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Kosovo-Serbia: leaders in Brussels hold talks with Borrell

High representative, path towards normalization of relations

21 November, 15:57
(ANSA) - BRUSSELS, NOV 21 - An emergency meeting summoned by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is ongoing with the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, and the premier of Kosovo, Albin Kurti. The European diplomacy chief, assisted by the special envoy for Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, will hold bilateral meetings with the two leaders before a joint summit. The objective of the meeting is to reach an agreement preventing a new escalation in the so-called crisis of license plates, which worsened at the beginning of the month with the mass resignation of Kosovo Serbs from the country's institutions. "We need a de-escalation of the situation, to stop going from the permanent management of the crisis to advance instead towards a normalization of relations" between Kosovo and Serbia, wrote Borrell in a tweet on the eve of talks. At the center of the controversy is Pristina's legislation introducing the obligation to re-register cars with a Serbian plate, replacing it with a Kosovan plate. The law provides for a gradual implementation plan, which came into force on November 1. So far, those who did not follow the rules received a verbal reprimand, but as of tomorrow, a 150-euros fine will be in place. Serbians oppose the plan and ask for the respect of the Brussels accords by Kosovan authorities, with particular attention on the institution of an association of Serbian-majority municipalities. Kosovo's government instead insists on the concept of reciprocity and stresses how the creation of a single-ethnic agency goes against constitutional legislation. (ANSA).

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