Kosovo closes border crossings after Serb licence plate protests

TWO key border crossings between Serbia and Kosovo have been closed as tensions rose over new regulations for travel documents and car number plates.

Ethnic Serbs have taken to the streets, angered by a decision from the government in Pristina which comes into force today.

Police in Kosovo announced that the crossing points in Jarinje and Brnjak will be closed as a result of protesters blockading the border.

There were reports of shots being fired, but no casualties have been reported.

Underpinning the unrest is a decision taken by the authorities in Pristina that travellers from Serbia will have to exchange Serbian travel documents for ones issued by the Kosovan authorities.

It has also decreed that ethnic Serbs living in Kosovo who have been using Serbian-issued licence plates since 1999 must use ones issued by the Kosovo authorities.

The move mirrors a regulation introduced by Belgrade in 2008, when Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia.

Until now ethnic Serbs in Kosovo have used Serbian plates with the Pristina government, which has regarded the practice as illegal, turning a blind eye in four northern municipalities.

It is estimated that there are around 10,000 cars in northern Kosovo with Serbian licence plates and they will have until the end of September to make the change.

The dispute is symptomatic of the uneasy status quo in the region more than two decades after the war between Serbia and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), an ethnic Albanian guerrilla group, which claimed at least 13,000 lives.

Last week Albin Kurti, Kosovo’s prime minister, defended the changes in an interview with Voice of America.

“This is a measure that we take 11 years after Serbia already took it,” he said.

“We are not against Serbian citizens. On the contrary, we wish to co-operate with them for the common good and in the implementation of the law and respect for the constitutionality.

“So these are measures for law and equality, and against no one.”

Last night, Nato’s force in Kosovo said it was ready to intervene if stability was jeopardised in the region.