- Serbia and Kosovo have reached an agreement in the dispute over car number plates.
- Previously issued Serbian number plates remain valid.
- These were no longer valid as of November 1st.
Serbia does not recognize Kosovo as an independent state and continued to issue license plates for Kosovar cities. As a result, Kosovo reacted and declared old Serbian numbers invalid as of November 1st. Now the two countries have found a compromise.
Legend:
Reuters/Ognen Teofilovski
An escalation of the situation had previously been feared. For example, since the beginning of the month, numerous Serbian officers of the Kosovar police have resigned in protest against the new regulation.
The compromise
In the future, Serbia will refrain from issuing license plates with reference to Kosovar cities. On the other hand, Kosovo will not take any further measures to promote the re-registration of vehicles with old Serbian license plates.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced the compromise between the two conflicting parties on Twitter. Thanks to the negotiators, the two states agreed on measures to avoid further escalation under EU supervision.
However, the negotiations between the two countries are not over yet. Further steps will be discussed in the coming days.
Kosovo wanted to enforce fines
The Kosovo government planned fines for illegal Serbian license plates. In the north of Kosovo there are numerous settlement areas of Serbs. The residents in these areas mainly use Serbian license plates, which were no longer valid. It is hoped that the conflict resolution will cool down the tensions between Pristina and Belgrade.