It concerns the border crossings at Jarinje and Bernjak. The crossings were blocked with gravel-filled trucks and heavy machinery. Angry protesters also attacked Albanian passers-by, police said. An air-raid siren sounded for three hours in the town of North Mitrovica.
Serbs living in Kosovo will be required to put Kosovo license plates on their cars from Monday. Some 50,000 Serbs living in northern Kosovo, where the two closed border crossings are located, still use Serbian number plates fourteen years after Kosovo’s independence. Last year, Prime Minister Albin Kurti wanted to put an end to this, but he refused to do so due to protests. Demonstrations were held at the same border crossings. Kosovo then deployed special police forces and Serbia flew warplanes along the border.
Now Kurti is trying again and giving Serbs in the northern region 60 days to swap license plates. All Serbian citizens visiting Kosovo will also have to request an extra document at the border from Monday to be able to enter the country. Serbia asks the same from Kosovars.