Kosovo Serbs on Saturday resigned en bloc from their positions as MPs, mayors and officials of all ranks in a coordinated protest initiative to express their rejection of the imposition of Kosovar license plates in Serb-majority northern Kosovo.
Kosovo Serbs in the country’s four Serb-majority municipalities believe that the Kosovar authorities have breached agreements with Serbia and the European Union.
The resignations are the result of a meeting held in the town of Zvecan and called by the Serbian List (Srpska Lista) party, according to the Balkan Insight news portal.
Srpska Lista has explained that mayors, councilors, deputies, judges, prosecutors, judicial officials and police officers have resigned from their posts.
The policemen gathered in Zvecan have handed over their uniforms amidst applause from the audience. «Our will to respect international law and defend the Brussels Agreement is the reason for us to leave all political institutions, the Assembly, the government and the four municipalities in the north of Kosovo,» stressed the leader of Srpska Lista, Goran Rakic. The measure will remain in force until Kosovo «starts to respect the agreed agreements».
He referred to Pristina’s intention to impose Kosovar license plates and invalidate Serbian ones and defended the need to create the Association of Serbian Municipalities to represent the interests of Serbs in Kosovo.
Last Thursday the regional director of the Kosovo Police for the Serb-majority north, Nenad Djuric, was dismissed on suspicion of defending the resistance. Djuric assured then that the Kosovo Serb police would not apply the fines established by the Kosovar authorities for those who do not use Kosovar license plates.
Pristina has announced a gradual introduction of the license plates until April 21 after postponing their introduction initially planned for November 1.
A senior Kosovar police commander, Vjosa Osmani, has denounced that «Serbia is forcing and inciting Kosovo Serbs to abandon their posts in Kosovo’s institutions.» «Serbia has unilaterally breached all the Brussels agreements on the dismantling of all its illegal structures in Kosovo,» he added, although he defended the need for all Kosovar institutions to be multi-ethnic.
Following the move, the EU has warned that years of achievements and work are being «jeopardized» and urged both sides to «avoid any unilateral action that could lead to an increase in tension» and return to dialogue.
«The withdrawal of Kosovo Serbs from Kosovo institutions is not the solution to the current disputes. It could lead to an escalation of tension,» Brussels said in a statement from the External Action Service. It therefore calls on Kosovo Serbs to «return to Kosovo’s institutions to perform their functions, including the Police, the Judiciary and local administrations.»
Brussels also calls on Kosovo to «respect its own obligations without delay» by extending the deadline for the introduction of Kosovar license plates and suspending sanctions on those using Serbian license plates. It also urges Pristina to move towards the creation of the Association of Serbian Municipalities, «a binding legal obligation for Kosovo».
