Reinforced forces of the Kosovo special forces reached the bridge over the Iber River
In the Kosiv-Mitrovica district on the border with Serbia, the sounds of gunfire and sirens are heard, the Kosovo special forces withdrew their forces, reports the publication Telegrafi.
According to the publication, reinforced forces of the Kosovo special forces, NATO KFOR and Italian carabinieri went to the bridge over the Iber River. Meanwhile, local Serbs are taking to the streets, and videos with the sounds of sirens and machine guns are appearing online.
The north of Kosovo is populated by ethnic Serbs, who have a negative attitude to the region's separation from Serbia. That is why they still use Serbian currency there and have Serbian citizenship.
The escalation of the conflict began a few hours before the entry into force of the new order, according to which Kosovo Serbs with Serbian-issued car license plates must reissue them with Kosovo (RKS) plates. Also, citizens of Serbia on the territory of the partially recognized state will be issued temporary documents that will replace Serbian ones.
Local Serbs build barricades protesting Pristina's decision to re-register vehicles and ID cards. The construction of the barricades is confirmed by the deputy head of the Kosovo police in the Northern region, Besim Hoti. will be blocked by special forces, which is completely untrue,” he said.
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According to the agreement between Serbia and Kosovo, which was signed in 2011, the use of neutral documents and license plates by the inhabitants of the north of Kosovo is provided for a temporary period of 5 years. Despite the fact that the transition period has long since ended, all attempts to force the Kosovo Serbs to switch to national documents only caused mass protests. In the same year, Kosovo intends to achieve its goal – from August 1, neutral documents and car plates will become invalid.
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Recall that in 2020 Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Kosovo Prime Minister Abdullah Hoti and US President Donald Trump signed an agreement called “Economic normalization”. Vucic and Hoti did not hide their joy, because the agreements reached related not only to economic relations between Kosovo and Serbia, but also to some political issues.
See special topic: The EU reacted to Kosovo's decision to postpone the replacement of Serbian documents until September The European Union welcomed this move by the Kosovo government and called on the parties to settle the issue peacefully. The Kosovo government has delayed the introduction of identity cards and license plates for Serbs until September The decision was made after a meeting between Kosovo officials and US Ambassador Jeff Hovenier. By aggression against Kosovo, Serbia chose a side in the Russian-Ukrainian war – deputy Mustafa pointed out the connection of the conflict with the actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine and China regarding Taiwan. Police in Kosovo report shots fired by Serbian protesters The department also reports attacks on Albanian citizens and destruction of their property. Serbia talked about the “denazification of the Balkans” The position of a member of the presidential party caused a violent reaction in social networks
