UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, November 1, 2022

Price: We asked Kurti to postpone deadline, not implement in stages (media)
EU: Decision on plates is legitimate, but should be within the dialogue (RTK)
Kryeziu: All terms of the Agreement have expired (Koha)
Police publish reprimand form for illegal license plates (Kallxo)
Svecla: Kosovo Police will start issuing reprimands from Tuesday (media)
UK Foreign Secretary meets Kurti, values Kosovo achievements (media)
Serbs: New decision, a choice between burned or confiscated cars (Telegrafi)
In Northern Kosovo, Tensions Threaten to Boil Over (Foreign Policy)
Compromise on license plates doesn’t abate intl pressure on Kosovo (Exit)
KFOR’s Regional Command-East welcomes new maneuver battalion (army.mil)
The right to act does not necessarily mean the right act (Euractiv)
We need to empower women, engage them as active agents of peace (media)
Roma language becomes official language in municipality of Prizren (media)

Price: We asked Kurti to postpone deadline, not implement in stages (media)

Spokesman for the U.S. State Department, Ned Price, in a press conference held on Monday, said that the United States of America is disappointed and concerned that the government of Kosovo has rejected the request and advice of its closest international allies on the issue of extending the deadline for the implementation of the decision on license plates.

Price has said that the U.S. along with other partners have made it clear that they want a full postponement.

"We have made it clear that Kosovo should postpone the implementation period. We are desperate and concerned that the government of Kosovo has rejected the request and the advice of the closest international partners for implementation," Ned Price said.

Asked about the new decision of the government of Kosovo to divide the implementation of such a decision into several stages, Price said that the USA has been clear both publicly and privately and that they have requested a complete postponement.

"We have been clear, both publicly and privately, that the U.S., together with other allies, demand a full postponement of the implementation. We are not asking for partial implementation or phased implementation. The international community has requested from Kosovo a full postponement of the implementation," Price said, adding that the discussions are still continuing.

EU: Decision on plates is legitimate, but should be within the dialogue (RTK)

Spokeswoman for the European Union, Nabila Masrali, told a press conference in Brussels that Kosovo has the right to implement the decision to convert license plates in stages, but the process must be developed in an agreed, comprehensive manner and through dialogue.

She emphasized that the EU would continue to work with Belgrade and Pristina to find a permanent solution to the license plate issue. She called on both sides to remain calm to avoid new tensions.

"This decision is not in accordance with the agreements from the dialogue between the two parties and in accordance with the 2016 agreement," she said adding that this decision is a step in the right direction, but it is not part of the dialogue that is binding on both sides.

Answering the question of what the next steps of Brussels regarding the issue of license plates will be, Masrali emphasized that the EU continues to work with partners to find a permanent solution.

"Again, we call on all parties to remain calm so that there are no new tensions on the ground," Masrali said.

Kryeziu: All terms of the Agreement have expired (Koha)

The spokesperson of the government of Kosovo Perparim Kryeziu said that all the deadlines set with the preliminary agreements in Brussels have already expired.

"All the deadlines foreseen with the preliminary agreements in Brussels have already expired. The deadline for these agreements was in September 2021. We are on October 31, 2022, while from September 1 of this year, we have opened the possibility for their conversion. This period will last until March 31, 2023," he said.

Kryeziu recalled that the license plate issue was addressed in Brussels when the previous agreement expired. According to him, in the meetings of the last few weeks, Brussels officials did not request the implementation of the point of the agreement that was recently mentioned in the communiqué.

"With the mediation of Mr. Lajcak, on September 30 of last year, an agreement was reached to commit to finding a permanent solution. But even after seven meetings of technical groups and 6 months of efforts, due to the destructiveness of the Serbian side, there was no agreement. Therefore, apart from the fact that every deadline for illegal license plates has passed, as of April 21, the issue of license plates does not constitute a process in which Brussels is directly involved," Kryeziu said.

"With the latest decision on the timely sequencing and graduating sanctions for the implementation of the previous decision on illegal license plates, we have acted responsibly in relation to our obligations to respect the rule of law and at the same time in relation to our commitment to peace and security. With our partners we have discussed the joint concerns and taking them into consideration we have come to a solution that places side by side the rule of law and order and peace and security. International partners have been notified in advance of our approach, solution, and decision".

