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| Kosovo Government meeting |
The Kosovo government is warning of additional reciprocity measures against Serbia. These measures, although not yet defined, will follow the decision of 21 November to impose a 100 percent tax on products imported from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although not yet definitive, according to Kosovo Government officials, it is expected that the Government will impose as a reciprocity measure the ban of entry of Serbian license plates vehicles by establishing the same procedure that Serbia applies for Kosovo license plates.
Another measure against Serbia is warned not to recognize the documents of Serbia, just as Serbia does not accept Kosovo's documents, which are related to the quality of products and other documents.Haki Shatri, Kosovo Prime Minister's economy advisor, told to Radio Free Europe that no new measure has yet been set, but according to him, has been discussed about these measures.
"At the meeting of the Government to be held tomorrow (Tuesday) there is no such thing as foreseen unless something is decided as extraordinary. It is about three measures that are 100 percent similar to the acceptance or non-acceptance of documents, the same documents that Serbia does not recognize from Kosovo, then another measure is the ban on the entry of vehicles with license plates of Serbia, which applies to Kosovo citizens' cars and a measure relates to the registration of foreign companies that supply Kosovo from Serbia," Shatri explains.
The Government of Kosovo with the reasoning of the protection of domestic products decided to increase 100% the customs tax on goods imported from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. This decision has fueled harsh reactions of Serbs in Kosovo and authorities in Belgrade and Sarajevo. Serbia, which exports to Kosovo goods worth over 400 million euros a year, demanded the removal of the tax as a condition for continuing the dialogue between the two states. Meanwhile, international mechanisms such as the European Commission and the United States demanded that taxes to be abolished, considering the 100 percent tax as a violation of the Free Trade Agreement, CEFTA. But the Government of Kosovo, at least so far, has not pushed back by the 100 percent tariff decision, which continues to remain in force and foresees further measures to Serbia.
While Kosovo Business representatives who came to support the Government of Kosovo for the 100 percent tax on imported products originating from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina say they support other measures of reciprocity.