EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said on Wednesday night that chief negotiators from Kosovo and Serbia reached a deal on license plates and which will allow avoiding further escalation.

Below is Borrell’s full statement on the deal reached by chief negotiators of both sides in Brussels:

Under the EU Facilitation, the Parties have agreed on measures to avoid further escalation and to fully concentrate, as a matter of urgency, on the proposal for the normalization of their relations, as presented this September by the EU Facilitator and supported by France and Germany.

This means that Serbia will stop issuing license plates with Kosovo cities’ denominations and that Kosovo will cease any further actions related to the re-registration of vehicles.

The EU will ensure that key issues and principles related to normalization will be addressed in the context of the proposal. The Parties understand that all past Dialogue agreements must be implemented.

I will invite the Parties in the coming days to discuss the next steps within the framework of the proposal to present results by the Special Group on Normalisation with Kosovo and the next update on Chapter 35 for Serbia. In case of obstruction by either Party, the EU Facilitator may terminate the process.

I and EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak will continue to facilitate the process of normalization of relations and update the EU Member States and partners regularly about the process achieved by the Parties.

The EU Special Representative for dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, said in a Twitter post: “My thanks tonight go to Besnik Bislimi and Petar Petkovic for their constructive engagement today. And a big thanks to the U.S. State Department and the US diplomacy for their invaluable support!”