The European Commissioner for Enlargement Johannes Hahn paid a short visit to Belgrade on Monday to meet Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic, prior to the trip to Pristina for talks to the authorities there about last month's decision to increase import tariffs on goods from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to 100 percent, the FoNet news agency reported.
The visit was not publicised locally, and Vucic’s office informed media afterwards.
The purpose of Hahn’s visit to Kosovo is to talk to the authorities there about Pristina's last month decision to increase import tariffs for the two countries.
Vucic's office statement quoted Hahn as saying that long-lasting stability demanded the reconciliation.
He expressed his full support to a peaceful resolution to the crisis with the respect of the international laws and regional agreements, the statement said.
Good meeting with @predsednikrs @avucic in #Belgrade where we discussed the introduction of tariffs on goods from #Serbia and #BiH by #Kosovo, which obstructs #CEFTA, #REA, regional cooperation. We agreed on the urgent need for de-escalation. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/pcGELGred6
— Johannes Hahn (@JHahnEU) December 3, 2018
The US, EU and Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) member state criticised the move and called on Pristina to revoke it.
However, Kosovo’s government said the tariffs would remain until Belgrade recognised Pristina’s independence.
According to his office’ statement, Vucic told Hahn that Pristina's decision to increase import taxes violated CEFTA agreement and led toward the regional destabilisation which could further lead to “a deeper escalation.”
He reiterated Belgrade would not introduce any retaliatory measures against Pristina and said Serbia was ready to continue the dialogue as soon as Kosovo revoked the tariffs.
Hahn tweeted after the meeting that he would call Pristina to remove the obstacles to trade and regional cooperation.
I will call upon my interlocutors in #Kosovo to unblock regional cooperation and trade and stress the need to return to the #dialogue. In the interest of the #stability of the entire region 2/2
— Johannes Hahn (@JHahnEU) December 3, 2018
