Serbia’s Trade Minister said on Wednesday the European Union will have a last chance to explicitly call on Pristina to withdraw its decision on tariffs on December 17, during a meeting of the Standing Committee on Kosovo’s accession, the Beta news agency reported.
Rasim Ljajic told the Belgrade-based Pink television that “there were enough of appeals. Only the EU has mechanisms not just to pressure Pristina but to threaten it with the suspension of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) and other documents.”
Kosovo Government increased import taxes on goods from Serbia and Bosnia last month to 100 percent, in a move the EU described as a violation of the CEFTA and SAA agreements.
Ljajic warned that if the problem was not solved, it could become “a precedent which others could use as a model.”
“It’s crucial here that the basic human rights are violated, the free flow of goods, right to medical treatment… regardless of all economic effects,” said Ljajic.
He added that such a situation created political instability and that it was vital for the Serbs to protest peacefully.
Ljajic reiterated that Serbia had mechanisms to retaliate, but that it would not use them, adding there was one side which had been violating the agreements and that the other was the victim.
