EULEX increases patrols in northern Kosovo

In a reply to gazetaexpress.com EULEX said that on July 31, they noted “a significant, and worrying, armed presence at the barricades erected in northern Kosovo.”

EULEX said that, in response, it further increased its reconnaissance patrols in northern Kosovo and that it has not encountered a similar presence since July 31.

The deadline to replace license plates issued by Serbian authorities with Kosovo plates expires on October 31. Fearing that tensions could again increase, EULEX is patrolling the north.

EULEX said it is closely monitoring all developments which may impact Kosovo’s security, as well as the security of all peoples in Kosovo.

Our specialized police unit, which is made up of 105 Polish police officers, is conducting surveillance patrols in the north of Kosovo on a daily basis in order to better understand the situation, said this EU mission.

EULEX said that, at the request of the Kosovo police, it is ready to act in order to reduce tensions and protect everyone from any kind of threat – regardless of ethnicity, age or gender.

The US has asked that the Kosovo Government decision on the re-registration of vehicles with Serbia-issued license plates in Kosovo be implemented peacefully and that it not contribute to increasing tensions, a spokesperson of the US Embassy in Kosovo told Radio Free Europe (RFE).

The US Embassy said that the US and its European partners believe that the Kosovo Government’s decision is in line with the Brussels agreements and that “in principle, they have no objections to it.”

However, together with our international partners, we asked that the implementation of the decision be postponed for ten months, the Embassy told RFE.

Ahead of the announced entry into force of the Kosovo Government decision regarding Serbian license plates and ID documents, local Serbs blocked the roads to the Brnjak and Jarinje border crossings in the north of Kosovo at end of July.