European Union envoy for Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajčák, together with the envoy of the USA for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, and the American ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, had a meeting today with the Serbian representatives in the north of Kosovo.
After the meeting, Lajčák said that the tensions of July 31 cannot be repeated in the north of Kosovo, when some local Serbs erected barricades to prevent the Government of Kosovo from implementing its decisions on license plates and travel documents.
Meanwhile, Escboar said after the meeting that the US is taking into account the concerns of the mayors of the municipalities with a Serbian majority in Kosovo and the heads of the Serbian List at the time when September 1, the day of the resumption of the implementation of the decisions of the Government of Kosovo on reciprocity with license plates and identity cards is coming.

In their previous visit to Kosovo, Escobar and Lajčák  met with the heads of state and opposition to resolve the crisis related to license plate reciprocity. After the meetings, Escobar emphasized that they are committed to preventing any escalation in Kosovo on September 1.

Escobar said that they have been assured by Kosovo and Serbia that there will be no violence on September 1, which is the day when the two government decisions on license plates and document reciprocity come into force. Even Lajčák stated that they are working to find a solution regarding the tense situation in the north of Kosovo. Lajčák said that there were “good” meetings with institutional leaders in Kosovo, but the process will continue to avoid “any tension on September 1”.

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said on Wednesday in a media conference that the KS license plates will not be returned. He reiterated that vehicles with these license plates will have to be re-registered in the RKS – Republic of Kosovo. Regarding entry/exit documents, Kurti said that the best alternative would be their complete removal, both for Kosovo citizens when they enter Serbia, and for Serbian citizens when they enter Kosovo.

Escobar and Lajčák will travel today to Belgrade, where they will meet with the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.

Kurti and Vucic met on August 18 in Brussels, as part of the dialogue for the normalization of relations to find a solution for license plates and documents, but couldn’t achieve any concrete results.

/Klara Ruci/