Riots on the border between Serbia and Kosovo

Hundreds of Serbs have blocked roads into Kosovo in protest of their national registration plates being covered with temporary signs to allow entry into Kosovo.

Heavily armed riot police from Kosovo rushed to the border on Monday and used tear gas against protesters, raising tensions, reports the AP news agency.

– This is a democratic protest by the inhabitants of this region, Serbs from northern Kosovo. They are only trying to defend their human rights to freedom of movement, which is the basis of the EU’s values, says Igor Simic, an official in the Kosovo Serb government.

The same currency from the Serbian side

Serbian police, in turn, have removed registration plates on Kosovo cars that have been entering Serbia for several years, reports the Associated Press.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti already held a meeting on Tuesday with ambassadors of the European Union and other partner countries. There he said that Kosovo and Serbia are either right or wrong when it comes to temporary number plates.

Therefore, both countries should either keep or remove the number plates in both countries, says Corti. He maintains that the decision to remove Serbian license plates is not discriminatory against Serbs.

historical disturbances

Serbia does not recognize the border with Kosovo, which gained independence in 2008, as anything other than administrative and temporary borders. Thousands of people died in 1998-1999 when Serb forces killed Kosovo Albanian separatists.

The European Union and the United States call on Kosovo and Serbia to immediately ease tensions and refrain from unilateral actions by either country.