(22 Nov 2022)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
North Mitrovica - 22 November 2022
1. Wide of street with Serbian flags
2. Mid of flags
3. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Milorad Rakic, local resident:
"I think that this (situation) will last for about 10 days or so and it will calm down. Now it (the decision) has been postponed for 48 hours, and it probably will be for a few more days until other bosses decide what it is going to be like. There is no other way."
4. Wide of square with flags, people strolling
5. Newspaper headline reading (Serbian) "Kurti chose expulsion of Serbs and not agreement" and "Kurti wants war"
6. Newspaper headline reading (Serbian) "Breakdown in Brussels. EU admits: Kurti is guilty."
7. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Vukasin Blazic, local resident:
"I think that the situation is a little bit bad, and that Albanians are provoking now a little bit more than before. I don't know what's going to happen within 48 hours."
8. Various of police vehicles blockading bridge in Mitrovica
STORYLINE:
Kosovo residents reacted on Tuesday after the European Union's top diplomat held fruitless talks with leaders of Serbia and Kosovo and blamed them for failure to settle dispute over vehicle license plates.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said after Monday's meeting that both leaders had the responsibility "to urgently de-escalate" but that both parties had shown "unconstructive behavior" and a lack of respect for their international legal obligations.
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti tweeted over night that the decision for re-registration of vehicles has been postponed for 48 hours.
Speaking to the Associated Press, Milorad Rakic, a local resident from North Mitrovica said he was positive that the situation will de-escalate with time and a solution will be found.
Vukasin Blazic, another local resident was more cautious.
"I think that the situation is a little bit bad" he said "I don't know what's going to happen within 48 hours."
The EU-backed Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, which is aimed at normalizing relations between the neighbors and former foes, has been at a virtual standstill for years and the leaders agreed on very little.
The EU warned Serbia and Kosovo last week that they were on the edge of a precipice and must resolve their dispute or face the prospect of a return to their violent past.
Long-simmering tensions between Serbia and its former province mounted again in recent weeks over the Kosovo government's decision to ban Serbian-issued license plates.
Under the ban, about 6,300 ethnic Serbs owning cars with number plates deemed to be illegal in Kosovo were to be warned until Monday's midnight deadline, then fined for the following two months.
From April 21, they would only be permitted to drive with temporary local plates.
On Nov. 5, 10 Serb lawmakers, 10 prosecutors and 576 police officers in Kosovo's northern Mitrovica region resigned over the move.
Borrell said he put forward a proposal that was only accepted by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and pledged to keep trying hard for a solution.
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