Fifteen years after Kosovo declared independence, 50,000 minority Serbs in the north bordering Serbia refuse to recognize state institutions, get pay and benefits from Serbia's budget and pay no taxes either to Pristina or Belgrade
Ethnic Serbs account for 5% of Kosovo's 1.8 million people, and ethnic Albanians about 90%. Serbs in north Kosovo vent their rejectionism by refusing to pay the state utility for energy they use and often attacking police who try to make arrests.North Kosovo Serbs on Dec. 10 erected multiple roadblocks and exchanged fire with police after a former Serb policeman was arrested for allegedly assaulting serving police officers during a previous protest.
But tensions had been ticking upward for months in a dispute over car license plates. Kosovo has for years wanted Serbs in the north to switch their Serbian license plates, dating to the pre-independence era, to ones issued by Pristina, as part of its policy to assert authority over all of Kosovo territory.
On July 31, Pristina announced a two-month window for the plates to be switched over, triggering unrest, but after EU crisis mediation later agreed to push the implementation date back to the end of 2023. Ethnic Serb mayors in northern municipalities, along with local judges and 600 police officers, resigned in NovemberWHAT DO THE SERBS ULTIMATELY WANT?
Serbs in Kosovo seek to create an association of majority-Serb municipalities operating with considerable autonomy. Pristina rejects this as a recipe for a mini-state within Kosovo, effectively partitioning the country along ethnic lines. Serbia and Kosovo have made little progress on this and other issues since committing in 2013 to a EU-sponsored dialogue aimed at normalising ties, for both a requirement for EU membership.
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