The European Union welcomed the decision of the Government of Serbia to officially recognize Kosovo RKS license plates, as a positive step in the implementation of the Agreement on the Road to Normalization of Relations, as well as previous obligations from the Dialogue regarding freedom of movement. According to the latest decision of the Government of Serbia, as of January 1, all vehicles from Kosovo will be allowed to move freely. This decision comes right after the Kosovo authorities banned vehicles with old Serbian license plates from traffic.
European Union spokesman Peter Stano announced on the “X” network that this decision shows that it is possible to make progress in the process of normalizing relations between Kosovo and Serbia.
“This decision paves the way for the complete abolition of the sticker regime and the EU now expects Kosovo to respond in a similar way,” Stano said.
He added that this is also a step in the right direction towards better regional and EU integration of the Western Balkans, which ultimately benefits the citizens of the region.
The Director of the Office for Kosovo of the Government of Serbia, Petar Petković, emphasized on Monday that this decision was made solely for practical reasons, to facilitate the position of individuals and enable their freedom of movement, and that it cannot be interpreted as recognition of the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo.
“That decision was actually our obligation from the agreement on freedom of movement from 2011, which was signed by Borko Stefanović, and which also refers to RKS license plates and Kosovo identity cards, the introduction of Kosovo driver’s licenses. It was simply the result of the agreements and relations of the regime towards Serbs and dialogue,” said Petković.
The application of the “sticker regime” for license plates, according to the agreement reached in Brussels between Kosovo and Serbia, began to be applied on October 4, 2021. According to that agreement, at the crossings on both the Kosovo and Serbian sides, the country markings were covered with white labels (stickers) on the license plates. This ended the previous regime of issuing test plates, but also ended the then ten-day blockade of roads by local Serbs from the north of Kosovo, Beta writes.
