It was midnight September 1 and Serbia’s Police at the northern border crossing point with Kosovo in Jarinje stopped their 11 year practice of issuing entry-exit documents for holders of Kosovo IDs, as it did with four other crossing points.

The move comes after weeks of diplomatic efforts by EU and US envoys with Kosovo and Serbia leaders in an attempt to prevent tensions which nearly erupted one month ago when Kosovo was supposed to start reciprocity measures to Serbia.

Minister of Interior Xhelal Svecla on Tuesday at midnight visited the border point with Serbia at Bernjak to see implementation of the agreement on identification documents at first hand.

Svecla stated on Facebook that the Serbian authorities did not require any additional papers from people at the border crossing, and there were no tensions.

Serbia and Kosovo on August 27 agreed that neither side will require any additional documents for border crossings besides those that people already have, like IDs. 

On Thursday, PM Kurti meanwhile said in a video published on Facebook that from September 1 to October 31, citizens with Serbian license plates will be able to re-register them with RKS, Republic of Kosovo, license plates.

According to Kurt, for 61 days in 34 municipal Vehicle Registration Centres, drivers will be able to convert their car license plates issued by Serbia to those of the Republic of Kosovo.

It is estimated that in the Serb-majority north of Kosovo around 10,000 cars have Serbian-issued license plates bearing abbreviations of Kosovo cities such as PR, PZ, KM, UR and the like. Kosovo considers them illegal.

Serbia has suggested that Serbs in the north of Kosovo use KS license plates, which have a neutral status, but Kurti has rejected this proposal.

A day before removing the requirement for entry/exit documents, Serbia placed several notices at crossing points with Kosovo, stating that permission to cross the border with only identification documents issued by Kosovo is being done for purely practical reasons and does not imply a step towards recognition of Kosovo’s independence.

The Kosovo government’s decision on entry-exit documents and on re-registration of cars with Serbian license plates increased tensions between Prishtina and Belgrade, culminating in the erection of barricades in northern Kosovo on July 31.

Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met in Brussels on August 18, within the dialogue mediated by the European Union, to discuss the changes but the meeting ended without agreement.