Kosovo wanted to push through that Serbian residents must also drive with a Kosovo license plate, but they opposed this. According to Borrell, Serbia will stop issuing special plates for Kosovo and Kosovo will not continue to re-register vehicles belonging to Serbian residents.
Borrell says on Twitter that he is very pleased with these steps “to prevent further escalation.” Kosovo’s plans led to fierce protests among the Serbian minority. Kosovo was due to start imposing fines this week on the approximately 10,000 Serbs who continued to drive with Serbian license plates, but postponed this for two days amid international pressure for further negotiations. On Thursday it still wanted to start with the fine rain, but that is now off the track.
This is a big step. By recognizing Kosovo license plates, Serbia also indirectly recognizes the existence of an independent Kosovo. And that was the biggest taboo in Serbia until now. The tension will not immediately be out of the air. There is still a NATO mission with currently 3770 soldiers, which is “closely monitoring the situation” and is ready “to intervene if stability is threatened.” Borrell invites the countries to continue talking in the coming days.