Dozens of U.S. NATO peacekeepers patrolled northern Kosovo on Thursday to preserve calm after Pristina announced that around 50,000 ethnic Serbs in the region would have to switch their car licence plates to local ones within two months.
Kosovo, which is predominantly ethnic Albanian, has sought to compel Serbs to accept Pristina’s authority in routine bureaucratic matters since winning independence in 2008 after nearly a decade-long uprising against Serbia’s repressive rule.
The European Union said that Pristina should give sufficient time for the implementation of the rule, in a bid to avoid the protests and road blockages that occurred in August over the issue.
Serbia does not recognise Kosovo’s independence and Serbs in northern Kosovo consider Belgrade as their capital.
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