Kosovo pauses Serbian car plate scheme
KOSOVO has decided to delay a controversial decision to resolve a row over a scheme to replace Serbian number plates.
Kosovo prime minister Albin Kurti said yesterday he had delayed the plan for two days.
The dispute erupted after Kosovo said the country’s ethnic Serbs would be penalized if they did not swap vehicle license plates issued by Serbia for registration numbers issued by Pristina.
The underlying source of tension is Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia. The latter does not recognize the move and has encouraged Kosovo’s Serb minority to remain loyal to Belgrade. Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Twitter yesterday he had accepted a request from Washington “for a 48-hour postponement of the introduction of fines” for cars with Serbian plates.
The delay helped calm tensions in northern Kosovo, a day after EU-mediated negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina over the potentially explosive scheme failed to produce results. “I am happy to work with the U.S. and the EU to find a solution during the next two days,” Kurti tweeted.
The dispute has sounded alarm bells in the European Union, which has been seeking to normalize ties between Serbia and Kosovo and wants both to refrain from provocative gestures.
The U.S. ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, also voiced concern over the failure to resolve the number plate row, which has the potential to trigger a regional crisis.
In the latest development this month, Serbs in northern Kosovo resigned from public institutions in protest over the scheme.
Of Kosovo’s 120,000-strong minority, around 10,000 have Serbia-issued car registrations.