The South-east Europe ministers met in the Macedonian town of Struga on Thursday to discuss the strengthening of cooperation and the agricultural sector perspectives in terms of the European Union (EU) integration of this region.

Mirko Sarovic, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said during the meeting it was necessary for the European Commission (EC) and the South-east Europe countries to take a joint stand on the Kosovo authorities’ decision to introduce additional duties on the goods that are imported from Bosnia and Serbia.

He condemned the decision and assessed it as disputable, adding that such “unilateral” moves make the position of each member state of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) union problematic.

“Such unilateral decision poses the harshest attack on fundamental principles that the CEFTA agreement is based on, and one can expect this matter will seriously escalate in the days ahead of us,” Sarovic stressed.

The minister held a series of bilateral talks on the sidelines of the meeting with representatives of the European Commission and the South-east Europe countries’ ministers. He signed a memorandum of understanding in the sector of agriculture with Montenegrin Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Milutin Simovic.

The meeting was held under auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Macedonia in cooperation with the Regional Rural Development Standing Working Group in South Eastern Europe (SWG).