The European Union said Thursday that Pristina must allow enough time for the implementation of a rule that ethnic Serbs living in northern Kosovo must change their car license plates to local ones within two months.

“It is important that sufficient time is given for the implementation of this plan, and that it is prepared and executed in close consultation with the citizens concerned, and in line with good European practice,” a European Commission spokesman said.

“The 2016 freedom of movement findings included much longer deadlines for re-registration, which should serve as a guide for the process we are dealing with now.”

Ethnic Albanian Kosovo has tried to force Serbs to accept Pristina’s authority in routine bureaucratic matters since gaining independence in 2008 after a nearly decade-long uprising against Serbia’s repressive government.

Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s independence, and Serbs in northern Kosovo consider Belgrade to be their capital.

The spokesman said the EU urged “both parties to use the EU-Facilitated Dialogue as a platform to address and resolve all open issues between them…including those related to license plates.”

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