Tensions in Kosovo are continuing to simmer as the requirement for all Kosovo citizens to put Kosovo-issued number plates on their cars, impacting ethnic Serbs who refuse to recognise the sovereignty of the country they live in, is set to come into force.
By 31 October, the new rule comes into force, impacting Serbs who continue to use number plates from the regime of Slobodan Milosevic and resulting in threats from Belgrade.
“We clearly told President Vucic and demanded that if the Kosovo Security Forces, the police or anyone else starts confiscating our property, and our property includes those license plates and those vehicles, we will use all means and resist in a democratic and peaceful way. It will be the resistance of the people”, said Goran Rakic, chairman of the Serbian List, an ethnic Serb party in Kosovo.
President Aleksander Vucic, who was a minister in Milosevic’s government during the Kosovo War, which saw thousands of Kosovo Albanians killed and over a million displaced, also issued threats following an urgent meeting of the security council on Thursday.
He said that any attempt to restrict the movement of cars displaying invalid pates would “surely meet the democratic resistance of the Serbian people, and the state of Serbia will not allow the persecution and killing of its people.”
Meanwhile, Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani said those Kosovo Serbs who have changed their plates have been threatened and even attacked.
“For a long time, Serbian citizens have been respecting the law and implementing the law, so they are converting the license plates and removing those from the time of Milosevic. Meanwhile, their houses are burning, their cars are burning. The latest case happened last night,” she said during a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
She added that the Kosovo government is right to implement the decision as it shows equality before the law and is not against Serbs.
“The fact that over 90% of Serbs already use legal license plates is evidence that this action is not against Serbian citizens. The minority that has not converted is due to the constant threats, including the burning of cars and houses, that the illegal structures are making,” she said.
Meanwhile, hints have been dropped by the Chief Advisor for the Balkans Sabri Demiri to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the latter could mediate between the two countries.
“We have been waiting for the meetings in Brussels between President Vucic and Prime Minister Kurti to reach a conclusion and to see how far they are coming with this agreement and then for us to intervene as mediators and we help in this way of agreement”, he stated in an interview for Klan Kosova.
