Friday was the deadline for Serbian residents in the north of Kosovo to replace their car plates issued by Serbia with plates of the Republic of Kosovo.
The police said that of the estimated 10 thousand cars in the north of Kosovo, about 4 thousand 200 have new license plates, while many others have registered their cars in Serbia and are allowed to use them in Kosovo as well. like license plates of any other foreign country.
The deputy police commander in North Mitrovica, Veton Elshani, said that in the next two days, the police will only warn drivers who have not converted their license plates, while from next week they will be fined or even vehicles are confiscated.
“It practically means that a police officer can issue a warning, can issue a penalty or confiscate the car. It depends on the situation”, said Mr. Elshani.
The authorities had postponed several times the deadline for the registration of cars to give more time to the citizens in the north of Kosovo, who since the post-war have been using license plates issued by the Serbian authorities with names of the cities of Kosovo.
Branislav Kërstic from North Mitrovica says that the Serbs were left alone by Belgrade and were forced to register the cars.
“They were forced to either re-register their cars with RKS license plates, or carry out the re-registration process in the cities of Serbia. Unfortunately, this is a consequence of our current situation and there are no cars left with KM license plates,” said Mr. Kërstic.
The license plate issue was one of the main issues that led to tensions between Kosovo and Serbia last year.
In November of last year, the government of Kosovo began the step-by-step implementation of the decision to convert car license plates issued by Serbia, despite calls from the United States and the European Union to postpone the deadline.
Serbian employees were withdrawn from all local institutions on November 4, while since that time the north of Kosovo has been crossed several times with high tensions.
Western diplomats have been trying to speed up the process of normalizing relations between Kosovo and Serbia amid concerns about stability in the region, especially after the events of September 24 in northern Kosovo. While Pristina is required to establish the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, Belgrade is required to fulfill the obligations leading to the de facto recognition of Kosovo.