On November 1, drivers with old Serbian license plates were issued the first warnings on the border with Serbia at the Jarinje border crossing and were invited to appear at the re-registration center to receive new, Kosovar, license plates.

Several times this year, Kosovo wanted to demand from its Serbian minority to change the old car plates issued before 1999, when Kosovo was still officially part of Serbia.

These efforts have met with strong and sometimes violent resistance from the ethnic Serbs living in the north of the country.

On July 31 and August 1, Serbs in the north set up barricades as a sign of protest.

After the postponement, the last deadline expired on November 1, and about 10,000 owners had to change the registration of old cars.

But after warnings from the West that such a move could raise tensions between Kosovo and Serbia, Prime Minister

Albin Kurti

announced a phase-out on October 28.

Kurti said drivers will initially be issued with warnings for a three-week period starting November 1.

This will be followed by a two-month period, when fines in the amount of 150 euros will be issued.

Then there will be another two months during which the temporary license plates will be in effect.

If the drivers do not change their license plates by April 21, 2023, their vehicles will be confiscated, according to a government order.

In addition to encouraging drivers to ditch their Serbian license plates, the government also announced that it is waiving the additional customs tax on imported used cars whose owners switch to the new Kosovo license plates.

In addition, they also benefit from the waiver of license plate costs and registration fees, which total €57.

However, according to the information coming from Kosovo, the Serbs are not changing their numbers to new ones.

One of the interlocutors told Radio Svaboda's Balkan service that he will not replace the sign, nor will he pay a fine.

After the compromise in August, several political experts said that the decision to introduce replacement periods would only delay the conflict, not solve it.

The day before, official Belgrade announced that it had put the Serbian troops on high alert.

Previously, Serbia has repeatedly declared that it will defend the Serbs in Kosovo, which Belgrade considers its territory, without recognizing its independence.

The President of Serbia

, Aleksandar Vucic,

has repeatedly accused the Kosovar Albanians of provocations against the Serbian population.