Journalist Lirim Mehmetaj, has exclusively told Euronews Albania, about the internationals’ three-point plan for resolving the situation in Kosovo.
Mehmetaj said that the first point of the proposal is that “both sides must confirm their commitment to the Franco-German plan and both sides must return to negotiations”.
In point two, an explicit request is made to the government of Serbia.
“Serbia must agree that the request for the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian Majority should be discussed only within the entirety of the Franco-German proposal – that is, as part of the overall structure of the plan.”
While the third point, according to the journalist, is for Kosovo to soften its measures in relation to the issue of license plates.
“We have published a three-point plan compiled by internationals as usually happens, to get out of the current crisis that is taking place in Kosovo. The first point is to make a commitment between Kosovo and Serbia for the Franco-German proposal. The second point is for Serbia to agree that the Association should be sought out within this plan and not outside of it. The third point of this proposal is that Kosovo should agree to the postponement of the decision that started on November 1 in regards to the conversion of license plates. So, fines and reprimands should be postponed for a later time. The second point is the one that is seen as more problematic by both sides. The plan is made by the US, EU, Italy, Germany, France and Britain. The problem lies in the second point, as Serbia has so far required the association in advance,” he said.
The situation in the north has escalated after the Government of Kosovo started to implement the plan in three stages for the re-registration of cars with illegal Serbian license plates into ones showing the acronym RKS, which stands for the Republic of Kosovo.
The first phase involved reprimanding the drivers, the second involved a fine of up to 150 euros for those drivers, and the third a probationary license plate. The implementation of this plan is expected to end on April 21 and, and from that point forward, only cars with RKS license plates will be allowed in circulation.
In the northern municipalities of Kosovo inhabited by a majority of ethnic Serbs – North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Leposavic and Zubin Potok – it is estimated that there are up to 10,000 vehicles with illegal Serbian license plates. These license plates were issued by Serbia and bear Serbian acronyms of the cities of Kosovo, such as: KM, GL, PR, UR and others. In recent weeks, there have been more incidents in the north of Kosovo, which mainly target Serbs who are re-registering their car with RKS license plates.
