Ethnic Serbs rally in Kosovo after leaving jobs in protest

MITROVICA, Kosovo (AP) — Several thousand ethnic Serbs have rallied in Kosovo as a dispute over vehicle license plates heightened ongoing tensions between Serbia and its former province. The government’s decision to gradually ban Serbia-issued license plates has angered Kosovo Serbs, most of whom do not recognize Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence. Members of the ethnic Serb minority left their government jobs on Saturday in a protest over the directive. During Sunday’s protest in the northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica, Serb political leaders said the police officers, judges and other public employees would not return to their jobs unless Kosovo’s government reversed its license plate policy.