Turkey welcomes resolution of travel dispute between Serbia and Kosovo

On Sunday, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the agreement for citizens of Serbia and Kosovo to cross the border with ID cards.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry expressed the hope that the two countries would be able to resolve many outstanding issues between them, foremost of which is the issue of car plates.

She stressed that Turkey attaches great importance to security and stability in the Balkans and supports all initiatives aimed at resolving outstanding issues through dialogue.

Earlier, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced that Serbia and Kosovo had reached an agreement to end the dispute over the freedom of movement of their citizens across their borders.

Tensions escalated between the two neighboring countries at the end of last July, after the entry into force of a law announced by the Kosovo government, before it retracted and postponed its entry into force for a month in order to calm the situation.

The law requires everyone, including Serbs living in Kosovo, to have a country-issued identity card and to replace license plates from neighboring Serbia with Kosovo-issued plates.

This policy corresponds to a long-standing policy imposed by Belgrade on Kosovar citizens visiting Serbia.

Kosovo, where the majority of the population is Albanian, broke away from Serbia in 1999 and declared its independence from it in 2008, but Belgrade still considers it part of its territory and supports the Serb minority there.