Kurti: Serbia recognized the RKS license plates to cover the rejection of the Brussels Agreement

2024-01-05 12:21:40, Kosova & Bota CNA

Kurti: Serbia recognized the RKS license plates to cover the rejection of the

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said that the decision taken late Thursday to remove the sticker regime for vehicles with Serbian license plates came after the Kosovo Police reported that Serbia's decision to allow RKS - Republic of Kosovo - license plates to move freely in the territory of this country, is fully implemented.

Through an article on Facebook, Kurti said that if there will be a change of approach from the Serbian authorities, the state of Kosovo will act.

Serbia decided to allow vehicles with RKS license plates to move freely on its territory from the beginning of this week.

"From the report of our police, which has monitored everything with great attention, we have been informed that we have full implementation, and that there were no incidents or obstacles. Therefore, based on the principle of reciprocity as a premise of the regulation of relations between independent states, last night we made a decision to allow vehicles coming from the other side of the border with Serbian license plates to be allowed as well", said Kurti, emphasizing that this is starting to be implemented after publication in the Official Gazette.

According to the Government Law, Government decisions are published in the Official Gazette no later than twenty-four hours after they are signed by the Prime Minister, and remain public without any time limit.

"In the event that the Kosovo Police meanwhile receives reports from the field about a change in approach or behavior by the Serbian authorities for allowing the free movement of vehicles with license plates of the Republic of Kosovo in the territory of Serbia, or obstructing the free movement in any form , we will be notified in time and we will act", added Kurti.

As the Radio Free Europe team reports from the border point between Kosovo and Serbia, in Merdare, until noon on Friday, stickers on the state symbols continued to be placed on Serbian license plates.

On the issue of free movement, Kosovo and Serbia first reached an agreement in 2011, during the dialogue mediated by the European Union for the normalization of relations.

After the tensions caused by the issue of license plates, in September 2021 the interim agreement on the license plates was reached. That agreement, which was meant to be in effect for six months until the Kosovo and Serbia working groups find a long-term solution, had drivers with both Kosovo and Serbian license plates put stickers on the state symbols on their license plates, every time they crossed the border of these two states.

Serbia's decision to enable the free movement of all vehicles from Kosovo to the territory of Serbia was taken on December 25, 2023 by the Serbian authorities, to enter into force on January 1 of this year.

"...this self-discipline of Serbia is used to reduce the pressure from the democratic West (the European Union, the United States of America and the United Kingdom) on Serbia for the manipulated and undemocratic elections, but also to cover the official rejection of the Basic Agreement of "Brussels, who wrote the letter of the Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Bärnabi?, addressed to the Council of the EU on December 13, and to mask their responsibility regarding the terrorist and criminal attack in Banjska of Zve?ani on September 24, 2023," said Kurti, writing that Serbia's decision on license plates is a "maneuver of an undemocratic government for its own survival".

Belgrade's decision was welcomed by the European Union, which described it as a positive step towards the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia./ REL