4 hours agoREL: talks in Brussels on license plates continue Thursday
Periskopi(5 years ago)
(5 years ago)The Serbian delegation to talks with Kosovo in Brussels has concluded the meeting with European Union Special Envoy Miroslav Lajcak, but have not answered whether they accept the draft document to resolve the issue of vehicle license plates, which has caused tension over the last days in northern Kosovo. Sources of [...]
European Union sources have told Radio Europe Free Radio reporter in Brussels that negotiations are expected to continue tomorrow, too, September 30th.
The Serbian delegation is led by the director of the Office for Kosovo in Serbia's Government, Petar Petkov.
Earlier, Kosovo delegation chief Besnik Bislimi said a draft document has been finalised for resolving the license issue, with the EU's mediation, but Belgrade has not even given consent.
“We have reached a final draft, which has already agreed on almost as a whole, only has the Serbian side give the final agreement, if so, could start implementing the agreement very quickly”, Bislim said.
The agreement, according to him, envisions three elements: from Monday both Serbia and Kosovo advance and use the sticky <x0-letter” instead of the signs. This solution, according to him, will be temporary, as at the same time a working group will also be established, which in six months will find a permanent solution to the problem of free movement.
The next point, according to him, is to remove the barricades. According to the document on Saturday, KFOR would be deployed to replace special Kosovo police units, which would be withdrawn along with barricades set up by local Serbs.
Immediately after this Bislim announcement, European Union spokesman Peter Stano said the dialogue between Kosovo's chief negotiators and Serbia facilitated by the EU is not over and that negotiations are continuing to find a solution to the current crisis in northern Kosovo.
On the other hand, the United States said progress has been made in talks between Kosovo and Serbia in Brussels on the issue of license plates, but negotiations still continue.
“We encourage Kosovo and Serbia to continue to engage openly and seriously”, says in a post on the Twitter network of employees at the American Embassy in Kosovo, Nicholas Giacube.
Representatives of Kosovo and Serbia are participating in meetings in Brussels, aimed at finding a solution to the situation in the north as roads in Jarinje and Brnjak continue to be 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.
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.
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.
