After talks broke down on 21 November (see EUROPE 13067/20), Serbian and Kosovar chief negotiators reached, on Wednesday 23 November, an agreement on licence plates.
“We have an agreement”, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said on the evening of 23 June, calling it an “important result” and praising the “hard” work of the Parties and its Special Representative Miroslav Lajčák.
For example, Serbia undertook to stop issuing licence plates with Kosovo cities’ denominations and Kosovo to cease any further actions related to re-registration of vehicles.
A few hours after talks broke down on 21 November, following a US request, the Pristina authorities had committed to suspending for 48 hours the entry into force of fines for violators, scheduled for 22 November.
“Under the EU Facilitation, the Parties have agreed on measures to avoid further escalation and to fully concentrate, as a matter of urgency, on the proposal on the normalisation of their relations”, Mr Borrell stressed.
He said that the EU would ensure that the key issues and principles related to normalisation will be addressed in the context of the proposal. “The Parties understand that all past Dialogue agreements must be implemented”, said Borrell.
The High Representative announced that he would invite the parties in the coming days to discuss the next steps within the framework of the proposal “with the aim to present results by the next Special Group on Normalisation with Kosovo and the next update on Chapter 35 (of the EU accession negotiations) for Serbia”.
Borrell also announced that it had been agreed that in the event of obstruction by either party, the European facilitation could end the process. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)