The barricades were removed, the police withdrew from the north of Kosovo: NATO at the border crossings

On Saturday, September 2, the local population removed the barricades from the Jarinje and Brnjak border crossings in the north of Kosovo, after which the Special Units of the Kosovo Police withdrew shortly before the deadline at 16 p.m. days earlier.

The blocking of the roads at two border crossings was due to the decision of the Kosovo authorities to introduce reciprocity in the use of registration plates, which meant that the Serbian plates had to be replaced with trial ones.

At the border crossings are soldiers of the NATO mission in Kosovo, members of KFOR who will stay there for the next two weeks.

KFOR announced that they have started implementing the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, as well as that their members patrolled along the main traffic roads leading to Jarinje and Brnjak, which were blocked in the previous days.

"For the next two weeks, KFOR will be present in the area, in accordance with the aforementioned agreement and in accordance with its mandate - which derives from Resolution 1244 of the United Nations Security Council from 1999, in order to provide a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all communities living in Kosovo," the announcement states.

The mayor of Leposavić, Ivan Todić, said earlier from the Jarinje crossing that it is important to preserve peace.

The Jarinje crossing is located on the territory of the Leposavić municipality, and Brnjak on the territory of the Zubin Potok municipality.

The Serbian List attends the removal of the barricades

The removal of the barricades and members of the Special Units of the Kosovo Police were also attended by officials of the Serbian List, the leading party of the Kosovo Serbs, which has the support of official Belgrade.

They were all the time at the barricades with the local population, which they claimed had gathered on their own initiative, although several citizens previously told Radio Free Europe (RSE) that they were going on shift at the border crossings at the behest of the local authorities.

The Serbian List is at the head of all ten municipalities with a Serbian majority in Kosovo, has all ten parliamentary seats in the Assembly of Kosovo reserved for the Serbian community, and participates in the work of the Government of Kosovo.

Prime Minister of Serbia: A huge diplomatic success

The Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, said that by agreeing on the license plates with Pristina, that country achieved a "huge diplomatic success".

"We won good things. (...) We were in constant contact with all international factors. (...) We preserved peace and security and such stability, which was brought to the very edge by this latest action by Pristina." said Brnabić, after commemorating the construction of art faculty facilities in Belgrade.

As she stated, three things were obtained "equally important for Pristina, although they don't see it that way at the moment".

What was agreed in Brussels?

The withdrawal of the Special Units of the Kosovo Police and the removal of barricades is part of the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia on the de-escalation of the situation in the north, which was reached in Brussels on September 30.

When it comes to the license plates themselves, a temporary solution was reached, according to which the state symbols of both Kosovo and Serbia will be covered with stickers.

In the meantime, the working group, which will be headed by a representative of the European Union, will work on finding a final solution regarding license plates.

This working group will hold its first meeting on October 21 in Brussels and must find a final solution within six months.

How did the tensions between Kosovo and Serbia arise?

On September 20, Kosovo Serbs set up barricades on the roads leading to the Jarinje and Brnjak crossings, so it was only possible to cross the crossings on foot.

That was their reaction to the decision of the Government of Kosovo to introduce reciprocal measures regarding license plates to Serbia, that is, all owners of cars with Serbian plates had to take test plates.

This measure coincided with emphasizing the validity of the status-neutral KS (Kosovo) plates.

Also, when the reciprocal measures were introduced, the Kosovo authorities announced that all license plates issued by the Serbian authorities for cities in Kosovo would be confiscated.

These plates, mostly KM (Kosovska Mitrovica), are used only in the north of Kosovo and they are illegal for Kosovo.

According to the new agreement from Brussels, state symbols on KM plates will also be covered with stickers.

Besnik Bisljimi, the head of the Kosovo negotiation team for the dialogue with Serbia, told RSE on October 1, noting that the plates will only be valid for six months, until a permanent solution is found.