MPB shows what fine will be for Serbian license plates after November 21st.

So said Free Europe Radio Nora Fetosti, spokesperson at the Kosovo Ministry of Interior.

According to her, from November 21st to January 21st, owners who still have Serbian license plates in Kosovo will be fined 150 euros.

The REL is interested in the measures Kosovo authorities will take for these vehicles, following the October 28th Kosovo Government's decision to implement the license decision in three phases.

Initially, the government has had October 31st as the deadline for reregistering Serbian cars with Serbian license plates in the RKS- Republic of Kosovo.

Under the new plan, between November 1st and November 21st, there will be cautionary measures for owners of Serbian license plates, and from November 21st to January 21st there will be fines.

Under the government decision, pro-profit plates will later be used, and after April 21st, cars with these plates will not be able to circulate in Kosovo.

Fetosti has told Radio Free Europe that all owners of Serbian license plates will be able to benefit from car reregistering facilities with RKS RKS CHA license plates through March 30th.

After that date, reregistering is possible until April 21st, but without offering facilities.

What does that mean?

According to regulations in force, each vehicle entering Kosovo is subject to excises, import taxes and increased value tax.

For example, if a Kosovo citizen buys a car worth 7,000 euros, in 2015, up to 2,000 cubics, the price he has to pay in the customs goes up 2.558 euros.

This extra price will not apply to those who reregister vehicles with RKS license plates.

In addition, they will be released from tariffs for license plates, fees for vehicle registration equipment and administrative taxes at the Auto-registering Centre. All these services amount to around 57 euros.

So, 2,615 euros less for a car like this.

US, EU disappointment

The United States and the European Union have expressed their disappointment over why the Kosovo Government has not acted in line with the demands of international partners.

The United States' special envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, has said the US, along with European partners, has asked the Kosovo government for a ten-month delay in the decision on the license plates, though they believe Kosovo has the right to implement the decision.

The director of the Office for Kosovo in Serbia's Government, Petar Petkovovic, has said that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti's decision to reregister cars has been “<x1 legal and violent”, and that his main goal is “impression” of the existence of Serbs in Kosovo.

Tensions over license plates

On July 31st and August 1st, local Serbs in northern Kosovo had placed barricades as a sign of dissatisfaction with the Kosovo Government's decision to implement two decisions -- for car plates and Serbian documents.

Serbian plates are considered illegal by authorities in Kosovo, but so far have been tolerated in northern Kosovo.

The decision to implement these two decisions has been postponed for 1 September, even at the request of international mechanisms.

In the meantime, agreement has been reached on entry/extended documents.

Kosovo and Serbia have launched negotiations on normalising relations in 2011, with the European Union's mediation.

The negotiations process is expected to end with legally binding agreement.

Although Kosovo claims that this agreement should include mutual recognition, Serbia refuses, insisting on <x0 compromise resolution”.