Neighbours reach deal on car number plates

The European Union’s top diplomat yesterday said Kosovo and Serbia have reached a deal on a dispute over vehicle number plates, defusing rising tensions between the two Western Balkan neighbours. EU high representative Josep Borrell posted in his social media page that Kosovo’s and Serbia’s negotiators ‘‘have agreed to avoid further escalation and to fully concentrate on the proposal on normalisation of their relations’’. Serbia will stop issuing license plates with Kosovo cities’ denominations and Kosovo would cease further actions on the reregistration of vehicles. Talks will continue on the subsequent steps. Earlier this week Borrell had failed to convince Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to reach a deal, further raising concerns about the escalating tensions.