Kosovo Tensions Resurface As Showdown Looms Over License Plates
Pristina is pressing ahead with requiring minority ethnic Serbs to use Kosovo-issued car license plates, sparking new tensions in the ethnically divided territory.
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American Humvees from the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo patrol near Leposavic on September 1.
U.S. NATO peacekeepers were seen in force on the streets of northern Kosovo on September 1 as tensions reemerged in the region over a countdown announced for the enforcement of car license-plate requirements.
U.S. NATO peacekeepers were seen in force on the streets of northern Kosovo on September 1 as tensions reemerged in the region over a countdown announced for the enforcement of car license-plate requirements.
![A flyer showing Kosovar (top) and Serbian car license plates with the words “No surrender! [Serbian plates] will remain!” On September 1, Pristina announced that some 50,000 ethnic Serbs in Kosovo must exchange their Serbian license plates for ones issued by Kosovo by October 1. The prime minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, offered a tax break of some 5,000 euros to those who make the switch.](https://gdb.rferl.org/01320000-0aff-0242-327a-08da8bf69fbd_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A flyer showing Kosovar (top) and Serbian car license plates with the words “No surrender! [Serbian plates] will remain!”
On September 1, Pristina announced that some 50,000 ethnic Serbs in Kosovo must exchange their Serbian license plates for ones issued by Kosovo by October 1. The prime minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, offered a tax break of some 5,000 euros to those who make the switch.
On September 1, Pristina announced that some 50,000 ethnic Serbs in Kosovo must exchange their Serbian license plates for ones issued by Kosovo by October 1. The prime minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, offered a tax break of some 5,000 euros to those who make the switch.
![A Kosovar police officer works at the Jarinje border crossing from northern Kosovo into Serbia on September 1. Kurti called the move more "nothing more or less than an expression of the exercise of [Kosovar] sovereignty” and claimed the Serbian-issued plates being used by Serbs in Kosovo “are the legacy of the Milosevic regime,” referring to Serbia's late wartime leader Slobodan Milosevic.](https://gdb.rferl.org/01320000-0aff-0242-965d-08da8c036922_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A Kosovar police officer works at the Jarinje border crossing from northern Kosovo into Serbia on September 1.
Kurti called the move more "nothing more or less than an expression of the exercise of [Kosovar] sovereignty” and claimed the Serbian-issued plates being used by Serbs in Kosovo “are the legacy of the Milosevic regime,” referring to Serbia's late wartime leader Slobodan Milosevic.
Kurti called the move more "nothing more or less than an expression of the exercise of [Kosovar] sovereignty” and claimed the Serbian-issued plates being used by Serbs in Kosovo “are the legacy of the Milosevic regime,” referring to Serbia's late wartime leader Slobodan Milosevic.
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An armored Kosovar police vehicle drives near Leposavic in the north of Kosovo on September 1.
Tensions flared over the license-plate requirement this summer after Pristina announced the rule would go into effect on September 1. After Serbs set up roadblocks, the United States and EU pressured Kurti to delay the move.
Tensions flared over the license-plate requirement this summer after Pristina announced the rule would go into effect on September 1. After Serbs set up roadblocks, the United States and EU pressured Kurti to delay the move.
