Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Tuesday morning postponed for another 48 hours its plan to fine drivers who continue using Serbian-issued car license plates, while calling out EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borell for making mistakes.
Kosovo, which remains unrecognised by Serbia and is home to a majority ethnic Albanian population, wants all citizens, including some 10,000 Kosovo Serb car owners still sporting Serbian plates issued by Yugoslavia, to replace them with Kosovo Republic plates.
The deadline for the imposition of penalties for failing to switch to Kosovo plates would be gradually increased between November and April, resulting in a total ban by 21 April, was meant to expire this Monday.
An EU-facilitated emergency meeting in Brussels involving the leaders of both countries yielded no results.
However, Kurti said on Tuesday that the matter would be delayed by another two days to provide an opportunity for a resolution to be found.
“I thank [US] Ambassador Hovenier for his commitment. I accept his request for a 48-hour delay in imposing fines for illegal ‘KM’ (and other) number plates. I am happy to work with the US and the EU to find a solution over the next two days,” Kurti tweeted.
Kurti said on Tuesday that the US were very “dedicated and engaged”, and representatives were “positive, constructive, and creative” in finding a solution while criticising Borrell for his mistakes.
“I have not communicated with the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Jose Borrell, who regrettably reiterated and abandoned the Franco-German proposal, the proposal of the European Union, saying let’s have an agreement on license plates,” he said.
The prime minister added that it is not enough to agree on license plates, but rather the focus should be on normalisation of all relations.
Earlier on Monday, a car displaying Serb plates was found in flames in Mitrovica in the north of the country. This is one of several incidents in the past months where cars with either Serb plates or Serb-owned cars with Kosovo plates have been subject to arson attacks.
Meanwhile, Serbs living in the south of Kosovo, just outside of Pristina, said they ache accepted Kosovo-issued ID cards and number plates. Some told Euronews Albania that they accept they live in a different state and that Serbs in the north are fighting a different cause, with the backing of Belgrade.
The US Ambassador to Belgrade, Christopher Hill, said that the attitude of Serbia President Aleksander Vucic towards the dialogue was constructive. He expressed hopes of finding a solution in the near future amid dialogue led by Brussels.
“I had a very good conversation with President [Alexandar] Vucic about the Brussels process. I encouraged President Vucic to continue his constructive involvement in the process, in the hope that we will find a solution. In the end, both sides will have to be involved, but a constructive approach is the right one,” he said.
Hill added that he has complete confidence in the process led by the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell and Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak.
Vucic however, took to Instagram to express his concern for the safety of Serbs in northern Kosovo.
“I thanked the US for its involvement in calming tensions and preventing further escalation, and emphasised that Serbia remains sincerely committed to dialogue and resolving all open issues peacefully in order to preserve peace and stability hard-won in the entire region,” he said.
(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)
Source: euractiv.com
