KazPost

Kazakhstan News
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

EU police patrol Kosovo's north after Serb officers quit

EU police patrol Kosovo's north after Serb officers quit

European Union police officers are undertaking patrols in northern Kosovo after some 600 police officers from the Serb minority quit over a car licence plate row that the West fears may trigger fresh ethnic violence.
Police officers, judges, prosecutors, and other state workers quit their jobs earlier this month after the government in Pristina ruled that local Serbs must finally replace their car plates, issued by Serbia's unrecognised authorities in Kosovo, with Kosovo state ones.

The almost two-year-long licence plate dispute has stoked tensions between Serbia and its former breakaway province which declared independence in 2008 and is home to a Serb minority in the north backed by Belgrade.

The 130 officers from Poland and Italy - who are patrolling in three municipalities where there is no local police presence - have no powers of arrest but the EU wants their presence to fill the security vacuum.

"For now, we must just monitor the situation because...the situation is still sensitive," said Mariano Bastanza, commander of 25 Italian Carabinieri who arrived to reinforce their Polish colleagues.

The EU and the United States are trying to find a solution before Monday when Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti has said drivers with old registration plates will be fined, with local Serbs saying they will not make the change.

On Friday the EU invited Kurti and Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic for urgent talks in Brussels but neither has confirmed they would go.

Brussels and Washington have asked Kosovo to delay implementing the ruling for ten months but Kurti has not shown any sign he will back off.

"At the moment the north is a ticking bomb with many crazy people from both sides ready to trigger it and with no police there to defuse the situation," a senior Kosovo official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Having a multiethnic police force in the volatile north was hailed as the biggest achievement by the West who supported Kosovo's struggle for independence since 1999.

Kosovo and Serbia in 2013 committed to an EU-sponsored dialog to resolve all remaining issues between them, but little progress has been made.

NATO still some 3,700 peacekeepers on the ground and has urged calm, saying it will intervene if security is threatened.
Newsletter

Related Articles

KazPost
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
An Ominous Shift in Warfare: Western Powers Risk War Crimes and Violate International Norms with Cluster Bomb Supply to Ukraine
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
Corruption in the European Parliament - Business as usual
UK Crypto and Stablecoin Regulations Become Law as Royal Assent is Granted
Paris Suburb Grapples with Violence as Curfew Imposed: Saint-Denis Residents Express Dismay and Anger
A Delaware city wants to let businesses vote in its elections
Alef Aeronautics Achieves Historic Milestone with Flight Certification for World's First Flying Car
Google Blocked Access to Canadian News in Response to New Legislation
French Politicians Advocate for Pan-European Regulation on Social Media Influencers
×