Police publish reprimand form for illegal license plates (Kallxo)

The Kosovo Police has made public the reprimand that drivers of vehicles with illegal number plates "PR", "KM", "PZ", "GL", "UR", "PE", "DA" or "ĐA" will receive. According to the Police, in cases of reprimand, drivers will be required to go to the Vehicle Registration Center to register their vehicles with RKS license plates. The letter of reprimand, according to the Police, will be applied by police officials throughout the territory of Kosovo, including at the border crossing points.

These reprimands will contain the driver's name and surname, personal number, date of birth, date of stop, time of stop, the vehicle he was driving and license plates.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has once again called on the citizens to return the vehicles with illegal number plates to the RKS.

Svecla: Kosovo Police will start issuing reprimands from Tuesday (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, said on Monday that starting from November 1, the Kosovo Police will start issuing reprimands to owners of vehicles with illegal number plates issued by Serbia with acronyms of the cities of Kosovo. Svecla called on citizens to re-register their vehicles and get the legal licence plates RKS.

“I encourage citizens not to remain hostage to political interests and criminal groups but use all opportunities and register their vehicles at all Registration Centers, regardless of their place of residence. The Government of the Republic of Kosovo is committed to provide security and rule of law throughout the country and for all its citizens without distinction,” Svecla wrote on Facebook.

UK Foreign Secretary meets Kurti, values Kosovo achievements (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti during his visit to the United Kingdom, was received in a meeting by UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. Kurti, congratulated Cleverly, for his new position, while thanking him for the continuous support of the United Kingdom.

As announced in the government's press release, Kurti has invited for even deeper cooperation between the two countries, especially in the field of commercial and economic exchanges.

The announcement notes that the UK chief diplomat, James Cleverly, has expressed the British kindness and admiration for Kosovo, while he highly valued the achievements of the state of Kosovo and the attitude that Kosovo has been maintaining from the beginning towards the Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Cleverly took to Twitter to inform about his meeting with Kurti. “Today I met the Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti ahead of the Berlin Process Summit. We discussed the Kosovo-Serbia relationship and the need for courage and compromise to benefit people in both countries. UK-Kosovo relations are strong and long-standing,” Cleverly wrote.

Serbs: New decision, a choice between burned or confiscated cars (Telegrafi)

The local Serbs of Kosovo are assessing that the new decision of the government has placed them between two difficult decisions, the burning of their cars by criminal groups and their confiscation by state bodies. According to them, they were not consulted at all about the new decision of the government of Kosovo. A day before the start of issuing reprimands for people driving illegal license plates, many cars with KM and similar license plates were seen circulating in the north.

"They have limited our right to move. No one is interested in solutions. People here do not want this solution that the government has brought," said citizen Ivana Andjelkovic.

However, some of them have hope that the Kosovar executive will find another solution.

"This will be resolved. Albin Kurti will solve it with these in Belgrade. Nothing can be finished in one day, but more time is needed for such solutions," said Dragojub Milenkovic.

Serb activist Igor Markovic said that Prime Minister Albin Kurti failed to fulfill an important promise, the dialogue with the local Serbs.

In Northern Kosovo, Tensions Threaten to Boil Over (Foreign Policy)

The Kosovo government’s laws on ID cards and license plates have enraged ethnic Serbs and heightened tensions between the young nation’s fractured communities.

A Kalashnikov fires through the darkness. It’s a short staccato burst upward, north of a bridge that separates two embittered communities living in a fragile peace, more than 22 years after a brutal civil war.

The conflict ended following an unprecedented NATO military air campaign, international sanctions, and the threat of a ground invasion—all to stop the genocidal actions of Serbian nationalist leader Slobodan Milosevic’s forces in Kosovo. By October 2000, in the face of growing opposition, Milosevic resigned from office. A brittle peace and nascent independent Kosovar state then took root in the Western Balkans.

Underlying issues, however, remain unresolved. Particularly in northern Kosovo’s city of Mitrovica, where a proud Serbian minority—surrounded by ethnic Kosovar Albanians—continues to maintain close ties to Belgrade and Moscow, occasionally participating in acts of violent defiance against the ethnic Albanian-led government in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital.