Haradinaj Asks Kurti Not to Suspend Taxes on Serbian Goods Until Serbia Recognizes Kosovo

Ramush Haradinaj

Former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj has sent an open letter to Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti asking him not to suspend taxes on goods from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina until the two countries recognize Kosovo’s independence, it was announced in Pristina on Feb. 6.

The letter had been sent in response to Kurti’s publically voiced intention to replace the taxes with full political, economic and trade reciprocity.

“Albin, don’t let Serbia, the country that had beaten and tortured you, get a market of over EUR400 million. The country that buys weapons from Russia using Kosovo money. Don’t ‘mask’ this sovereign decision with vague terms such as ‘reciprocity.’ Don’t suspend the tax, Albin. Don’t back down just for a few temporary points you’ll score with the international community,” Haradinaj wrote in his letter.   

He asked Kurti to reconsider his decision.

“We can continue to disagree… But in standing up to Serbia we have to hold together until mutual recognition; you shouldn’t be for ‘reciprocity’ without recognition,” Haradinaj said.

On Feb. 5, following a meeting with EU Special Representative to Kosovo Natalija Apostolova, Kurti said during his expose in the Kosovo Assembly that he will replace the tax with a full political, economic, and trade reciprocity with Serbia.