• Kurti: Implementation decision ensures rule of law, peace and security (media)
• Kosovo PM postpones controversial licence plate change for Serbs (BIRN)
• Kosovo backs off from Serb car plate rule after West warnings (Reuters)
• Kosovo should give Serbs more time to change car plates, EU says (Reuters)
• The U.S. urges Kosovo to extend licence plate implementation deadline (media)
• Calm situation in north, "reprimand measures" start on November 1 (media)
• Serbs ask Belgrade to allocate €2 million for license plate fines (Telegrafi)
• PDK: Decision not serious; Kosovo turning into destructive party (RTK)
• Haradinaj: Decision on plates not coordinated with strategic partners (Telegrafi)
• Bislimi speaks about the Franco-German draft (Klan)
• European capital where Kosovo-Serbia deal will be signed, selected (AP)
• Serbia continues efforts to block Kosovo path to the Council of Europe (media)

Kurti: Implementation decision ensures rule of law, peace and security (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, took to Twitter on Saturday to explain the government’s decision on the conversion of licence plates. “Today our government approved gradual implementation of the policy on illegal license plates announced in June, which our international partners confirm is fully compliant with Brussels agreement. The implementation decision ensures rule of law on the one hand, and peace and security on the other,” Kurti tweeted.

Read full at: https://bit.ly/3SKCQMs

Kosovo PM postpones controversial licence plate change for Serbs (BIRN)

After Western pressure, Prime Minister Albin Kurti announced that his government will postpone the implementation of its decision to make drivers change Serbian vehicle licence plates for Kosovo ones from November 1.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti announced on Friday that he will postpone the implementation of his government’s decision to make drivers with vehicle licence plates issued by Serbia change them for Kosovo plates from November 1.

Kurti said at a meeting with his cabinet that there will now be a phased implementation of the change to Kosovo plates which will continue until April 21.

Drivers continuing to use Serbian plates will initially be reprimanded, then fined, then forced to attach probationary plates to their cars, he explained.

“Starting from November 1 until November 21, the measure will be a reprimand. From November 21, for the two next months until January 21, we will go with a measure of fines and from January 21 we will impose probationary plates,” he said.

“After April 21 there will be no probationary plates because there can be no other plates in use within the Republic of Kosovo,” he added.

Although he admitted that he had met Western ambassadors to discuss the situation, Kurti said that the decision to “scale up sanctions” came after internal discussions.

Kosovo Serb leaders have warned that they will blockade roads in the Serb-dominated north of Kosovo if the measure is imposed. Serbs in northern Kosovo set up barricades near the border with Serbia in August when the licence plate change was initially supposed to be imposed.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3U6KYZn

Kosovo backs off from Serb car plate rule after West warnings (Reuters)

How car license plates threaten to cause an international incident

Kosovo said it will delay a rule to confiscate cars owned by ethnic Serbs who refuse to use local car plates following criticism by Western countries that such a move may aggravate ethnic tensions.

Kosovo has attempted a few times this year to require its Serb minority to change their old car plates that date before 1999 when Kosovo was still part of Serbia. However, this move has been met with strong and sometimes violent resistance by local Serbs who live in the northern part of the country.

The last deadline was Nov. 1 when around 10,000 motorists had to switch their old car registrations.

Speaking during a government meeting, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said such a decision will be implemented gradually.

"These car plates are illegal ... we want to give a chance to all of those who are interested to be integrated," Kurti said.

He said the decision was taken to respect the rule of law but also address Western countries' concerns.

Kurti said drivers will first be given warnings for three weeks, then will be fined for a period of two months, followed by a period of temporary car plates and if they do not change their plates by April 21, their vehicles will be confiscated.

Local Serbs have threatened to block roads, as they did in the past, if Pristina takes any steps to stop them from using their cars.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008 but around 50,000 ethnic Serbs who live in the northern part of Kosovo refuse to recognize Pristina's authority and still consider themselves a part of Serbia.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3fruhsa

Kosovo should give Serbs more time to change car plates, EU says (Reuters)

The European Union urged Kosovo on Saturday to allow for a longer transition period phasing out old Serbian license plates still in use by the ethnic Serb minority in the country.

Kosovo said on Friday it would delay a rule to confiscate cars owned by ethnic Serbs who refuse to use local car plates following criticism by Western countries that such a move may aggravate ethnic tensions.

Kosovo has attempted a few times this year to require its Serb minority to change their old car plates that date before 1999 when Kosovo was still part of Serbia. However, this move has been met with strong and sometimes violent resistance by local Serbs who live in the northern part of the country.

The last deadline was Nov. 1 when around 10,000 motorists had to switch their old car registrations.

The European Union said Kosovo had the right to phase out the old car plates and had taken a step in the right direction, but that an agreement from 2016 foresaw a 12-month timeframe for the process which had not been followed.

"Kosovo should allow for a longer transition period," said Nabila Massrali, spokesperson for foreign affairs and security at the European Commission.

Read more at: https://reut.rs/3NmpWDl

The U.S. urges Kosovo to extend licence plate implementation deadline (media)

The United States, alongside with the international partners, urged the government of Kosovo to extend the implementation period for the new license plate regime.

“The United States, alongside our international partners, urges the government of Kosovo to extend the implementation period for the new license plate regime.  Kosovo has the right to implement the license plate regime under the Brussels Agreement, but an extension of the timeline is in the interest of making progress on the EU-facilitated dialogue to normalize Kosovo-Serbia relations.  The United States is disappointed and concerned that the government of Kosovo has rejected requests to do so from its international partners.  Kosovo and Serbia should urgently and flexibly work to reach a comprehensive agreement on normalized relations, centered on mutual recognition.  It is important that both parties reduce inflammatory rhetoric and undertake concrete actions to demonstrate their commitment to constructive collaboration to ensure a stable and prosperous future for the region,” reads an announcement issued by the U.S. State Department.

