A possibility of a quick agreement according to the Franco-German proposal between Kosovo and Serbia seems to be close. While the end of October is coming, a deadline for replacing Serbian vehicle license plates with those of the Republic of Kosova, expires. The deadline was postponed for 30 days by the Government of Kosovo at the end of August, with a request of the American ambassador Jeff Hovenier. Meanwhile, the Government’s address has now received a request to postpone the deadline once again, but this time for 10 months. The envoy of the United States for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, during his visit in Pristina last week, said that the request to postpone deadline for the replacement of license plates, for another 10 months, comes directly from the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. Tensions are expected to increase in the north of Kosova by the end of October, serbs are taking as a pretext the decision to replace license plates to create conflict. Since the situation is quite sensitive, also the Special Emissary of the EU, Miroslav Lajcak, addressed to the Government of Kosovo the request to postpone the deadline. It is important at this time to avoid the risk of escalation, hoping for a quick agreement to be reached between Kosova and Serbia.
The Government of Kosova, on the other hand, said that it would not postpone the decision to replace Serbian license plates with RKS ones, for the citizens who still have Serbian license plates, a deadline was given, and expires on October 31. Partially correct decision, because Kosova has the right on the issue to convert license plates and postponing this deadline means moving the same problem to another stage, but also the request from the American State Secretary Antony Blinken, should be carefully considered by the Government of Kosova, although Prime Minister Albin Kurti seems quite determined on this issue. “We have already made a postponement on July 31st. We postponed it for a month and instead of October 1, it is November 1, so the last date is October 31, when all citizens of the Republic of Kosova, who have vehicles with out-of-date license plates from the time of Milosevic, will to have the opportunity to convert them into legal license plates”, Kurti said in a statement regarding the US request to postpone the license plate deadline.
Violent protests, barricades but also gunfire blew up from the northern Serbs, at the end of this August, when the first deadline for changing license plates was given, by the Kosova Government. EULEX reported about organization of illegal structures, which are the biggest risk for destabilization in the north of Kosova. Consisting of armed people who are directly controlled by the Serbian government, these illegal structures have often shown their presence through graffiti on the streets of North Mitrovica, with slogans in the Serbian language ‘Ne brinite’, ‘Tu smo’, ‘Čekamo’ (meaning “don’t worry, we are here, waiting”), under the trench with the inscription ‘North Brigade’. Security experts say that this organization involves about 300 armed men, who in the past have operated in this area under other names, such as “The bridge guards” and “Civil Defense”. The presence of armed people in the north has also been confirmed by the EULEX mission in Kosovo.
Turning back in September last year, when the Republic of Kosova started implementing reciprocity measures regarding the license plates and ID cards for serbs entering Kosova, the official Belgrade is acting the same, regarding Kosova Government decisions which have to do with the establishment of order and constitutional law in the North. Provocations for new tensions started few days ago by bringing out the Serbian army and military artillery with heavy equipment near the border with Kosova. Currently, the Serbian state has 28 military bases located along the border with Kosova, which are considered as a threat to security and stability in Kosova and region.
Also NATO Mission in Kosova, which is the guarantor of the borders, has warned of the increase in the number of KFOR military troops until November two, an increased presence of NATO troops can also be noticed in the North of Kosova.How will end the issue of replacing Serbian license plates with RKS ones, is not known yet. The Government of Kosova has confirmed that it is determined to implement the decision for replacing license plates, which in this case would produce other measures such as the confiscation of vehicles with Serbian license plates, but we know this will not pass in silence. Another option is that Prime Minister Kurti will change his mind in last moment, due to the personal request of US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken to postpone the decision, and continue with the accelerated dialogue process, which in itself would also have to fix those technical issues like vehicles license plates. Whatever the decision is, it must be in full coordination with the Western allies. The ground has been prepared for clash by serbian extremists, serbian and Russian agents who are believed to be operating in this part of Kosova. They are also using the intimidation method for the local Serbs who have already converted Serbian license plates to RKS ones, by burning their cars. We know that Russia is very involved in Serbia, especially in the Serbia-Kosova tensions, trying to spread the conflict in the Balkans, through their ally, with whom they share the same mindset for their neighboring countries.
