Kosovo’s government has postponed the implementation of new rules that would force people in majority ethnic Serb areas to swap their Serbian-issued car number plates for Kosovan-issued ones.
The rules were due to come into force at midnight on Monday.
But on Sunday ethnic Serbs in the north barricaded roads and armed men fired shots in protest.
The rules’ implementation has been delayed for a month following consultations with the US and EU.
The Kosovan government’s decision to introduce new rules, including replacing Serbian license plates with Kosovan ones, led to clashes.
The mission led by the alliance in Kosovo, Kfor, said it was prepared to intervene “if stability is jeopardised”.
There were also reports of shots being fired by armed men, though Kosovo’s police said they had not received reports of any injuries.
US Ambassador Jeffrey Hovenier said he asked Kosovo’s government to delay the enforcement of the license plate ruling for 30 days “because it seems that there was misinformation and misunderstanding about the decision,” according to the BBC’s Guy Delauney.
Kosovo then agreed to delay the new rules for 30 days.
