Kosovo's authorities have begun implementing a plan to phase out old vehicle license plates issued by Serbia by handing out warnings to owners -- a move seen as a softening of the government's initially hard-line stance on the matter following international pressure.
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Drivers with old Serbian plates were issued first warnings at the Jarinje border crossing with Serbia on November 1 and were invited to report to the reregistration center in order to get new Kosovo plates.
Kosovo and Serbia fought a bloody war in the late 1990s, with Kosovo eventually declaring independence from Serbia in 2008.
Belgrade -- as well as Russia, China, and five EU member states -- has not recognized its former province's independence and accuses Pristina of suppressing the rights of minority Serbs, who account for 5 percent of Kosovo's 1.8 million population, which is 90 percent Albanian.
Kosovo has attempted several times this year to require its Serbian minority to change their old car plates from before 1999, when Kosovo was still part of Serbia.
The attempts have been met with strong and sometimes violent resistance by ethnic Serbs who live in the northern part of the country. On July 31 and August 1, Serbs in the north set up barricades in protest.
Following a postponement, the last deadline was November 1, when around 10,000 owners had to switch their old car registrations.
But after Western warnings that such a move could raise tensions between Kosovo and Serbia, Prime Minister Albin Kurti on October 28 announced a watered-down, gradual phaseout.
Kurti said drivers would first be given warnings during an initial three-week period starting on November 1. That is to be followed by a two-month period when 150-euro ($149) fines will be issued. There will then be another two-month period during which temporary license plates will be valid.
If drivers do not change their plates by April 21, their vehicles will be confiscated, according to the government decree.
Furthermore, to stimulate drivers to get give up their Serbian plates, the government also announced that it will forfeit an additional customs tax for imported used vehicles whose owners switch to new Kosovo license plates.
In addition, they will also benefit from waivers of the license-plate costs and registration fees that altogether amount to 57 euros ($56).
Kurti announced the compromise plan a day after minority Serbs threated to again block roads if authorities in Pristina did not agree to delay implementation of the phaseout.
Despite the deal sweeteners announced by Kurti, RFE/RL journalists on the ground at the Jarinje crossing reported that some drivers whose vehicles had old plates said they were confused and still did not know how to proceed.
The European Union has told Kosovo and Serbia that they must normalize ties if they want to eventually join the 27-country bloc.
The EU and the United States recently have stepped up mediation efforts, fearing that uncertainties over the war in Ukraine and Serbia's close ties with Russia could lead to a flare-up of tensions in Kosovo.
