Kosovo’s block on the Serbian currency raises alarm in the EU and US
PRISTINA, Kosovo — The European Union and the United States expressed deep concern on Sunday after Kosovo banned the use of the Serbian currency and police raided the buildings of organizations working with the Serb minority in the north of the country.
Over the past week, Kosovo police searched the premises of Serbian-run institutions and an ethnic Serb non-governmental organization, seizing papers and computers believed to contain documentation in violation of the country’s laws .
Some documents bore the emblem of the Serbian government in Belgrade, police said, while others referred to illegal parallel government structures set up by ethnic Serbs but not accepted by Kosovo.
The police have closed some of those offices.
Most of Kosovo uses the euro, even though the country is not part of the EU. But parts of northern Kosovo, populated mainly by ethnic Serbs, continue to use the dinar. Many rely on the government of Serbia for financial support, often in cash dinars.
US Ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey Hovenier also expressed concern over efforts by Kosovo police to seize the vehicle carrying Serbian dinars, which are then distributed for “social benefits from Serbia.”
An EU statement said the closure of these offices would “negatively impact the daily lives and living conditions of the Kosovo Serb communities as it will limit their access to basic social services, given the apparent absence of alternatives in this area.” moment.”
From February 1, Kosovo required areas dominated by ethnic Serbs to adopt the euro, used in the rest of the country, and abolished the use of the Serbian dinar.
“The EU urges Kosovo to avoid unilateral actions that could increase tensions and to address these issues through EU-facilitated dialogue,” the EU statement said.
“These actions needlessly increase ethnic tensions and, as a result, limit the United States’ ability to act as an effective advocate for Kosovo in the international arena,” Hovenier said.
Kosovo has ensured that “the new rules do not have a negative impact and do not punish citizens,” said Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi.
The European Union and the United States are urging both countries to implement the agreements reached by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti in February and March last year.
EU-facilitated normalization talks have failed to make progress, especially after a gun battle last September between masked Serb gunmen and Kosovo police, which killed four people and raised tensions.
Serbia and Kosovo have both said they want to join the EU, but the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has warned that their refusal to compromise will jeopardize their chances.
Serbian forces fought a war with ethnic Albanian separatists in the then province of Kosovo from 1998 to 1999. About 13,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, died until a 78-day NATO bombing campaign pushed Serb forces away. Kosovo eventually declared independence in 2008, but the government in Belgrade does not recognize its neighbor as a separate country.