New Kosovo Government Lifts Ban On Serbian Imports

Kosovo's new government said Saturday it was lifting a ban on Serbian imports, ending a potentially damaging trade spat and taking a step towards the resumption of talks between the rivals

Pristina, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Jun, 2020 ) :Kosovo's new government said Saturday it was lifting a ban on Serbian imports, ending a potentially damaging trade spat and taking a step towards the resumption of talks between the rivals.

The move came just three days after the new administration in Pristina took charge pledging to try to ease tensions with Belgrade.

"We have taken an important decision to remove the obstacles to pursuing dialogue," new Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

Belgrade has rejected Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence in 2008, and refused to resume EU-led negotiations launched in 2011 aimed at resolving tensions between Serbia and its former province.

"We are waiting for the Serbian side to also lift the barriers" to dialogue, Hoti said, referring to Belgrade's refusal to recognise Kosovo's independence.

Hoti's predecessor Albin Kurti had launched a trade war with Serbia, despite pressure from the United States and the European Union not to do so.

He only abolished a 100-percent tariff on Serbian imports on April 1, ending a blockade that had poisoned ties.

However, he then announced a ban on all imports from former war foe Serbia that were not stamped "for the Republic of Kosovo".

This measure aroused the fury of Belgrade which deemed it "unacceptable" and vowed not to renew dialogue to normalise relations.

It was scrapped on Saturday by Kosovo's new prime minister.

Serbia currently exports more than 400 million Euros of goods each year to Kosovo.

Hoti, a former finance minister, was endorsed as prime minister by parliament on Wednesday after months of political turmoil and immediately vowed to focus on advancing talks with Serbia.

Kurti had accused Washington, and his top rival President Hashim Thaci, of working in tandem to remove him from power in order to push through a deal with Serbia -- which both deny.

Both Belgrade and Pristina are under Western pressure to resolve disputes that linger 20 years after their war and the EU called for a "swift resumption" of dialogue after the installation of Kosovo's new government.