The European Union said Tuesday that it will use the 48-hour extension announced by Kosovo on the implementation of the license plate law to negotiate a solution between Belgrade and Pristina to the issue, which threatens to exacerbate tensions in the area.
«We will use this period to continue talks with both sides in order to find a solution. If EU membership is the ultimate goal of Kosovo and Serbia, to which both are committed, we expect them to act accordingly as well,» foreign spokesman Peter Stano told Europa Press on the announcement by Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti, which comes after the failure of the high-level meeting in Brussels with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
Kurti announced on Monday night that he is postponing the application of fines for Serbs living in the region who have not registered their vehicles, following a request to this effect from the United States and the European Union. «I thank (U.S.) Ambassador (to Kosovo Jeff) Hovenier for his commitment and involvement. I accept his request for a 48-hour postponement in the imposition of fines for license plates (…),» the Kosovar prime minister said through a message on his profile on the social network Twitter.
Serbia and Kosovo ended Monday without agreement the high-level meeting organized in Brussels to resolve the crisis opened by the controversial rule to impose Kosovar license plates to Serbian communities, after Pristina had rejected a proposal of the European Union to achieve a rapprochement.
In a no-questions-asked statement after the meeting, EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell lambasted Kosovo for thwarting an agreement after more than eight hours of talks. Borrell lamented that the Kosovar authorities rejected the proposal put on the table by European diplomacy to resolve the crisis, an initiative that Belgrade did support.
