- Title: U.S., EU envoys meet Serbian president Vucic in Belgrade
- Date: 25th August 2022
- Summary: JARINJE, KOSOVO - BORDER CROSSING BETWEEN KOSOVO AND SERBIA (AUGUST 25, 2022) (REUTERS) ADMINISTRATIVE CROSSING BETWEEN KOSOVO AND SERBIA SERBIAN REGISTRATION PLATES WITH STICKER COVERING SERBIAN STATE INSIGNIA (FLAG) DRIVER FROM SERBIA PLACING STICKER OVER SERBIAN STATE INSIGNIA ON HIS CAR PLATES VARIOUS OF VEHICLES AT ADMINISTRATIVE CROSSING, DRIVER PLACING STICKER ON PLATES VARIOUS OF KFOR PEACEKEEPING MISSION/NATO SOLDIERS, VEHICLES, AND RADARS IN KOSOVO’S NORTH (PREDOMINANTLY SERBIAN), READY TO PREVENT SERBS FROM POSTING ROADBLOCKS VARIOUS OF KFOR/NATO CHECKPOINTS, VEHICLES DRIVING BY, CLOSE OF U.S. FLAG, AND INSCRIPTION KFOR ON ARMOURED VEHICLE
- Embargoed: 8th September 2022 17:59
- Keywords: Belgrade EU mediator Miroslav Lajcak European Union Kosovo Pristina Serbia Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic U.S. envoy Gabriel Escobar United States
- Location: BELGRADE, SERBIA / JARINJE, KOSOVO
- City: BELGRADE, SERBIA / JARINJE, KOSOVO
- Country: Various
- Topics: Race Relations / Ethnic Issues,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA003070625082022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Envoys from the European Union and the United States met Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade on Thursday (August 25) as long-standing differences between Belgrade and Pristina flared again, triggered by a dispute over car number plates.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. But Belgrade accuses Pristina of trampling on the rights of minority Serbs, who account for 5% of Kosovo's 1.8 million population, which is 90% Albanian.
EU-sponsored talks in Brussels earlier this month failed to overcome differences which centre on a plan by Pristina to require local Serbs to switch their car number plates from Serbian to Kosovo ones.
EU mediator Miroslav Lajcak and U.S. envoy Gabriel Escobar have also met senior Kosovo officials in Pristina.
Many Serbs in Kosovo have already changed their registration plates and identification papers, but some 50,000 living in the north, who see Belgrade in Serbia as their capital, created roadblocks last month in protest at the requirement before NATO peacekeepers oversaw their removal.
The situation calmed after Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti agreed under U.S. and EU pressure to postpone the number plates rule until Sept. 1. Kurti and Vucic also agreed to continue discussions before Sept. 1.
The row broke out more than two decades after NATO airstrikes forced Serbian forces to stop violence against the majority of Albanians in the former Serbia's southern province, leading to Kosovo's independence.
(Production: Fedja Grulovic, Branko Filipovic) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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