JARINJE, Kosovo – On Saturday, Serbs cleared trucks and vehicles from the Kosovo border as NATO troops entered under an EU-mediated agreement to settle a dispute among neighbouring countries about car license plates.

The Kosovo Special Police are expected to also withdraw from the border crossing north of the country, almost two weeks after Serbs blockaded roads in Kosovo when Kosovo issued temporary license plates for cars imported from Serbia.

According to the Kosovo government, this was in response to Serbian actions against Kosovo drivers since 2008. Kosovo’s independence referendum took place in 2008.

Serbia doesn’t recognize Kosovo’s independence, so it has no right to register cars. This month’s violence had escalated into violence.

The two countries reached a compromise on Thursday through the mediation of Miroslav Lajcak (EU special envoy), to place stickers on their license plates in order to hide state symbols and to allow NATO to take control. NATO has approximately 3,000 troops in Kosovo.

As they were removing barricades and awaiting the arrival of Kosovo police vehicles, the local Serbs chatted with the soldiers from Slovenia, part of NATO, on Saturday.

They can withdraw their consent at any time after 4 pm (1400 GMT).

Serbia, the country that lost control of Kosovo in 1999 to NATO bombing, doesn’t recognize Kosovo’s independence, and does not have the right to register cars.

As Serbia seeks EU membership, it must resolve any outstanding problems with Kosovo. Although the two sides agreed to a EU-mediated dialogue in 2013, little has been done.

While the United States, Britain, and other Western nations supported Kosovo’s independence in 1991, it was not recognized by five EU countries and Serbia’s traditional ally Russia.