EU develops plan to grant autonomy to Kosovo's north

The European Union is developing a plan to grant autonomy to Kosovo's Serbian-populated north, Kosovo media said on Saturday. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 but Belgrade does not recognize the move and the 60,000 Serbs who live in northern Kosovo still consider Belgrade their capital. The EU plans to create in northern regions of Kosovo a regional council on the basis of Ahtisaari plan, while municipalities in northern Kosovo will directly receive part of customs duties and will be financially independent from Pristina, diplomatic sources were quoted by Kosovo's daily Koha Ditore as saying. Another Kosovo's newspaper Zeri also quoted its sources as saying that Kosovo's northern municipalities would receive a kind of autonomy. Local media has been reporting more often about the possibility of granting autonomy to Kosovo's north, but Belgrade and Pristina have not yet made any official statements. Violence flared at the end of July after Kosovo attempted to seize border posts that had been staffed mostly by ethnic Serbs to enforce a new ban on imports from Serbia. Pristina acted apparently judging that Belgrade's strong desire to win EU candidate member status in October would moderate its reaction. But, local Serbs in northern Kosovo reacted angrily and vowed they would not be ruled from Pristina. On August 5, Kosovo and Serbia reached a temporary deal to ease tensions in Kosovo's north and allow NATO to continue to guard two border posts, Kosovo's Serbs refusing to accept a key part of the deal.