Dozens of U.S. NATO peacekeepers patrolled northern Kosovo on Thursday to preserve calm after Kosovo announced that around 50,000 ethnic Serbs in the region would have to switch their car license plates to local ones within two months.

Kosovo, which is predominantly ethnic Albanian, has sought to compel Serbs to accept Pristina’s authority in routine bureaucratic matters since winning independence in 2008 after nearly a decade-long uprising against Serbia’s repressive rule.

In announcing the Oct. 31 deadline for motorists to switch over Serbian license plates to those issued by Pristina, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti described the decision as “nothing more or less than an expression of the exercise of sovereignty.”

“Certain financial benefits will be offered during registration, including tax relief,” Kurti said in Serbian in a video posted on his Facebook profile.