• Western Balkans leaders to sign deals on closer integration in Berlin (Reuters)
• Number-plate crackdown raises tensions in Kosovo (BBC)
• Serbia sends troops to Kosovo border as NATO could face conflict (Newsweek)
• Tension brews anew between Kosovo, Serbia over car plates (AP)
• KFOR ready to intervene if stability comes under threat (Nacionale)
• “Kurti sent proposals to Scholz and Macron on agreement with Serbia” (RFE)
• Mehaj refutes Vucic’s remarks about drones: Fabrication to instill fear (media)
• UK MPs promise support for Kosovo membership in intl institutions (Koha)
• Haziri: Early elections, even if agreement reached with Serbia (media)
• Tadic calls for protection for Rada Trajkovic (media)

Western Balkans leaders to sign deals on closer integration in Berlin (Reuters)

Western Balkans leaders are set to sign three agreements on mutual recognition of identity cards, university degrees and professional qualifications at a summit in Berlin on Thursday, German government officials said.

Moves towards closer integration aim to bring greater stability to a region that emerged from the break-up of Yugoslavia and the ethnic wars of the 1990s and is still wracked by tensions.

They also aim to bring Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania closer to their stated goal of joining the neighboring European Union amid fears about the rising influence of Russia and China in the region.

Serbia in particular, which was bombed by NATO two decades ago, has long struggled to balance historically close ties with Russia against aspirations for economic and political integration with the West.

One of the German government officials said on Tuesday that Serbia must decide whether it wants to join the European Union or enter into a partnership with Russia.

"The need for a decision is coming to a head in view of geopolitical developments," the official said in reference to Russia's war in Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to receive leaders of the six Balkan countries and the EU in Berlin on Thursday as a revival of the so-called "Berlin Process" that his predecessor Angela Merkel put in motion.

Number-plate crackdown raises tensions in Kosovo (BBC)

A row over car number plates seems an unlikely reason for placing troops on alert and falling out with international partners. But Serbia and Kosovo are currently doing precisely that.

Kosovo's insistence that ethnic-Serb residents must surrender their Serbian-issued licence plates is straining relations with its main international supporters, the EU and the United States.

Nato's Kfor peacekeeping troops are increasing patrols in case of any incidents. And Serbia's defence minister says its troops are standing by "to protect all the citizens of Serbia, including the Serbs in Kosovo".

Soon after midnight on Tuesday, Kosovo police began handing out their first written reprimands, as the deadline for the number-plate swap expired. The first recipient was a woman arriving from Serbia through the checkpoint at Jarinje, in the north of Kosovo.

The police notice warned that she must remove the Serbian-issued number plate from her car by 21 November, or face a fine. But the driver demurred, saying she would wait to hear from Serbia's government before making any changes.

There seems to be little chance of Belgrade altering its stance. It says that Kosovo Serbs have every right to use Serbian-issued number plates, reflecting Serbia's non-recognition of Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence in 2008.

Read more at: https://bbc.in/3Nve5mC

Serbia sends troops to Kosovo border as NATO could face conflict (Newsweek)

A video showing Serbian troops reportedly being deployed to the Kosovo border has emerged online, as tensions grow between the two countries over new restrictions imposed on the Serbian population by Kosovo's government.

Footage circulated by local media in Serbia on Tuesday shows several army vehicles reportedly traveling toward the border with Kosovo.

The never-resolved sovereignty dispute between Serbia and Kosovo escalated this summer, with car plates and ID cards serving as the catalyst for the current crisis.

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

Tension brews anew between Kosovo, Serbia over car plates (AP)

Serbia said Tuesday it has placed its troops on the border with Kosovo on a heightened state of alert over a row about car license plates that has threatened to further escalate tensions between the two Balkan foes.

Earlier, Kosovo authorities warned members of the ethnic Serbian minority living in the former Serbian province to replace their vehicle registration plates with Kosovo ones, despite calls from the U.S. and the European Union to postpone the move.

In response, Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic said that President Aleksandar Vucic, who is the supreme commander of the country’s armed forces, placed the military on a state of “readiness.”

