Svechla's accusations, Stano: EU does not consider Serbia to have renovated KM plates

Responding to questions about allegations Kosovo and Serbia have exchanged for disrespecting the agreement on license plates, EU spokesman Peter Stano has said all sides should refrain from unilateral actions.

“The EU calls on all sides to respect overall and unconditionally the agreements and arrangements reached on November 23rd last year, with which Kosovo and Serbia agreed on specific measures about the license plates to reduce tensions and focus on the EU proposal to normalise their “reports, Stano has said.

With the November agreement, Kosovo has concluded further actions related to reregistering cars with Serbian license plates circulating in Kosovo, until Serbia has agreed no longer to issue car plates with names of Kosovo cities.

On January 18th, Kosovo Interior Affairs Minister Jedal Svecla has said Kosovo will not allow the entrance and circulation of cars that have Serbian KM illegal plates, which have been reregistered from December last year and beyond.

As he has learned REL, is about cars that were registered after December 7th, 2022, when the Serbian Government's new decree for cars bearing Serbian acronym plates for Kosovo cities has entered into force, and which are registered in Serbia.

Commenting on the Kosovo authorities' decision, the director of the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian Government, Petar Petkov, has accused Kosovo of trying to trigger new crises and tensions.

Stano has commented Thursday on the agreement reached in November.

“This means that Kosovo refrains from any action against those owners who have KM license plates and effectively keep the status quo until a more sustainable solution in dialogue is reached. That, too, means that Serbia will not issue new KM” plates.

“We have also taken into account Serbia's decision, on December 6, 2022, that the contagious registration papers for KM plates will not be renewed. We understand that renovation of security and technical control is about vehicle, not registration signs, and as such cannot be considered the renovation of registration boards“Stano has said.

However, we invite all parties to respect the agreement and focus on normalisation of the reports, according to the EU proposal, and any questions about interpretations of what was agreed on on November 23rd, to be discussed through dialogue, not through co-ordinated actions on the ground, which can destabilise the situation as well as fragile“, the EU spokesman has said.

Stano has also mentioned that success in dialogue between the two sides is essential to the two countries' path to European integration.

Both sides must address these discussions as priority”.

The EU, meanwhile, has confirmed that, on January 20th, the European Special Representative for the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak will lead a visit by European and American diplomats to Pristina and Belgrade.

The delegation will include the US envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, advisers of German Chancellor and French president, as well as an adviser to the Italian prime minister.

The purpose of the visit, according to European sources, is to hold a new meeting between Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, in Brussels.

For now, there is no confirmation of when such a meeting could take place.

Kurti and Vuciq have last met in Brussels on 21 November.

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”. /rel/