Kosovo govt giving extra documents to Serbs who cross into its region

• Kosovo’s government started giving extra documents to Serbs who crossed into its territory.
• About 50,000 Serbs in the north of the country still use licence plates and other documents from Serbia.
• The border crossings at Brnjak and Jarinje stayed closed.

On Monday, the government of Kosovo started giving extra documents to Serbs who crossed into its territory, even though Serbs in the north of the country who didn’t agree with the decision blocked roads that led to two border crossings.

Even though Kosovo has been independent of Serbia for 14 years, about 50,000 Serbs in the north still use licence plates and other documents from Serbia and refuse to recognise the Pristina government and its institutions.

After tensions on Sunday and talks with the US and EU ambassadors, the government said it would delay until September 1 a decision that would give local Serbs 60 days to switch to Kosovo licence plates and require that Serbian citizens, including those living in Kosovo without local documents, get extra documents at the border.

But as gravel-filled trucks and big machines kept blocking the roads to the Brnjak and Jarinje border crossings in northern Kosovo on Monday morning, the government started giving out the papers at Merdare, which is the biggest border crossing.

“This decision will continue to be implemented until all the barricades are removed and the freedom of movement for people and goods is ensured,” said Xhelal Svecla, Kosovo’s Minister of the Interior.

NATO-led mission KFOR helicopters flew over the Serb-dominated north of Kosovo, which is directly connected to Serbia. The border crossings at Brnjak and Jarinje stayed closed.

More than 100 countries have agreed that Kosovo is a separate country, but Serbia and Russia have not.

A year ago, when local Serbs blocked the same roads over licence plates again, Kosovo’s government sent in special police forces and Belgrade flew fighter jets close to the border.

Tensions between the two countries are still high, and a NATO mission with 3,770 troops on the ground keeps the fragile peace in Kosovo. On Sunday, Italian troops were seen in and around the northern town of Mitrovica.

The European Union set up a dialogue between the two countries in 2013 to try to solve problems, but not much has changed since then.

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