Belgrade will allow vehicles with Kosovo registration plates to enter Serbia. The decision, welcomed by the European Union (EU), paves the way to resolve a long-standing dispute between Serbia and its neighbor, whose independence it does not recognize. Until now, vehicles coming from Serbia or Kosovo could cross the border as long as they attached stickers with the national emblems visible on the license plates. The requirement will no longer be necessary starting January 1.
“The authorization granted to all vehicles to circulate (…) is a purely practical decision, to facilitate the freedom of movement of people, and cannot be interpreted as a recognition of the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo,” according to the Serbian public radio and television RTS, citing the director of the Serbian office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic.
Serbia agreed to recognize Kosovo license plates and vice versa after a deal reached in 2011 under EU auspices, but the decision was never fully implemented. In 2022, Kosovo changed course following a controversial decision to penalize drivers who did not replace Serbian license plates with those issued by Pristina.
Kosovo’s Serb minority, which remains loyal to Belgrade and still considers itself part of Serbia despite Kosovo’s independence in 2008, responded with protests and roadblocks. One of these protests led in November 2022 to the departure of Kosovo Serbs from all Kosovo institutions, including the northern municipalities, the local Police and the central bodies of Pristina, and was the starting point of a series of serious incidents. The worst of them occurred on September 24 with a terrorist attack by Serbian paramilitaries in northern Kosovo, in which a Kosovo police officer and three assailants lost their lives.
Still, “99%” of Kosovo Serbs have voluntarily replaced their license plates with those issued in Pristina, Petkovic said. For them it was a necessity of daily life, he added.
Brussels welcomed the decision of Serbia, which aspires to join the European Union, and urged Kosovo to respond in a similar way. This step “demonstrates that it is possible to advance in the process of normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia” sponsored by the EU, Peter Stano, spokesperson for the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, indicated on the social network X.
Meanwhile, protests were repeated in Belgrade on Monday to demand a repeat of the general elections of December 17 due to allegations of vote manipulation.
The eighth demonstration in front of the headquarters of the Electoral Commission (RIK) for alleged electoral fraud in favor of the ruling SNS party, of Serbian populist president Aleksandar Vucic, brought together about two thousand people.
Protesters marched to the main police station, where they believed the 38 people who were detained during and after Sunday’s protest, which was the largest and most violent yet, were being held. According to the police, eight of their officers were injured in the clashes. Protesters broke windows and glass at the main entrance to the town hall, before police used force and pepper spray to disperse them.
