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Kosovo postpones imposition of license plate fines for 48 hours

Albin Kurti; Photo: European Union 2021

PRISTINA – Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti has postponed for 48 hours the fining of drivers whose cars still have license plates issued by Serbia, Radio Free Europe reported. This decision was made after talks with the United States. Kurti said he is ready to work with Washington and the EU to solve the issue over the next two days.

After several hours of negotiations in Brussels, the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Josep Borrell announced on Monday that there was no agreement regarding license plates. He said that the EU negotiators presented a proposal to avoid further escalation, which the President of Serbia accepted while the Prime Minister of Kosovo rejected.

The spokesperson of the State Department invited Albin Kurti to cooperate with EU High Representative Josep Borrell and EU Special Envoy for Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue Miroslav Lajčak.

“Both Prime Minister Kurti and President Vučić will need to make concessions to ensure that we do not jeopardize decades of hard-won peace in an already fragile region. We join the EU in calling on Kosovo to immediately suspend any planned measures that would escalate tensions, including the imposition of vehicle fines”, Price stated.

He underlined that the USA is disappointed that the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia failed to agree on a solution to the current crisis in Kosovo in Brussels on Monday.

After talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, USA ambassador to Serbia Christopher Hill praised Vučić for his “constructive engagement” in the dialogue with Pristina, expressing hope that a solution to the license plates issue in Kosovo would be found.

“I encouraged President Vučić to continue his constructive involvement in the process, with the hope that we will find a solution. Ultimately, both parties will need to be involved, while a constructive approach is the right one”, Hill told reporters after the meeting with Vučić, N1 reported.

He underlined that the USA greatly appreciates the work that the EU is doing in the dialogue, adding that he would not rate yesterday’s talks in Brussels as “failed”. He believes that additional talks are needed and that both sides should be flexible in finding a solution.

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