The European Union (EU) welcomes the decisions of Kosovo and Serbia to officially recognize each other’s vehicle license plates and completely abolish the sticker regime, said the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell.
In the announcement published on Sunday, it is stated that “this decision is a positive step towards the implementation of the Agreement on the path to normalization, as well as the previous obligations from the dialogue regarding freedom of movement”.
“This shows that progress in improving the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia is possible and confirms the importance of continuing work within the dialogue led by the EU. This also represents a step in the right direction towards better regional and European integration of the Western Balkans, which ultimately benefits the citizens of the region,” Borrell stated.
At the end of last year, Serbia decided that from January 1st, 2024, it will allow the entry of vehicles with RKS license plates, without the need to place stickers. The same decision was made by the Government of Kosovo on January 4th when it comes to license plates from Serbia.
The application of the “sticker regime” for license plates, according to the agreement reached in Brussels between Kosovo and Serbia, began on October 4th, 2021. According to that agreement, the country markings were covered with white stickers on the license plates at the crossings on both the Kosovo and Serbian sides. This ended the previous regime of issuing test plates but also ended the then blockade of roads by local Serbs from the north of Kosovo.
According to the data of the Government of Kosovo, from November 1st to December 14th last year, 3.405 citizens changed their license plates to “RKS”, most of them in the municipalities of North Mitrovica and Leposavic.
