Serbian president to meet Macron to discuss Kosovo tensions

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) – The Serbian president has said that he will meet his French counterpart over the tensions with Kosovo recently ignited over a longstanding row on registration of license plates.

Aleksandar Vucic told a news briefing in Belgrade that he canceled his trip to Egypt and Qatar for the COP 27 conference in order to attend the Paris Peace Forum on the coming weekend.

Vucic is also expected to hold meetings with EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and Miroslav Lajcak, the bloc’s special representative for Western Balkans.

Although Muslim-majority Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, Belgrade continues to regard it as its territory. Serbia has a long history of discrimination and oppression against ethnic Bosniaks, Kosovars and other Muslim minorities.

Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo have risen after Kosovar Serbs withdrew from all central and local institutions in protest against Pristina’s decision to replace license plates issued to Serbs by Serbian authorities with plates from the Republic of Kosovo.

Pristina said it will start issuing fines this month to Serb drivers using old pre-independence plates and will confiscate vehicles with outdated registration numbers after April 21, 2023.

Vucic said Belgrade abides by the Brussels Agreement, a 2013 deal to normalize relations between Serbia and Kosovo, and it was time for the EU and Pristina to do the same.

The EU and NATO have urged both sides to refrain from unilateral actions, and resolve the outstanding issues through dialogue.

Brussels has facilitated a dialogue between the two countries designed to decrease tensions and resolve bilateral issues, one of the requirements for full-fledged EU membership.