“We are not getting ready for a war, but we must not be unprepared,” Vucevic said. “We are ready to continue our dialogue with Pristina.”

It is not clear what the state of readiness meant practically. The populist Serbian president has been prone to saber rattling when tensions get high with Kosovo — whose independence Belgrade does not recognize.

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

KFOR ready to intervene if stability comes under threat (Nacionale)

KFOR officials told the news website on Tuesday that the situation in the north of Kosovo is currently calm and that the peacekeeping troops are fully prepared to intervene if there are any threats to the stability, security, and freedom of movement.

“KFOR troops are closely monitoring the situation on the ground. The overall situation is stable and there has been no change in the positioning of the forces of the NATO-led KFOR mission. In this period, the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) is conducting a routine exercise for one of its reserve units. This will result in a temporary increase in the number of troops on the ground. COMKFOR remains in close contact with all the main interlocutors, including representatives of institutions and security organisations of Kosovo, and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Serbia. It is crucial to avoid unilateral actions and initiatives that could lead to escalation or violence,” KFOR officials said.

“Kurti sent proposals to Scholz and Macron on agreement with Serbia” (RFE)

First Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi, said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Albin Kurti has sent proposals to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron about a final agreement with Serbia. Bislimi said he has seen the document. “A very small group of people have seen the document. At this point I cannot talk about our impressions, assessments, or proposals, but I can say that we have sent our proposals to Scholz and Macron,” Bislimi said in an interview with Radio Free Europe.

Bislimi said Kurti will stay in Berlin on Thursday and will have the chance to discuss the proposals with the leaders of Germany and France. “The Prime Minister will be in Berlin on Thursday, where three important agreements will be signed within the Berlin Process. I think there he will have the opportunity to inform German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron about the position of the Kosovo side on the proposal,” he added.

Mehaj refutes Vucic’s remarks about drones: Fabrication to instill fear (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Defence, Armend Mehaj, refuted on Tuesday claims made by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic about the flying of drones from the territory of the Republic of Kosovo over a location in Serbia. Mehaj said the claims are completely untrue that “any such discourse is only a pretext to increase the number of Serbian troops along the border with the Republic of Kosovo and as a tool to spread panic among the citizens of both countries”.

Mehaj said Vucic’s claims are aimed at destabilising the Republic of Kosovo “by instilling fear among our citizens, the Kosovo Serbs, about the alleged violent measures”.

UK MPs promise support for Kosovo membership in intl institutions (Koha)

UK MPs have promised Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Tuesday that they will support Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe, NATO, and other international institutions. A press release issued by the Kosovo government notes that Kurti received the promise during a meeting in London with MPs Harriett Baldwin, Stephen Doughty, Alex Sobel, Martin Vickers, Luke Pollard, Matthew Offord and Tony Lloyd. “He thanked the UK representatives for their contribution to Kosovo. The discussions focused on furthering the friendship and partnership between the Republic of Kosovo and the United Kingdom,” the press release notes.

Haziri: Early elections, even if agreement reached with Serbia (media)

Deputy leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Lutfi Haziri, said on Tuesday that Kosovo will go to early national elections even if Prime Minister Albin Kurti signs a final settlement with Serbia. “Even if a comprehensive agreement is reached, three or six months later, the country will go to elections,” he argued.

“The Prime Minister must either get the job done or make way for others. Neither the Americans nor the Europeans need to ask him because they don’t interfere in domestic affairs,” Haziri said.

Tadic calls for protection for Rada Trajkovic (media)

Leader of the Social Democratic Party in Serbia (SDS), Boris Tadic, condemned the threats against Kosovo Serb politician Rada Trajkovic, and called on competent authorities to provide protection to Trajkovic. “The threats, persecution and lynching against Rada Trajkovic and her family, for years now, are absolutely unacceptable and this is a problem that concerns every citizen of our country. We live in a country where political assassinations are unfortunately a reality. Therefore, every case like this needs to be treated with the utmost seriousness,” Tadic told a press conference in Belgrade on Tuesday.

Trajkovic has complained that her freedom of movement is limited because she has refused to give up on her testimony in the trial for the assassination of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic.