Mon 01 August 2022:
The Kosovo government has delayed for a month the implementation of new border rules that have sparked tensions in the country’s north, where ethnic Serbs have blocked roads and unknown gunmen have fired on police.
Following the incident, which left no one hurt, the police closed two border crossings with Serbia on Sunday.
The most recent tense situation arose after the Pristina government announced that starting on Monday, anyone entering Kosovo with a Serbian ID would need to exchange it for a temporary document while they were there.
The government also stated that ethnic Serbs who currently have Serbian-issued license plates for their vehicles would need to switch to Kosovo license plates within two months.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti claimed on Sunday that it was a reciprocal action because Serbian authorities in Belgrade demand the same of Kosovo nationals entering their country.
But, after meeting United States Ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey Hovenier, who told reporters he sought from Pristina that implementation of the new regime be postponed for 30 days, the government pledged to do so.
In a statement, it stated that it would put the two decisions into effect on September 1 and aimed for “full freedom of movement to be established” on Monday.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but the majority-Serb population in the region’s north does not accept Pristina’s rule. They continue to be politically loyal to Serbia, which continues to support them financially.
On Sunday evening, hundreds of ethnic Serbs parked trucks, tankers and other heavy transport vehicles on roads towards the Jarinje and Brnjak crossings with Serbia, blocking traffic, an AFP correspondent said.
NATO-led peacekeepers from the KFOR mission in a statement labelled the security situation in Kosovo’s north as tense.
They said in a statement on Sunday that they were prepared to intervene “if stability is jeopardised”.
About 100 countries, including the US and the majority of EU nations, have already recognized Kosovo, but Serbia refuses.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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