| 2021 North Kosovo crisis | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theKosovo dispute | |||
Locations of barricades and traffic blocks are shown as and bolded, while locations of attacked offices are shown as and italicised.Pristina is the capital city of Kosovo. North Kosovo is highlighted in red | |||
| Date | 20 September – 2 October 2021 (1 week and 5 days) | ||
| Location | |||
| Caused by | Opposition to theKosovan government's decision to banSerbian license plates | ||
| Goals | Legalisation of Serbian license plates | ||
| Methods |
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| Resulted in | Interim agreement in Brussels: | ||
| Parties | |||
| Lead figures | |||
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| Number | |||
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Triggered by theGovernment of Kosovo's decision to reciprocally banSerbian license plates, a series of protests bySerbs inNorth Kosovo—consisting mostly of blocking traffic near border crossings— began on 20 September 2021. The ban meant that individuals who owned vehicles with Serbian license plates inKosovo would have had to switch forKosovar license plates at a government vehicle registration center. The ban was intended to mirror a prohibition against Kosovar license plates that had been imposed by Serbia since 2008. The Government of Serbia does not recognise Kosovo's independence and considers the Kosovo–Serbia border to be temporary.
During the crisis two government vehicle registration centers inZvečan andZubin Potok were targeted by arsonists. The protests causedKosovo–Serbia relations—whichhad been improving—to worsen, and led to theSerbian Armed Forces being placed on heightened alert. Both sides accused the other of great overreach. International powers, particularly the European Union andNATO, called for de-escalation, while Russia criticised Kosovo.
On 30 September, an agreement was reached to end the license plate ban, taking effect on 4 October. In return, the protesters agreed to disperse. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, Kosovar license plates in Serbia and Serbian license plates in Kosovo now have their national symbols and country codes covered with a temporary sticker.
North Kosovo is majority Serb and has been a region largely opposed to an independent Kosovo, with frequent protests since Kosovo declared independence. It has not recognised the Government of Kosovo and acted independently of it prior to the2013 Brussels Agreement. According to the agreement, by 2016 theCommunity of Serb Municipalities was to be formed. The Community would be aself–governing association of municipalities with a Serbian majority in Kosovo. As of 2021, it had not yet formed, because the Government of Kosovo suspended the application of this part of the Brussels Agreement. Kosovo'sConstitutional Court declared it to beunconstitutional.[3][4][5]
Until 2011 Serbia issued Serbian license plates for towns in North Kosovo. In the2011 round of Belgrade–Pristina negotiations, Serbia agreed to stop issuing these license plates. Part of the deal was that they should be changed forRepublic of Kosovo (RKS) license plates or neutral Kosovo (KS) plates. The KS license plates do not bear any state symbols. Serbia has allowed KS license plates on its territory, but not RKS license plates. The agreement lasted 5 years until 2016, when it was expected that a better solution would be found. The same terms were renewed on 14 September 2016 and were valid until 14 September 2021.
FollowingVetëvendosje's victory in the2021 Kosovan parliamentary election, the government renewed reciprocity measures. The previous government, led by theDemocratic League of Kosovo, scrapped many reciprocity measures in June 2020, whichAvdullah Hoti declared was to remove barriers to dialogue,[6] under pressure by the US and the EU. The main policy that was scrapped and has not been brought back since, was a 100% tariff rate on products fromBosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It was implemented in November 2018, as a response to their perceived hostility towards Kosovo. While it lasted, there were no EU-mediated dialogues between Serbia and Kosovo.[6]
After 14 September 2021, the conditions remained the same, but a ban on Serbian license plates was issued in Kosovo on 20 September 2021.[7] The KS license plates, used by some vehicles, were also invalidated by the Government of Kosovo. This affected some of their owners who often had to travel across the Kosovo–Serbia border.[8][9]
The motive of the Kosovan government's ban had been to mirror the former policy of the Serbian government that banned Republic of Kosovo (RKS) license plates. Vehicles with RKS license plates in Serbia had to switch them for temporary Serbian plates.[10] Vehicles with Serbian license plates inKosovo were supposed to, up to the 30 September 2021 Agreement in Brussels, have their Serbian license plates taken off and switched forKosovar license plates at a government vehicle registration center. Drivers who had visited the country with Serbian license plates had to get temporary plates. The temporary plates cost a 5euro (2021 value) tax and were valid for 60 days.[11][12] The ban would have reportedly impacted around 9,500 vehicles with Serbian license plates in North Kosovo which would have had to wear permanent Kosovar license plates.[13] This was originally supposed to have been done after the 2011 agreement, but no attempts were made to enforce it.[7]
