By EWB01.06.2020
BRUSSELS / PRISTINA – EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajčák tweeted on Sunday that he was disappointed with the new measures on import from Serbia introduced by the caretaker Government of Kosovo.
Lajčák wrote that the measures should be removed immediately and that the EU expects both parties to the Dialogue to implement and respect past agreements.
On Saturday, Albin Kurti’s outgoing Government adopted new measures prohibiting the use of documents for import of agricultural and industrial products that use the names other than the Republic of Kosovo.
According to the decisions, economic operators from Serbia must be provided with an entry permit for each vehicle transporting goods entering Kosovo, KoSSev reports.
In his reaction, acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that denying the principle of reciprocity to Kosovo is to deny the exercise of its sovereign rights.
“Kosova wants fair and just relations with its neighbours,” Kurti said reacting to Lajčák’s tweet. According to him, the dialogue is between two equals and Serbia must see Kosovo as an equal at every table, Gazeta Express reports.
Kurti’s Government is expected to be replaced very soon, following the ruling of the Constitutional Court confirming that President Hashim Thaçi’s decree giving Avdullah Hoti of the Democratic League of Kosovo the mandate to form a new cabinet. Kurti’s Government lost the vote of confidence in March.
Commenting on the measures, Hoti said that all the decisions which impede the resumption of Kosovo-Serbia dialogue will be annulled once he takes over as Prime Minister.
“Most recent decisions of the caretaker Government do not help the country, on the contrary obstruct it. It is known the reciprocity is organic part of our legal structure,” Hoti said in a statement posted on Facebook. “Today we need to support the dialogue with the help of our friends,” he said.