2024-01-02 05:45:05
Cars wait to cross the border between Kosovo and Serbia, in Merdare, Kosovo, December 17, 2023. VALDRIN XHEMAJ / REUTERS
The discord that has poisoned relations between Serbia and its neighbor, Kosovo, for more than two years has come to an end. A very first car registered in Kosovo and bearing the words “RKS” (Republic of Kosovo) was able to cross, Monday January 1, shortly after 8 a.m., the border crossing of Jarinje, between the north of this predominantly Balkan territory Albanian and Serbia. The vehicle did not carry the sticker which was obligatory until now to hide these same letters, as well as the Kosovo crest, before entering Serbian territory.
The media Kosovo Onlinewhich reported the news on its website, with supporting photos and video, specifies that, on the Serbian side, a poster posted at the border post reminds us that the measure is purely practical and that it in no way constitutes case one “recognition of the unilaterally declared independence of the so-called Kosovo”.
This issue of license plates may seem like nothing, but it constitutes progress in the normalization of relations between the two countries, while Serbia refuses to recognize the independence of Kosovo, proclaimed in 2008, after the war of 1998-1999 between these two entities of the former Yugoslavia. When entering Kosovo, motorists registered in Serbia were also required to hide national emblems, in particular letters relating to registration reserved for Kosovo in the Serbian administrative system, which made Pristina jump. The Kosovar Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, assured that reciprocity would be applied in the event of Serbia’s relaxation.
An agreement concluded in 2011 but never completely implemented
On this burning issue, it is Belgrade which has taken a step forward. On December 25, 2023, the head of the Serbian office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic, announced that “authorization will be given to all vehicles to circulate (…) in order to facilitate the freedom of movement of people”.
Serbia and Kosovo agreed to recognize each other’s license plates after an agreement reached in 2011 under the auspices of the European Union (EU). Except that the decision was never completely implemented. Worse, it ignited the powder when, in the fall of 2021, Albin Kurti banned Serbian plates from Kosovo, before reversing his decision. Barricades in northern Kosovo, where a Serb minority of 40,000 inhabitants escape the control of Pristina, then appeared.
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