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State symbols on the license plates of Kosovo and Serbia will continue to be covered with adhesive paper when crossing the borders of both countries in the future. It is not known when the agreement will be reached between the parties.
For two days in a row, the delegations of Pristina and Belgrade discussed in Brussels under the mediation of the EU the issue of vehicle license plates, but could not reach an agreement. The parties blamed each other, while dialogue mediator Miroslav Lajcak expects all actors to “refrain from actions that could jeopardize security on the ground.” After the meeting in Brussels, Miroslav Lajcak, through a post on Twitter, invited the chief negotiators of the two sides to meet again to continue discussions on other current issues. “Today no agreement has been reached on the license plates. I invite the chief negotiators to meet again in the coming days to agree on the way forward and to continue discussions on other current issues. “We expect all actors to refrain from actions that could jeopardize security on the ground,” Lajcak wrote.
The chief negotiators blame each other. The Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi says that it is the Serbian side that did not offer any alternative for a solution and simply according to him, it “had no readiness”. “Our working group again tried yesterday to come up with a draft proposal that would be forwarded to us today for discussion. “Unfortunately, there is zero readiness on the part of the Serbian side to agree on a possible solution within the framework provided by the third point of the agreement of September 30”, said Bislimi. According to him, “it has been six months since the interim agreement that the Serbian side has no interest in a solution.”
Besnik Bislimi criticizes that the Serbian side has been dealing for these six months “with marginal elements, which show that they simply want to sabotage the work of the working group.” He called the lack of a result of the talks “bitter”. “We tried to find a transitional option, transferring the responsibility of the working group to the chief negotiators for a period of 30 days. “Here, too, Serbia was not ready to cooperate, so I can say that the idea of reaching an agreement on license plates has failed.”
Petkovic accuses the Kosovar side of not being ready for proposals
The chief negotiator of Serbia, Petar Petkovioi, accused the Kosovar side that “it was not ready for any proposal during the six months that the working groups for license plates have been functioning”. In the absence of a permanent license plate agreement, the coverage of state symbols with stickers will continue even after April 21, he said. “No one should worry. The sticker paper agreement is still in force. “Until a lasting solution is found at a high level, the sticky paper regime will continue.”
The chief negotiator of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi, meanwhile, emphasizes that it is up to the heads of state how to proceed further, adding that “Kosovo will treat freedom of movement as the Serbian side treats it.”
Interim agreement
Kosovo and Serbia reached an interim license plate agreement on September 30th last year with EU mediation. The interim agreement followed the September 20th decision of the Government of Kosovo that imposed the reciprocity measure on the issue of Serbian license plates. With this measure, every Serbian car that entered the territory of Kosovo had to get test plates. The idea was for these test plates to be valid for 60 days and cost five euros. Even the citizens of Kosovo, who had RKS license plates for the past 10 years when they entered the territory of Serbia, paid about five euros for the trial license plates, which were valid for 60 days.
The reciprocity measure imposed by the Kosovo government on license plates then sparked protests and roadblocks by northern Serbs, who last September blocked roads leading to the two border crossings connecting Kosovo and Serbia, Jarinje and Brnjak. And in the European Union they believe that “there is room for compromise” between Kosovo and Serbia, and hope that a solution will be found, because something like this would not only help freedom of movement, but would mark a positive turn in the Kosovo-dialogue. Serbia, mediated precisely by the European Union./DW
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