Dispute over number plates – New tensions between Kosovo and Serbia – News

• In Kosovo, tensions between representatives of the Serb minority and the government in Pristina have increased.
• All ethnic Serbs have resigned their posts in Kosovan institutions such as the police, judiciary, parliament and local authorities.
• They are protesting against the Kosovar government’s decision to oblige ethnic Serbs to replace their license plates issued by neighboring Serbia with Kosovar ones.

The decision to resign from office was taken at a meeting of the Srpska Lista, which is supported by Belgrade, in Zvecan, northern Kosova, over the weekend. Among other things, ethnic Serb police officers took off their Kosovan police uniforms, to the applause of the meeting participants.

The government in Pristina had previously dismissed the regional police chief responsible for the northern Serb area in Kosova. He had refused to call on people to exchange their license plates. At the same time, Pristina extended the deadline for a change to April 21 next year. In the event of violations, there should be gradual warnings up to fines.

International concern is growing

The EU, NATO and the international Kosovo protection force KFOR reacted with concern to the developments. «The latest developments are jeopardizing years of work on the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. I have called on both sides to refrain from unilateral actions that could lead to further tensions,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Twitter.

Borrell had tried, among other things, to mediate in the license plate dispute. Similar calls came from NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana, from the KFOR protection force and from the EU special representative for the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Miroslav Lajcak.

The former Serbian province of Kosovo declared its independence in 2008. Serbia does not recognize this, unlike most countries in the world.