovo, which is mostly inhabited by ethnic Albanians, seceded from Serbia in 1999 and declared independence in 2008. Serbia has not recognized Kosovo’s independence and continues to claim the territory.