Belgrade allowed this Monday vehicles with Kosovo license plates to enter Serbia ending a long-standing dispute over the issue.

Until today, vehicles from either Kosovo or Serbia could cross the border only if they placed stickers to hide the respective symbols.

The decision was made to "enable freedom of movement to all vehicles" from Kosovo, state-run RTS reported earlier, quoting the head of Serbia's office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic.

"Allowing all vehicles to enter traffic is purely a practical decision, to ease the position of individuals and their freedom of movement and cannot be interpreted as recognizing unilaterally declared independence of so-called Kosovo," Petkovic said.

Serbia agreed to recognize Kosovo license plates and vice versa after a European Union mediated deal in 2011, but the decision was never fully implemented.

The EU on Tuesday welcomed Serbia's "positive step."