At the request of the USA, Kosovo postponed fines for Serbian drivers for 2 days

At the request of the USA, Kosovo postponed fines for Serbian drivers for 2 days

Kosovo has delayed plans to fine drivers who refuse to replace old Serbian-issued license plates for another 48 hours after the United States asked for a delay.

 

 This is reported by Reuters.

 

 The row over license plates has fueled tensions for nearly two years between Serbia and its former province, which declared independence in 2008 and is home to the Serbian minority in the north, which is backed by Belgrade.

 

 About 50,000 ethnic Serbs living there refuse to recognize Pristina's rule and still consider themselves part of Serbia. Belgrade has declared that it will never recognize the independence of Kosovo.

 

 Hundreds of police, judges, prosecutors and other civil servants from the Serbian minority walked off the job earlier this month after Pristina ruled that local Serbs must finally replace the license plates issued by the Belgrade-loyal Kosovo Serb municipal authorities with Kosovo state ones. .

 

 Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti signaled the delay in a post on Twitter early Tuesday morning. "I accept his (the US ambassador's) request for a 48-hour delay... I am happy to work with the US and the EU to find a solution over the next two days," he said.

 

Earlier, the Kosovo police said that the fines should start issuing from 08:00 local time on Tuesday. They will affect about 10,000 drivers.

 

 Pristina and Belgrade failed to agree on Monday after emergency EU-brokered talks, and Brussels warned of "escalating violence".

 

 EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, who presided over the talks, blamed Kosovo for rejecting the EU's proposal on how to resolve the dispute over license plates.

 

 The opposition in Pristina also accused Kurti of jeopardizing relations with the United States as Kosovo's biggest ally.

 

 Kurti said he is more interested in reaching a final agreement with Serbia in which both countries recognize each other as independent states.

 

 Serbian President Oleksandr Vucic said late Monday that his country would stop issuing and renewing license plates for northern Kosovo, but warned of rising tensions.

 

 "We received the latest intelligence data recently, the situation is very difficult and is on the verge of conflict," said Vucic.

 

 NATO, which has about 3,700 peacekeepers in Kosovo, has said it is ready to intervene if there is a security threat.





Kosovo has delayed plans to fine drivers who refuse to replace old Serbian-issued license plates for another 48 hours after the United States asked for a delay.

 

 This is reported by Reuters.

 

 The row over license plates has fueled tensions for nearly two years between Serbia and its former province, which declared independence in 2008 and is home to the Serbian minority in the north, which is backed by Belgrade.

 

 About 50,000 ethnic Serbs living there refuse to recognize Pristina's rule and still consider themselves part of Serbia. Belgrade has declared that it will never recognize the independence of Kosovo.

 

 Hundreds of police, judges, prosecutors and other civil servants from the Serbian minority walked off the job earlier this month after Pristina ruled that local Serbs must finally replace the license plates issued by the Belgrade-loyal Kosovo Serb municipal authorities with Kosovo state ones. .

 

 Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti signaled the delay in a post on Twitter early Tuesday morning. "I accept his (the US ambassador's) request for a 48-hour delay... I am happy to work with the US and the EU to find a solution over the next two days," he said.

 

Earlier, the Kosovo police said that the fines should start issuing from 08:00 local time on Tuesday. They will affect about 10,000 drivers.

 

 Pristina and Belgrade failed to agree on Monday after emergency EU-brokered talks, and Brussels warned of "escalating violence".

 

 EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, who presided over the talks, blamed Kosovo for rejecting the EU's proposal on how to resolve the dispute over license plates.

 

 The opposition in Pristina also accused Kurti of jeopardizing relations with the United States as Kosovo's biggest ally.

 

 Kurti said he is more interested in reaching a final agreement with Serbia in which both countries recognize each other as independent states.

 

 Serbian President Oleksandr Vucic said late Monday that his country would stop issuing and renewing license plates for northern Kosovo, but warned of rising tensions.

 

 "We received the latest intelligence data recently, the situation is very difficult and is on the verge of conflict," said Vucic.

 

 NATO, which has about 3,700 peacekeepers in Kosovo, has said it is ready to intervene if there is a security threat.