Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
License plate rule roils Kosovo Serbs
PRISTINA, Kosovo — Representatives of the ethnic Serb minority in Kosovo resigned from their posts Saturday in protest over the dismissal of a police officer who did not follow the government’s decision on vehicle license plates.
Last week, Pristina authorities dismissed a senior Serb police officer in northern Kosovo who refused to respect the decision to change vehicle license plates to ones issued by Kosovo.
Many among its Serb minority still want the former Serb province to be part of Serbia and not independent. Serbia itself has never recognized the independence of Kosovo.
As the measure went into effect Tuesday, Kosovo authorities said enforcement would be gradual. In three weeks, Pristina authorities will be issuing warnings to the ethnic Serbs who keep their old license plates. For the next two months they will be fined, and the next three months they can drive only with replaced temporary local plates.
Kosovo’s 2008 independence has been recognized by the United States and most EU countries, while Serbia has relied on support from Moscow and China for its bid to retain the former province. Ethnic Serbs have a government minister, 10 parliamentarians and other top posts in governing, police and judiciary in their four local communities.
All resigned and senior police officers symbolically took off their uniforms Saturday. The effect of the mass resignation was unclear.
Pristina and Belgrade accused each other of violating the deals they have reached at EU-mediated negotiations.
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti called on the ethnic Serbs not to boycott the local institutions, “not to fall prey of political manipulations and geo-political games.”
Serbia’s Prime Minister Ana Brnabic accused Pristina authorities of increasing attacks “on Serbs … their property was illegally taken away, rare returnees were most brutally harassed and expelled again, innocent people arrested and convicted.”