Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia will ask the European Union (EU) member states to request from Pristina authorities to revoke the import taxes that Kosovo Government introduced last month for products from these two countries, Bosnian and Serbian trade ministers agreed on Tuesday.

EU-Kosovo Stabilisation and Association Council, which will discuss the state of relations between the EU and Kosovo, is set to meet on December 12 and this is the last chance for the Union to ask Pristina to urgently revoke “discriminatory taxes,” said Bosnian Trade Minister Mirko Sarovic and his Serbia's counterpart Rasim Ljajic.

Otherwise, the ministers stressed, it will be necessary to ask for a suspension of the EU-Kosovo Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), a document that the EU aspiring countries sign at the initial stage of the accession process.

The 100% customs duties that Kosovo authorities introduced last month on the import of goods from Bosnia and Serbia sparked strong reactions in these two countries, whose officials said the imposed taxes directly violated the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), a zero tax association that all countries in the region take part in.

Ministers Sarovic and Ljajic warned that the taxes did not violate the CEFTA only but directly breached “fundamental human rights and freedoms, foremost the right to free movement of people, goods and capital, as well as the right on medical treatment.”

Due to the newly introduced import taxes, Bosnia's and Serbia's trade with Pristina was practically disabled, the ministers said, expressing concern over weak reactions of the international community which they called “inefficient.”

Ljajic and Sarovic agreed to coordinate further steps and activities towards the international institutions “to have Pristina's discriminatory measures revoked as soon as possible.”

Pristina introduced the tariffs a day after the two countries, which never recognised Kosovo's independence, voted against Kosovo's membership in the Interpol. Pristina authorities did not officially link the decision to the vote but accused Serbia of conducting “a wild campaign” against Kosovo membership

While Bosnia's export to Kosovo amounted about €80 million during 2017, according to the CEFTA official statistics, Serbia was a significant trade partner which exported the goods in the amount of €440 million, which was 14% of its overall export for that year.