Kosovo To Start Lifting Tariff On Serbian Goods: PM

Pristina, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Feb, 2020 ) :Kosovo's new Prime Minister said Thursday his government would start lifting a tariff on Serbian goods that has been a thorn in relations between the former war foes for over a year.

The olive branch comes after heavy Western pressure on Kosovo to abolish the trade barrier, which has stymied the Balkan neighbours from making progress in talks to normalise ties 20 years after they clashed in war.

But the move is conditional, Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti warned.

Kurti, a leftist politician who took office earlier this month, said his government would make the decision next week to start lifting the tariff -- which also applies to Bosnian goods -- on raw materials.

"This is a sign of our goodwill and readiness to start a genuine solution to political, economic and trade disputes with Serbia," he told a press conference.

The full tariff would later be repealed altogether on April 1 -- but only if Serbia halts its efforts to undermine Kosovo's recognition on the world stage, Kurti said.

Serbia has never accepted the independence that Kosovo, a former province, declared in 2008 after their deadly war in the late 1990s.

In recent years, Belgrade has been aggressively lobbying other countries to reverse their recognitions of Kosovo, an issue that has divided the globe as most Western countries support Kosovo while Moscow and Beijing back Serbia.

Kurti also demanded Serbia lift any non-tariff barriers to trade on their border.

If Belgrade doesn't cooperate on both fronts, Kosovo's tariff could be reinstalled by June 15th, the prime minister warned.

Kosovo would also "start gradually implementing the principle of reciprocity," Kurti said, a tit-for-tat policy he has previously said would apply to political and economic spheres.

The tariff was introduced in late 2018 by the then Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj after Serbia thwarted Kosovo's efforts to join Interpol.

It quickly brought EU-led negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina to a freeze, with Serbia refusing to talk until the measure is lifted.

While the tariff was initially popular in Kosovo, Kurti now has the backing of most of the public in lifting it, according to a recent survey.

But he is also facing criticism from his opponents in parliament, who had dominated politics for most of Kosovo's independence and want to keep the tariff in place.