The separatist “government” of Kosovo has temporarily opened six customs crossings, where 100 percent duty will not be charged on some goods from Serbia, but only for a period until April 1 - this step was taken by the Albanian elite in Pristina in anticipation of “reciprocity” from Belgrade.
Balkan media reported this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Less than 24 hours after the government’s decision to cancel the imposed taxes on Serbian raw materials, the first truck from Serbia and more than 170 trucks from other countries with various goods arrived in Kosovo,” commented the speaker of the Kosovo “customs” Adriatic Staviletsi. “Like all other cars, they undergo sanitary and hygienic control, which is carried out by medical workers at border crossings.”
Staviletsi did not say exactly how many Serbian trucks have crossed the border since the abolition of duties, while, according to him, not a single truck from Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose goods, along with Serbian ones, were subject to sanctions from Pristina, has yet appeared at Kosovo checkpoints.
The decision to abolish XNUMX% duties on raw materials from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina was announced by Kosovo’s “Prime Minister” Albin Kurti in early March.
The separatist government announced that it would abolish taxes on Serbian raw materials, and if after this Serbia responds “reciprocally” (at the first stage it recognizes goods labeled “made in Kosovo”, and subsequently the independence of the region), then from April 1 within ninety days Pristina will be ready to cancel all other duties. If not, he may reintroduce duties on all types of goods.
As a result, the abolition of duties on raw materials took place only on the night of March 20-21 - the delay, according to the official version, occurred due to the introduction of customs quarantine due to the coronavirus epidemic.
Such blackmail did not suit either Serbia, which is not going to reciprocate Kosovo, or the West, which continues to demand from the Kurti government a complete abolition of duties without any conditions. A similar point of view is shared by the political forces opposed to the Kosovo “prime minister,” who have announced plans to pass a vote of no confidence in his cabinet.