The EU's answer to Kurti for the Targat decision: Not in line with Dialogue Agreements

In an EU communiqué it is said that Kosovo has the right to gradually remove the old “plates, but the process must be conducted in the manner agreed on in dialogue and implemented in a comprehensive and consultative manner.

Although the decision is a step in the right direction, said in the communique, it is not in line with the Dialogue Agreements, which are binding on both sides”.

Further, the communiqué stresses that the 2016 agreement envisioned a clearly listed and defined process with a 12-month deadline for the conversion process “which has not been followed. Kosovo should allow a longer period of transition. This has been the ongoing advice of Kosovo's closest partners, including the EU and the United States. It is disappointing to see that” of advice has not been followed, says the communique.

The European Union underlines that preserving calm is necessary. “We call on all parties involved to exercise restraint and avoid any action or rhetoric that could jeopardise stability on the ground, especially in Kosovo's north”.

The Kosovo government decided on Friday “scale” implementation of the decision to convert car plates issued by Serbia to those in the Republic of Kosovo. With the government's decision, several deadlines have been set for converting car plates issued by Serbia to those of the Republic of Kosovo. According to the government from November 1st to November 21st, the rebuke measures begin, until January 21st, will be the penalty measure, and from January 21st, promotion plates will be used for two more months, after which the date on April 21st will not be allowed other plates in Kosovo.

“This is the way to both implement order and law, but on the other hand to have our response to increased international sensitivity in terms of peace and security in our country, but not only”, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said.

The United States expressed disappointment and concern that the Kosovo government rejected demands to postpone the deadline to implement the decision for ten months.

The decision also sparked opposition reactions in Kosovo, which criticised the government for undermining the country's strategic interests.

Serb representatives in Kosovo's north warned that they would oppose the government's decision in the first case when authorities will pronounce fines on the issue.

In 2011, Kosovo and Serbia were hired for using license plates with the inscription RKS (Republishment of Kosovo), or KS, as a license plate as a temporary measure for a five-year period. In 2016 the parties agreed to continue the validity of the KS plates for five years, until 2021 respectively. / VOA