Day three, plates continue to keep north blocked

Police officers from Kosovo special units are staying in Jarinje and Brnjak, where Serbs have blocked roads with trucks and other vehicles.

Kosovo insists that reciprocity measures were not decided to provoke Serbs, while Serbia seeks to withdraw police from the north, on the contrary has warned the measures. The United States of America and the European Union have called on Pristina and Belgrade to reduce tensions and avoid unilateral actions that would exacerbate the situation in the north.

Regarding the situation caused in the north, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Tuesday, September 21st told the QUINT ambassadors that the decision on Serbia's license plates is neither provocation nor discrimination.

According to a media report by the Prime Minister's Office, Kurti said that Serbian citizens continue to keep roads blocked in Jarinje and Brnjak, but according to him, Kosovo Police Special Units “are there only to protect border police and border crossings”, adding that no incidents have been recorded at these crossings.

This reciprocity of temporary license plates for cars or Kosovo and Serbia are both right, or they both are wrong. So, either we're going to keep that kind of license plate of both states, or let's get rid of both Kosovo and Serbia”, Kurti said.

QUINT countries, United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy are the biggest supporters of Kosovo's citizenship.

“Ambassadors and Prime Minister Kurti agreed that peace and tranquillity should be maintained, stability and security, and that dialogue should continue and the situation should de-scaling”, says the announcement, in which, in addition to the QUINT ambassadors, the chief of the European Union mission in Pristina, Thomas Szunyog participated.

This meeting of Kurt with QUINT comes a few hours after Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq gathered the National Security Council because of the situation created by the September 20th decision on reciprocity for license plates.

After the meeting, Vuciq said that Kosovo must change its bad “decisions,” or otherwise, his state will take measures, without specifying what measures it is about.

“We want to provide additional time to Pristina to change their bad decisions. If not, we will take steps”, Vuciq said.

He demanded that Kosovo withdraw police forces from the country's north.

Despite warning of the move, Vuciq said Serbia would continue to insist on preserving peace and the “security of the Serbian population in Kosovo”.

Vuciq said Serbia will seek an urgent response from the European Union if the Brussels agreement is legal or not and when the Association of Serb-run municipalities will be formed.

“in the next month, we will seek an answer and possible silence will be a clear sign for us that the agreement does not exist and that they do not want it to be accepted”, Vuciq said.

He added that this morning he has talked to ambassadors of the most powerful Western countries what a <x0) compromise resolution” should look like.

“I rejected that solution because it is not a compromise, but a solution that would humiliate Serbia”, Vuciq said.

Blockadas in Jarinje and Brnjak

Meanwhile, Serbian citizens have continued the protest even during Tuesday, blocking roads leading to the border crossings in Jarinje and Brnjak.

Kosovo Police forces have been on alert all night, following protests over the Kosovo Government's decision, for reciprocity measures for vehicle plates registered in Serbia, entering Kosovo.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has said on September 20th from the Assembly of Kosovo, that this decision has not been taken willingly by Kosovo, but has been imposed by the other <x0pa”.

But Serbian citizens have blocked roads near the border point in Jarinje, as a sign of dissatisfaction even on September 20th, when the measure has begun to be implemented.

Under the decision, cars entering from Serbia should be equipped with temporary license plates at Kosovo border crossings. These temporary plates are placing cars in front and back windows.

The Kosovo government has said that all drivers with license plates issued by Serbia must pay 5 euros for temporary license plates, and their validity is 60 days.

Lajcak calls for lowering tensions in northern Kosovo

The EU's special representative in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, voiced concern about the situation in northern Kosovo, following the Kosovo government's decision to impose reciprocity measures for Serbia's vehicles.

“I'm concerned and I call for emergency stress. It is important to reduce tensions, restore the peaceful atmosphere and allow freedom of movement”, Lajcak wrote on Twitter.

Lajcak announced that he has notified the ambassadors of EU member states of the situation in northern Kosovo and reiterated the readiness of European institutions to facilitate talks “on all open issues” within the framework of dialogue for normalising relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

Gervailla: Tension caused, Serbia's unilateral move

Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora in the Government of Kosovo Donica Grovall said that setting reciprocity on plates with Serbia is “in line with the agreement signed by both sides in Brussels”.

During a meeting she had with her Slovenian counterpart, Anze Logar, in the Magnaries of the United Nations General Assembly, Grovalla said the caused “tension should be seen as Serbia's unilateral action”.

On September 20th, Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, has said authorities in Pristina were demonstrating force and that they had interpreted the Brussels Agreement according to their wish when they announced the implementation of reciprocity for auto plates.

Vuciq has described the situation in Kosovo as a “one of the most difficult days for the Serbian people in Kosovo”.

Hours after these statements by Vuciqi, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani has said the decision on reciprocity on the issue of vehicle plates with Serbia is in line with Brussels agreements.

No threat from Serbia prevents our determination to live up to law enforcement, in accordance with our international obligations, for the benefit of all citizens of the Republic, indiscriminately ethnicity”, Osmani said in a post on the social Facebook network.

Following the Kosovo Government's decision to apply reciprocity measures, in terms of Serbia's license plates, the United States and the European Union have called on both sides to take measures in order to reduce tensions in northern Kosovo.

The “we join the EU in calling for Kosovo and Serbia to refrain from further unilateral actions and to reduce tensions immediately, without any delay”, is said in the US Embassy's response to Pristina.

The license issue is regulated by Brussels' Free Movement Agreement, within the framework of dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, where all owners of cars living in Kosovo are to use license plates KSH (Kosovo) or ʹ RKS) (Republishment of Kosovo) and thus remove plates that for Kosovo Serbs issued to Serbia's Ministry of Internal Affairs.