BELGRADE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd November, 2022) Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti announced on Tuesday the decision to postpone fines for car plates with the Serbian identifier for the disputed region on the border for another 48 hours at Washington's request.
On Monday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that the Kosovar authorities had sent police special forces to its northern areas after failed negotiations with Belgrade in Brussels on postponing Pristina's controversial policy on car plates. The United States, along with the European Union, later urged the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia to take immediate steps to de-escalate tensions.
"I thank (US) Ambassador (to Kosovo Jeffrey) Hovenier for his commitment and engagement. I accept his request for a 48-hour postponement on imposition of fines for illegal 'KM' (and other) car plates. I am happy to work with the US and the EU to find a solution during the next two days," Kurti tweeted.
Kosovo's authorities require that local Serbs re-register their car plates, demanding that they feature the EU-standard letter code of RKS (Republic of Kosovo) instead of KM (Kosovska Mitrovica), the Serbian identifier. The deadline for the re-registration was October 31. Issuing fines for Serbian plates was supposed to start on November 21, then was postponed to the morning of November 22 during negotiations in Brussels.
