Kosovo PM on EU normalisation talks, tariffs
633 views · Published 23 December 2018 · 2:37 · Indexed 27 September 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(18 Dec 2018) A day after meeting with senior European Union officials in Brussels, Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj said EU-sponsored normalisation talks between Kosovo and Serbia were not "bringing any more results." He also said on Tuesday that Kosovo would not revoke recent tariffs it set on Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, despite being asked to by the EU. Last month, Kosovo's government introduced a 100-percent tax on Serb imports in apparent retaliation for a failed bid by Kosovo for membership in the international police organisation, Interpol, after intense Serbian lobbying. Haradinaj has said they will lift the tariffs only when Serbia recognises Kosovo's independence, which was declared by the predominantly ethnic Albanian leadership in 2008. Brussels has told Kosovo and Serbia they must normalise relations as a precondition to EU membership. On Monday in his speech to EU officials in Brussels, Haradinaj said Kosovo felt "betrayed" by the EU, because of the bloc's delays on enacting visa-free travel for its citizens. Kosovo is the only nation in Eastern Europe not allowed visa-free travel to EU member countries. Haradinaj said that though Kosovo had fulfilled dozens of requirements set by EU members, the response from Brussels is "incomplete and hopeless." Kosovo was a province of Serbia and came under UN and NATO administration after a 1999 NATO-led air war halted a Serbian crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/bcc005244661266a4c0a81052557b315
