Kosovo follows Serbia to end licence plate dispute

Kosovo will allow vehicles with Serbian licence plates to enter its territory without covering up national symbols, following  Belgrade's lead, ending a lengthy dispute over the issue.

With Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia, which Belgrade along with key allies Russia and China refuses to recognise, car plates became a flashpoint over their display of national symbols.

Until now, vehicles from either Kosovo or Serbia could cross the border only if they used stickers to hide the symbols, opposed by both former war foes.

At a government meeting late Thursday, the Kosovo leadership "approved the decision to remove the paper stickers or stickers regime for cars with Serbian licence plates," an official statement said.

The decision was "an act of good neighbourliness and comes after full recognition of the number plates of the Republic of Kosovo by Serbia," it added.

The head of Serbia's office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic, told public broadcaster RTS on Monday that Belgrade's initiative would  "enable freedom of movement to all vehicles" from Kosovo.

The decision was to begin to be implemented from January 1, Petkovic said, but he underlined that a "disclaimer" would be posted at every border crossing.

"Allowing all vehicles to enter ... is purely a practical decision... and cannot be interpreted as recognising the unilaterally declared independence of so-called Kosovo," he said.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said he was informed by the police that there is "full implementation of the process" by Serbia.

"Therefore, based on the principle of reciprocity as a premise for the regulation of relations between independent states, last night we made a decision to allow the entry of vehicles crossing the border with Serbian license plates," Kurti said on Facebook on Friday.

In 2022, Kosovo pulled back from a controversial plan to penalise drivers who did not swap vehicle licence plates issued by Belgrade for those from Pristina.

Kosovo's Serb minority -- which remains loyal to Belgrade and still considers itself a part of Serbia -- reacted first, quitting the local administration in Serb-majority north Kosovo and then setting up roadblocks, occasionally clashing with the police.

But since then, "99 percent" of Kosovo Serbs voluntarily swapped licence plates for Pristina-issued ones, the Serbian

government said.

- Rare deal -

An agreement to mutually recognise licence plates was struck in 2021 under an EU-negotiated deal, but it had not been  implemented.

Kurti had insisted that licence plates issued by Serbia violated the sovereignty of Kosovo.

But, after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced the end of the "sticker regime" in December, Kosovo said it would "wait and see" if Serbia really did abandon the policy.

Even though this is one of the few breakthrough deals to be implemented between neighbours, rhetoric of the officials remained combative.

The head of Serbia's Office for Kosovo on Friday commented on Kosovo's decision to follow Serbia's lead on licence plates by saying that Kurti "has given himself the task of rekindling the flames of hatred and conflict in the region".

"He does not understand at all that ordinary people in Kosovo ... do not want to be hostages of his ideology of hatred, but that they want to live normally and safely," Petar Petkovic said in a statement.

While Serbia still officially refuses to recognise the independence of Kosovo, it has made several concessions as part of the EU-led dialogue as a means of making the day-to-day lives of people traveling or residing across the border easier.

In August of 2022, a similar deal was reached when Belgrade recognised Kosovo ID cards as a valid entry document in Serbia.