Grenell warns of the abolition of the tax and reciprocity in Kosovo

 Richard Grenell (archive)

 The White House envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Richard Grenell, has said that once the tariff and reciprocity measures are lifted, "dialogue will seriously begin."

According to Grenell, the removal of these measures may happen "this week".

His reaction came after Kosovo President Hashim Thaci said he would take all constitutional steps next week to enable the formation of a new government "with full legitimacy from parliament, which will fight COVID-19 disease and it will serve the citizens."

"Tariffs and reciprocity need to be removed in order to strengthen the support of the United States and the European Union for Kosovo."

Kosovo-US relations have been one of the reasons why the Democratic League of Kosovo initiated the no-confidence motion against the Government, which is already still operating normally in Kosovo.

President Thaçi has repeatedly asked the Vetëvendosje Movement for the name of the mandator for the formation of the new government, but the incumbent Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who is also the chairman of this Movement, has said that this issue is not a priority for now.

In addition, he has called for new elections to be held after the coronavirus pandemic passes.

On April 1, Kurti lifted the 100 percent tariff on Serbian and Bosnian goods, while replacing Serbian goods with reciprocity.

The United States has opposed imposing both measures on Serbian goods, saying they harm the Kosovo economy.

The 100 percent tax was imposed by the previous government in November 2018.

Since then, the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade, mediated by the European Union in Brussels, has been suspended.

This process started in 2011.