An agreement between Kosovo and Serbia to end a feud over vehicle license plates was hailed as "a giant step forward" by the United States, according to the State Department (DOS).
DOS Spokesperson Ned Price wrote in a Nov. 23 statement that the U.S. "welcomes the agreement reached between Kosovo and Serbia on measures to avoid further escalation of tensions."
"We welcome the decision by the parties to put the interests of all their people at the forefront of their decision making and take steps to improve the everyday lives of their citizens," Price stated. "The two parties took a giant step forward today, with EU facilitation, towards assuring peace and stability throughout the region."
The nearly two-year dispute centered on a move by Kosovo to ban Serbian-issued license plates, used primarily in northern Kosovo by ethnic Serbs who have "sometimes violently" resisted the re-registration mandate, according to a Nov. 23 Reuters report. The decision by the Kosovo government is in retaliation for Serbia using the names of cities in Kosovo on its license plates, according to reporting by Reuters and the Associate Press (AP) . Kosovo broke away from Serbia in 2008 and is recognized as an independent country by the U.S. and most of Europe; Serbia, China, Russia and five EU member states do not.
Josep Borrell, the high representative of the European Union, called Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to Brussels on Nov. 21 to discuss the rising tensions between the fractious Balkan states. No agreement was reached after "eight hours of fruitless talks," the AP reported at the time. Kurti blamed the collapse of the talks on Borrell's focus on the license plates "instead of the full normalization of ties between the neighbors," the AP reports.
Two days later, on Nov. 23, Borrell announced on Twitter that a deal had been reached between the two countries, Reuters reported.
"Serbia will stop issuing licence plates with Kosovo cities’ denominations and Kosovo will cease further actions related to re-registration of vehicles," Borrell wrote in the Tweet, according to Reuters.
Borrell wrote that the two countries, with EU-facilitation, "have agreed on measures to avoid further escalation and to fully concentrate on the proposal on normalisation of their relations."
Borrell said he would invite negotiators from Kosovo and Serbia to discuss an EU proposal supported by France and Germany "that will allow the foes to normalise relations," Reuters reported.
The DOS's Price stated the U.S. "applauds" the negotiations and "encourages" the countries to make more progress toward a peaceful resolution of grievances.
"The United States welcomes the agreement reached between Kosovo and Serbia on measures to avoid further escalation of tensions," Price wrote in the DOS statement.
"We further commend the two countries’ agreement to concentrate fully and urgently on normalizing relations under the auspices of the EU-facilitated dialogue," Price wrote. "We support the EU-facilitated dialogue as the best path to advance Serbia’s and Kosovo’s European future."
