Automobile and Foreign Law, Police: Serbia's authorisation vehicle not allowed

Deputy Director of the Kosovo Regional Directorate Mitrovica-North of Police Veton Elsahni has indicated that he has started implementing the vehicle law that circulates with inadequate authorisations, warning that cars with such documents will not be allowed to move on the streets of Kosovo.

He told Kosovo priss, that so far on northern roads, cases have been encountered when Kosovo citizens have led vehicles registered in Serbia with authorisations that are not considered valid.

The implementation of the automotive law in practice means that cars which so far have been encountered on the northern streets of Kosovo with authorisations of Serbia, which have not been adequate, which means Kosovo citizens have been driving Serbia's car with authorization they will not be allowed. While practically implementing this law is that police at the scene decide whether a person should be released because there is probably an emergency or an emergency. The second is a ticket, which is $200, and the third is to take the car and take it to customs. So far we have several cases where we have given remarks to these citizens, because they must be careful not to move on the streets of Kosovo without authorization. If we have inadequate authorisations and citizens want to send the car to Serbia, we have allowed them to reach the border, but they cannot enter without relevant documents. If the car is unregistered, it has expired or the authorization is not valid, they can either put the car in the transport vehicle or send it to Serbia and we don't prevent it, but to enter they must have adequate documents.”, he said, adding that so far they have not faced any problems in implementing the law.

So far we don't have any problems to stress; citizens actually knew this would happen sooner. Perhaps some have hoped that this deadline could be extended, but it is very important for us to start implementing this law with questions. Without harming citizens, we're doing a very quiet and comfortable way for citizens, even though those driving cars so far won't feel comfortable because they can't drive anymore, but we're not making it difficult to implement this 34x1>- Elshani said.

Meanwhile, speaking of the Law for Foreigners, Elshani stressed that every foreign citizen should report to the police station within 72 hours of his entry into Kosovo.

The Foreign Law requires police to have their citizen reported to the police station within 72 hours of entering the border. However, now the Ministry of Internal Affairs together with the Kosovo Police have created a very simple app, where citizens themselves can be notified. Practically, this means that if we encounter students or persons during our duties and ask them if they are registered, they may say no, because they have entered today and there is no obligation immediately because of the 72 hours. But if they want to sign up, they can do it directly on the app right now. It's important for us to be counted, and through the QR Code that's on the app we can verify. We consider that there will be no problem, facilitating implementation of these two laws,” Deputy Director of the Kosovo Regional Directorate Mitrovica-North of Police Veton Elshani stressed.

ACDC NGO director Dusan Radakovic has stated for KosovaPress that those who have only Serbian documents and live in Kosovo should apply for Kosovo documents during the three-month transition period, while stressing that some practical issues, especially about vehicles and driving permits, remain problematic and require institutional solutions through dialogue.

He said that following the new regulations' entry into force on March 15th, one of the main problems is related to authorising driving vehicles for persons with Kosovo's settlements and documents, but using cars without documents issued by Serbia.

The problem is that the car is authorized when there are no documents from Serbia, when there is residence here, when there is ID from Kosovo, whether Mitrovica, Pristina, Gjakova. It is definitely a problem to authorize driving to Kosovo. I'm with the police monitoring the police process in traffic, now it's just verbal, it doesn't make a position, so far there's not a ticket. Now let's see what it takes for five to seven days to do with these. It's definitely too much trouble to discuss with Brussels or with Orav, even with Government on these problems. The other, with Serbia's license plates, is not a problem, driving 90 days and for these 90 days comes out of Kosovo, and it comes and calculates these days as it stays in Kosovo or just abroad or enters. There is not only a problem with the community here, but it is also a problem with Albanians from Presevo, Bujanoc, Vranjes and Medvedja, and it is definitely something concrete for the problems of these”, he said.

He has recommended to Kosovo citizens who have only Serbia's documents to apply for Kosovo documents.

“With the law of settlement for persons when they have Serbia's documents alone in Kosovo, for these 3 months to review statements about what with bo are documents, apply to Kosovo documents. For this period of three months, it is better to apply for Kosovo documents, it is good for elections for all, not only now”- Radakovic said.

He added that integration of institutions in Kosovo, including hospitals and schools, should continue as part of the dialogue process, stressing that dialogue is the best way to avoid incidents and find solutions for citizens.

The “is definitely dialogue with Brussels. Here is a little, definitely something for the integration of hospitals and schools, is integration for the process in Kosovo and here is definitely the first thing to discuss. Next was the meeting and we'll discuss it. We need to see what happens to the process. For me it's better to have dialogue, without dialogue there are incidents. With dialogue there is definitely something for the whole, both for the community and for Kosovo, and for the citizen of Kosovo. ”- he said.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has announced that on 16 March 2026, full implementation of the Law for Foreigners and the Automedia Law begins. According to the MPB, from this date foreign citizens can apply for residence permits or to declare their address in Kosovo, while institutions will register the birth, marriage and death records previously recorded in Serb parallel institutions and will temporarily recognise identity documents issued by these facilities.

The Kosovo government has decided to offer temporary residence permits and recognise identity documents for members of the Serb community who do not have Kosovo documents as part of efforts for a fair and comprehensive implementation of the law.

This decision comes after a meeting in Pristina between Prime Minister Albin Kurti and EU representative for Kosovo-Serbia dialogue Peter Sorensen, and has been welcomed by the international community, as well as by Serbia.