![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/number-plate-crackdown-raises-tensions-in-kosovo/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/127472419_c1fad37482c0c4197a81d3983a36410dd415a6ea.jpg&description=Image source, ReutersImage caption, Kosovan police have begun enforcing the new number platesA 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. Petar Petkovic - the head of the government's office for Kosovo - sifted through the piles of documents stacked on his desk in the Palace of Serbia. He highlighted clauses which he insisted were proof that the authorities in Kosovo's capital Pristina have reneged on agreements reached through an EU-mediated dialogue. Image caption, Kfor is increasing patrols in case of incidents in Serb areas"Pristina is the sole culprit here," he told the BBC. "Not only is this an act of violation against the agreements concluded within the dialogue, but we now have Pristina announcing the use o){kind=link}
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.