Ramush Haradinaj, Kosovo’s Prime Minister, did not exclude the possibility of counting his last days at the helm of Pristina’s government, following a local dispute over import tariffs on goods from Serbia and Bosnia, the Beta news agency reported.
The disagreement about whether the tariffs on products from Bosnia and Serbia, as demanded by the US and the European Union, should be lifted or suspended and what to request in return, brought Kosovo’s government to the brink of collapsing.
The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) founded by President Hashim Thaci threatened to leave the coalition with Haradinaj’s Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) if the controversial 100 percent import taxes introduced last November were not suspended.
Thaci said the taxes should be suspended and was supported by the parliament speaker Kadri Veseli who heads the PDK saying the measure should be limited to 120 days and if no solution to the Belgrade – Pristina relations was reached, it should be re-introduced along with other unspecified moves.
Haradinaj refuses the idea, conditioning the withdrawal of the tariffs to an international conference on Kosovo.
In a letter to the Quint countries (the US, the UK, France, Germany and Italy ), Haradinaj listed his conditions for the abolishment of the taxes. According to the Pristina daily Koha Ditore, Haradinaj called on the US and EU to organise a conference lasting for no more than two weeks.
The meeting should, according to Haradinaj, accept his demands that there are no changes to the borders of Kosovo through division or territorial exchanges, no executive powers for the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM) and no measures of any kind based on concessions made prior to February 17, 2008, when Pristina declared independence from Belgrade.
Related news
Haradinaj earlier said the tariffs would remain in place until Belgrade recognised Kosovo’s independence despite the repeated warnings from Washington and Brussels.
Late on Monday, he said “the elections are healthy, and my ally can decide to leave the government. I’m not afraid of elections though they can happen very soon.”
The latest news seems to prove that Thaci – Haradinaj relations have been indeed imperilled due to a different opinion on a final agreement with Belgrade.
While the President insists on the so-called border correction, the Prime Minister is firmly against, saying it would lead to a catastrophe.
Local analysts say Haradinaj enjoys great popularity in Kosovo, while Thaci is supported by the international community, mainly by the EU, as Pristina’s chief negotiator in the dialogue on normalisation of relations with Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic.
