European Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations and Neighborhood Policy, Johannes Hahn said he hopes a response from Kosovo related to the taxes would arrive these days, RTS reports.
Commissioner Hahn repeated to the journalists in Brussels his offer to negotiate on economic barriers in a special format, stressing that the solution for the taxes must be found.
European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn met in Pristina with Srpska Lista MPs, who locked themselves in the Kosovo Assembly on Sunday, expecting his arrival, RTS reports.
Following the meeting, Srpska Lista Vice Deputy, Igor Simic said Hahn is concerned over Pristina’s measure, but does not expect taxes would be lifted any time soon. Head of the EU Office in Pristina, Nataliya Apostolova was also present in a meeting.
The European Commissioner for Enlargement Johannes Hahn paid a short visit to Belgrade and meet with the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. The meeting took place prior to Hahn’s trip to Pristina where he is set to discuss recent Pristina’s decision to increase taxes on goods from central Serbia and Bosnia by 100 percent, FoNet news agency reported.
Srpska Lista MPs have been in the Kosovo Assembly since yesterday waiting for the arrival of European Commissioner Johannes Hahn in order to inform him about Pristina’s „anti-Serb moves“ that are leading toward „a humanitarian catastrophe“ of the Serbian people in Kosovo.
They are protesting against the 100% custom taxes imposed on Serbian products arriving into Kosovo. Hahn does not have an officially scheduled meeting with them.
Serbian List (SL) Vice President Igor Simic told RTK2 that SL MPs are still in the Assembly of Kosovo.
According to him, they are exhausted, but they do not give up request to meet with EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn, because it is necessary to convey to him “how dangerous is the decision to block the distribution of Serbian products for the survival of Serbs in Kosovo”.
According to Simic, the Serbian List, unlike Slobodan Petrovic, has proved “numerous times that for SL, the interest of the Serbian people is in the first place”.
Veljko Odalovic, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the RTS News, that the arrival of Johannes Hahn is very important as well as talks both in Belgrade and Pristina. He says that the talk with the representatives of Pristina is important because, as he says, ''they forgot that there are Serbs in those institutions as well. "
The Prime Minister of Kosovo Ramush Haradinaj and Kosovo’s Minister for European Integration Dhurata Hoxha said at a press conference that the EU Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn will be visiting Kosovo in the beginning of December.
According to Haradinaj, this visit conveys the message that Kosovo is a serious candidate for the status of EU candidate, however he admitted that there are more specific laws which require special vote.
The President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday that the rule of law was not the most significant problem for Belgrade, but that was the Kosovo issue, the Beta news agency reported.
Speaking to the Pink television, Vucic said that the European Commission would soon “report significant progress made by Serbia in the rule of law,” adding that the Venice Commission approved the constitutional amendments and that "everything goes in right direction.”
European Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said that solving Kosovo issue was not the only condition for Serbia’s membership to the European Union, adding that the rule of law and good governance remained in the center of the negotiations, Belgrade-based Vecernje Novosti daily reports today.
Still, Hahn said, Belgrade should finalize and permanently implement an agreement with Pristina that would contribute to the regional stability.
EU Enlargement Negotiations Commissioner, Johannes Hahn said that Belgrade-Pristina agreement must be specific and harmonized, and not a precedent, as well as in line with international law, BETA news agency reported.
“Stance of EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, as a mediator in these negotiations, is clear and it has been clear since the beginning of her mandate – joint action for lasting peace between Serbia and Kosovo, and in the region as a whole, is the main EU’s priority,” Hahn told Podgorica-based daily Pobjeda.