Kosovo Pauses Issuing Documents To Serbs As Barricades Come Down

According to RFE/RL,   Kosovar authorities have paused issuing documents to Serbs entering the country after agreeing to delay implementation of two regulations regarding automobile license plates and travel papers for visitors from Serbia after consultations with U.S. and European Union representatives.

The pause came after local Serbs in northern Kosovo agreed to remove all the barricades that were put on the roads leading to two border crossing points with Serbia.

Barricades set up at border crossings by ethnic Serbs in Kosovo were removed on August 1 as the first documents of the Internal Affairs Ministry of Kosovo for entry and exit for citizens of Serbia were issued at the border crossings with Serbia that had opened.

Under the agreement, reached in the early hours of August 1, there will be a delay of 30 days in the new regulations.

"As we promised last night, as the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, by removing barricades and ensuring freedom of movement for our citizens, we moved the implementation of the decisions to September 1, 2022, in order to maintain stability in the country and the region", Kosovar Interior Minister XhelalSvecla confirmed on Facebook.

Svecla also confirmed that two border crossings in the northern part of Kosovo opened for traffic after all road blockages were removed.

Prime Minister AlbinKurti said earlier that he expected that barricades at the two border crossings, Jarinje and Brnjak, would be removed during the day on August 1.

RFE/RL journalists confirmed that in Rudare, a town near the Jarinje border crossing, the removal of vehicles that had been placed as barricades on the roads in the north of Kosovo has begun.

However, two border crossings in the north, Jarinje and Brnjak, remain closed for traffic because, according to Prime Minister Albin Kurti, "the roads leading there are still blocked." He added that there had been a total of nine barricades erected and clearing them will take time.