North Kosovo crisis (2021)

North Kosovo is majority Serb and has been a region largely opposed to an independent Kosovo, with frequent protests since Kosovo declared independence. It has not recognised the Government of Kosovo and has acted independently of it until the 2013 Brussels Agreement. According to the Brussels Agreement, by 2016 the Community of Serb Municipalities was to be formed. The Community would be a self–governing association of municipalities with a Serbian majority in Kosovo. As of 2021, it has not yet formed, because of the Government of Kosovo freezing the Brussels Agreement and its Constitutional Court declaring some parts of the agreement to be unconstitutional.[3][4][5]

Up until 2011, Serbia issued Serbian license plates for towns in North Kosovo. In 2011, Serbia agreed to stop issuing these license plates and that they should be changed for Republic of Kosovo (RKS) or the neutral Kosovo (KS) license plates. The KS license plates do not bear any state symbols. Serbia has allowed the KS license plates on its territory, but not the RKS license plates. The agreement lasted 5 years until 2016, when it was expected a better solution would be found. The same terms were renewed on 14 September 2016 and were valid until 14 September 2021. After 14 September 2021 the conditions remained the same, but a ban on Serbian license plates was issued in Kosovo on 20 September 2021.[6] The KS license plates were also declared invalid by the Government of Kosovo which were used by some vehicles in Kosovo, including by owners who often had to travel across the Kosovo–Serbia border.[7][8]

The motive of the Kosovan government in the ban had been to mirror the former, similar policy of the Serbian Government by which Republic of Kosovo(RKS) license plates had been banned since Kosovo declared independence, and vehicles with RKS license plates in Serbia had to switch them for temporary Serbian plates.[9] Vehicles with Serbian license plates in Kosovo were supposed to, up to the 30 September 2021 Agreement in Brussels, have their Serbian license plates taken off and switched for Kosovar license plates at a government vehicle registration center. Drivers who had visited the country with Serbian license plates had to get temporary plates. The temporary plates costed a 5 euro (2021 value) tax and were valid for 60 days.[10][11] The ban would have reportedly impacted around 9,500 vehicles with Serbian license plates in North Kosovo which were to have to wear permanent Kosovar license plates.[12] This was originally supposed to be done after the 2011 agreement, but no attempts were made to enforce it.[6]

The protests organised by the Kosovo Serbs against the Kosovan government began on 20 September 2021.[13] On the same day, over 20 vehicles of the Kosovo Police, of which over 10 were armoured, came to the site of the protests.[14] Hundreds of local ethnic Serbs had been protesting daily.[15] They were blocking the roads leading to the two border crossings with Serbia in North Kosovo, near Jarinje and Brnjak, with vehicles and barricades reinforced by gravel. On 23 September 2021 the traffic block consisting of vehicles became 3 kilometres long on the Mitrovica–Raška road in Jarinje. Protesters were sleeping next to the protest sites in improvised tents. Representatives of the Serb List also attended the protests.[16]

Banner put up by Serbs in support of the protests in Štrpce, Novo Brdo, and Ranilug, citing: "Welcome to the Community of Serb Municipalities"[17]

The protests had been mostly calm.[10][18] However, on 25 September 2021, two government vehicle registration centers in Zvečan and Zubin Potok were attacked by arson, and allegedly with hand grenades that failed to explode.[19][20] On 23 September 2021, the Kosovo Police was accused of injuring three people unrelated to the protests, two seriously, who are now in hospital. Kosovo has denied involvement and says that it's "disinformation".[21][22] According to the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia mediated by the European Union (EU) Representative for the Balkan–Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajčák in Brussels, reached on 30 September 2021, the Kosovar special police withdrew by 16:00 local time on 2 October 2021. Along with this, the barricades set up by the protesters were removed by local Serbs and the traffic blocks ended, leading to border traffic resuming. KFOR troops replaced the police units and will be present for the next two weeks.[23][24]

On 30 September 2021, an agreement was reached in Brussels that effectively ended the ban on Serbian license plates, starting 08:00 local time, 4 October 2021. The agreement also effectively ended the ban on Kosovar license plates in Serbia. The agreement is intended as a temporary solution. The solution is to cover the national symbols of Kosovo on Kosovar RKS license plates in Serbia, as well as to cover the national symbols of Serbia on Serbian license plates in Kosovo and their country codes RKS and SRB with a sticker. A working group was formed and met on 21 October 2021 in Brussels for the first time, to try and find a permanent solution in accordance with EU standards. Within 6 months, the negotiators and delegations will present their proposals for the permanent solution.[28][29][30][31]

On 26 September 2021, Russian diplomats together with the Serbian Defense Minister Nebojša Stefanović visited an inspection of Serbian forces in the military base of Rudnica. Rudnica is a few kilometres away from the Kosovo–Serbia border.[32] In October, Russia deployed air defense forces to Serbia for a joint military exercise called "Slavic Shield 2021" to practise anti-aircraft actions.[33] On 27 September 2021, the NATO-led international peacekeeping force in Kosovo, the Kosovo Force, stepped up the amount and duration of its patrols. The increase is most notable near the border crossings, moving armored vehicles close to protesters' border blocks.[11]

The European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs, the NATO Secretary General, the President of the European Council, and the President of the European Commission called for both parties to de–escalate and sit in talks following the increased tensions.[34][35] On 27 September 2021, Spokeswoman of Russia's Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, has criticised the conduct of Kosovo. She has called for NATO and the EU mission to pressure Kosovo into retreating its security personnel as to "prevent escalation".[36] On 27 September 2021, the Russian Embassy in Serbia has approved of the conduct of the Government of Serbia in the tensions, saying Serbia "is showing the greatest responsibility and restraint". Russia has described Kosovo's actions as "provocative".[37]