The protests organised by theKosovo Serbs against the Kosovan government began on 20 September 2021.[14] On the same day, over 20 vehicles of theKosovo Police, of which over 10 were armoured, came to the site of the protests.[15] Hundreds of local ethnicSerbs had been protesting daily.[16] They were blocking the roads leading to the two border crossings with Serbia inNorth Kosovo, nearJarinje andBrnjak, with vehicles and barricades reinforced by gravel. On 23 September 2021 the vehicle traffic block on theMitrovica–Raška road in Jarinje reached 3 kilometres in length. Protesters were sleeping next to the protest sites in improvisedtents. Representatives of theSerb List also attended the protests.[17]
The protests had been mostlynonviolent.[11][19] However, on 25 September 2021, two government vehicle registration centers inZvečan andZubin Potok were attacked by arson, and reportedly withhand grenades that failed to explode.[20][21] On 23 September 2021, it was reported that the Kosovo Policeinjured three Serbs who were not protesting, two of whom were hospitalized. The Kosovo Police denied involvement and said that it's "disinformation".[22][23] According to the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia mediated by the European Union (EU)Representative for the Balkan–Pristina DialogueMiroslav Lajčák in Brussels, reached on 30 September 2021, the Kosovar special police withdrew by 16:00local time on 2 October 2021. Along with this, the barricades set up by the protesters were removed by local Serbs and the traffic blocks ended, leading to border traffic resuming. TheKosovo Force (KFOR), aNATO-led internationalpeacekeeping force, replaced the police units and was present for the next two weeks.[24][25]
The decision to ban Serbian license plates and the ongoing protests prompted Serbian authorities to raise the combat readiness of theSerbian Armed Forces on the border with Kosovo.[19] The army started transportingmilitary equipment to the border area, including itsfighter jets,helicopters, andtanks, on 26 September 2021.[26] ThePresident of SerbiaAleksandar Vučić has described Kosovo's license plate ban as a "criminal action".[27] He made the withdrawal of Kosovar special police a condition for starting EU-mediated negotiations to resolve the dispute.[27]
The prime minister of KosovoAlbin Kurti has accused Serbia of "inciting and supporting" the attacks on government buildings.[28] He also accused Serbia of "exploiting Kosovo citizens to provoke a serious international conflict."[28] The attacks were described by the Interior Ministry of Kosovo as "having terrorist elements".[28] The mayors of majority Serbian municipalities on 27 September also requested a withdrawal of the units and more KFOR troops, citing the incident on 23 September 2021 when 3 Serbs were injured as a concern.[28] The special police units withdrew as part of the 30 September 2021 Agreement in Brussels on 2 October 2021.[24][25]
On 30 September 2021 anagreement was reached in Brussels that effectively ended the ban on Serbian license plates, starting 08:00 local time, 4 October 2021. The agreement also effectively ended the ban on Kosovar license plates in Serbia. The agreement was intended as a temporary solution. The solution is to cover thenational symbols of Kosovo on Kosovar RKS license plates in Serbia, as well as to cover thenational symbols of Serbia on Serbian license plates in Kosovo and their country codes RKS and SRB with asticker. Aworking group was formed and met on 21 October 2021 in Brussels for the first time, to try and find a permanent solution in accordance with EU standards. Within 6 months, thenegotiators anddelegations were supposed to present their proposals for the permanent solution.[24][29][30][31]
On 21 April 2022, when the solution was supposed to have been found, the regime was extended. Kosovo maintains that reciprocity must be followed in any potential agreement, while Serbia denies this as it does not recognise Kosovo as an independent state. The EU urged for an agreement to be found quickly, despite the deadline passing.[32][33]
On 26 September 2021 Russian diplomats together with the Serbian Defense MinisterNebojša Stefanović visited an inspection of Serbian forces in the military base ofRudnica. Rudnica is a few kilometres away from the Kosovo–Serbia border.[34] In October, Russia deployedair defense forces to Serbia for ajoint military exercise called "Slavic Shield 2021" to practiseanti-aircraft actions.[35] On 27 September 2021, KFOR stepped up the amount and duration of its patrols. The increase was most notable near the border crossings, where armored vehicles moved close to protesters' blockades.[12]
TheEuropean Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs, theNATO Secretary General, thePresident of the European Council, and thePresident of the European Commission called for both parties to de–escalate and sit in talks following the increased tensions.[36][37] On 27 September 2021, Spokeswoman ofRussia's Foreign MinistryMaria Zakharova criticised the conduct of Kosovo. She has called for NATO and theEU mission to pressure Kosovo into retreating its security personnel as to "prevent escalation".[38] On 27 September 2021, theRussian Embassy in Serbia has approved of the conduct of the Government of Serbia in the tensions, saying Serbia "is showing the greatest responsibility and restraint". Russia has described Kosovo's actions as "provocative".[39]
