Escobar meets in Brussels with Petkov Bisimi: Tensions must be reduced immediately

Escobar, who is at the same time sent by the US State Department for the Western Balkans, said he is supporting the European Union's efforts to find a solution to the situation created in northern Kosovo.

The number one priority is to reduce tensions. They are too high now and should sit down immediately”, Escobar said.

The American official said that there must be urgent solutions to the vehicle license issue and that the parties return to dialogue through which open issues will be resolved.

EU meetings for situation in the north

Bislimi and Petkov are located in Brussels, where they will meet with European Union envoy for dialogue Miroslav Lajcak, as roads leading to two border crossings at Jarinje and Brnjak remain blocked for the tenth day in a row.

Serbian citizens, with trucks and other heavy vehicles have blocked these two national roads in that part in protest of establishing reciprocity measures for license plates from Serbia.

The chief of the Kosovo delegation for dialogue, Besnik Bislim, the first to meet with EU envoy Lajcak. The EU envoy will then meet with Serbia's chief negotiator, Petar Petkov. It will depend on whether there will be a trilateral meeting or not.

In the European Union, they hope that until the joint meeting will come and that it will also produce concrete results that will help reduce tensions. Brussels has said it expects the chief negotiators, not only to discuss, but also to have a clear mandate to achieve any results at the meeting.

Earlier EU spokesman Peter Stano has confirmed that Gabriel Escobar is not expected to participate in trilateral meetings because they are forms that include only Kosovo and Serbian delegations as a negotiating pair and the EU in the quality of the facilitator.

Even on the day meetings are expected to be held in Brussels, the EU has reiterated calls to reduce tensions and use dialogue as the only platform to seek solutions to all open issues between the parties.

In the last 24 hours, meanwhile, no incident has been reported near any border point, Jarinje and Brnjak. Kosovo Police Special Units are continuing to stay close to the blockades, while the KFOR mission has increased presence in this part.

Von der Leenen: Important in order not to escalate the situation
About the situation in the north on Tuesday, 28 September, from Northern Macedonia, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyeen has spoken.

Von der Leyen has called for suspension of the situation and the return of Pristina and Belgrade in dialogue.

“I am concerned about the current crisis between Serbia and Kosovo. It is important now that things do not escalate and the parties sit at the negotiating table”, von der Leyen has said after meeting with northern Macedonia Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.

On Tuesday, Kosovo Minister of Internal Affairs Xhelal Svecla said at a media conference that the mayors of Serb majority municipalities in northern Kosovo have rejected KFOR's offer, that this mission will take care of border points in Jarinje and Brnjak, and that special Kosovo Police units will be withdrawn from there.

The Kosovo government has argued the establishment of reciprocity, saying Serbia for years applies the same measure for Kosovo license vehicles.

According to the September 20th decision, all Serbia's license plates when entering Kosovo must remove them and with temporary license plates issued by Kosovo authorities.

For these temporary license plates, drivers must pay five euros, and their validity is two months. / REL