Calm situation in north, "reprimand measures" start on November 1 (media)

Two days before the implementation of "reprimanding measures", according to the decision of the government of Kosovo on license plates, the situation in the north of Mitrovica is calm. Serb citizens are generally opposed to changing license plates from KM to RKS, while the Kosovo authorities are determined to start implementing the decisions.

Besim Hoti, deputy director of the regional police in the north of Kosovo, said on Sunday that the situation is generally stable.

Meanwhile, the head of the Center for vehicle registration in North Mitrovica Ardita Ademi said that they will receive on Monday the correct information on how to act from November 1 when the reprimand comes into effect. In this center, they do not know what "punitive measure" means.

The government of Kosovo has stepped up the decision on license plates. Starting from November 1, until November 21, the measure will be that of reprimand, then from November 21 for two months, until January 21, it will be the measure of fine, and then from January 21 there will be trial plates for two more months. From April 21 there can be no more illegal license plates in circulation.

Serbs ask Belgrade to allocate €2 million for license plate fines (Telegrafi)

After the recent decision of the government of Kosovo, regarding license plates, the civic initiative in the north of Mitrovica "Serbian Survival" has reacted through an announcement on Facebook.

“We are deeply concerned about the risk that the owners of about 9,000 vehicles with the mentioned license plates will be fined, and then their vehicles will be confiscated. Under no circumstances do we support the decision of the government of Kosovo because it does not provide essential solutions and represents a gradual tightening of the noose around the neck of Serbian citizens.

“We demand that the mentioned measure be canceled immediately and that citizens be allowed to move freely regardless of the license plates they have! In the event of massive fines being imposed on owners of Serbian number plates, we suggest that the government of Serbia cover all the resulting costs, because it was the government that agreed to stop issuing license plates to Kosovo cities in 2016, which gives more arguments to the government of Kosovo. The government of Serbia can allocate two million euros for the payment of fines", it is stated in their announcement.

They also criticized the Serbian List, saying that it insists on destabilizing the situation, instead of solving it.

PDK: Decision not serious; Kosovo turning into destructive party (RTK)

The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) objected on Saturday the decision of the government of Kosovo regarding the vehicle license plates in the north. Bernard Nikaj, secretary of this party said in a media conference that with this decision, Prime Minister Kurti is withdrawing from the implementation of his decisions and is putting Kosovo in opposite positions with international partners.

"The entire debate of the last few days has been focused on the issue of whether the government's legitimate decision will be implemented from November 1, or whether the U.S. request to postpone the implementation of the decision for 10 months will be approved. In the end, the prime minister unilaterally decided to postpone the implementation of the decision for almost 6 months, withdrawing from his position, but also putting Kosovo in an unfavorable position in relation to the USA and other international partners," Nikaj said.

According to him, this approach is not serious and is turning Kosovo into a destructive party, questioning international support.

Haradinaj: Decision on plates not coordinated with strategic partners (Telegrafi)

The leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Ramush Haradinaj reacted after the decision of the government of Kosovo on license plates issued by Serbia, which will be implemented in four stages.

"It is unacceptable when we ask the world's most powerful democracies to help us end centuries-old disputes with Serbia, and precisely when they are at the peak of engagement, our prime minister acts on his own without coordination with strategic partners," Haradinaj wrote in a post on Facebook.

Bislimi speaks about the Franco-German draft (Klan)

The news website reports that although the First Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo was not allowed to participate at the Security Forum in Belgrade, he participated virtually.

For the audience in the capital of Serbia, Besnik Bislimi admitted for the first time that the Franco-German plan is closer to the Serbian position since it does not represent a final agreement and does not contain mutual recognition at this stage.

The Franco-German proposal was initially mentioned by the president of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, which was then denied by the prime minister Albin Kurti.

The U.S. emissary for Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar said that the details of this plan, which the U.S. supports, could be published soon.

European capital where Kosovo-Serbia deal will be signed, selected (AP)

Citing unnamed sources, Albanian Post reports that if the parties on the French-German plan, a signing ceremony will be held in a European capital (the editorial office claims to know the name of the capital) where highest European and U.S. officials have confirmed their attendance. The same sources told the news website that the objective is for signing ceremony to be held before the 1^st anniversary of the war in Ukraine. If everything goes to plan, both Kosovo and Serbia will score major economic and political benefits.

Serbia continues efforts to block Kosovo path to the Council of Europe (media)

The Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic has said that Serbia has constantly made efforts and calls for Kosovo not to join the Council of Europe. He said that Belgrade will continue this lobbying.

"Since the first day of my return to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I have addressed this very issue, because this is also part of the general pressure exerted on Serbia. We are not in a favorable position, it is no secret, because the acceptance of new members in the Council of Europe does not require the consent of all, but two-thirds of the current members.

On the other hand, the lobbying of Kosovo to enter this organization has continued for a long time, for years, and we have made a great effort until now so that this does not happen. We will continue to work on it, both towards the Council of Europe and towards all the members, because we know very well that the admission of Kosovo would be a dangerous precedent and a heavy blow for this organization. We always tell them clearly that by opening the door to Kosovo, we will open the door to who knows which other separatist territory that may also ask for membership in the Council of Europe tomorrow," Dacic said.