Kosovo starts trade war with Serbs
BELGRADE • Kosovo launched a trade war with Serbia after failing to win enough votes to become member of Interpol, threatening years of efforts to reconcile the Balkan neighbours.
Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, is seeking recognition as a state in the international community, which its neighbour opposes. The countries have been in talks since 2013 on improving relations so they can join the European Union and even have discussed a land-swap as a potential solution.
That process hit a wall Wednesday after Serbia lobbied other countries to block Kosovo from being admitted to the international police network. Serb delegates jumped up and embraced each other when the vote went their way, calling it one of their “greatest victories.” Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Enver Hoxhaj responded by imposing a 100 per cent tax on imports from Serbia and said more measures were coming.
“Serbia is continuing its aggressive campaign against Kosovo in the int’l stage,” Hoxhaj tweeted. “It is also undermining the normalization process.”
Serbian authorities won’t respond with counter-measures to what they see as a declaration of a trade war. They instead will try to help foreign companies operating in Serbia that also export to Kosovo, President Aleksandar Vucic said late Wednesday. He added that no new talks will happen until the tariffs are lifted.
Serbia is the biggest single origin of exports to Kosovo, followed by Germany. More than 2,500 Serbian companies export goods including food, drinks, chemicals and construction material to Kosovo, according to the Blic newspaper. The total value of Serbian exports to Kosovo was about 450 million euros in 2017, or about 3 per cent of total exports. Kosovo exports about a ninth of that to its neighbour.
Tensions remain high between Serbia and Kosovo, which fought a 1999-2000 war that ended with a NATO bombing campaign that forced Serb troops out. Since Kosovo declared independence, Serbia, supported by its big international backers Russia and China, has obstructed its neighbour from joining international organizations, including the United Nations.
EU Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini called on Kosovo to drop the tax immediately.