Serbia and Kosovo have resolved their long-running bitter dispute over license plates: in future, Serbian and Kosovo cars will have free travel between the capitals Belgrade and Prishtina. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Facebook yesterday that his government “has taken the decision to allow vehicles with Serbian registration plates to enter across the border”.
At the end of December, Belgrade had already decided that cars registered in Kosovo would be allowed to enter Serbia from January 1st, without having to cover their registration plates. Kurti also said that the Serbian side implemented this “completely”, so his government was also ready to do so. Everything is based “on the principle of reciprocity as a premise for regulating relations between independent States”.
Previously, cars registered in Serbia had to have Serbian symbols included on their license plates when entering Kosovo. On the other hand, Kosovo symbols also had to be covered when entering Serbia. By repealing these regulations, the governments of Prishtina and Belgrade resolved a dispute that had been going on for years.
However, the Serbian government representative in Kosovo, Petar Petkovic, said earlier this week that the registration of all vehicles was “a purely practical decision” and “cannot be interpreted as recognition of the unilaterally declared independence of so-called Kosovo”.