Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajić stated that the solution for the trucks carrying hazardous substances that have been held up at the Merdare crossing for six days today should be found during this week, with European Union mediation.
He said that the Government of Serbia has no interest in entering into an economic war with Kosovo, but notes that, in case of introducing reciprocal measures, this would primarily be devastating to the Kosovo side.
“We have no interest in entering into an economic war, since we have significant turnover with Kosovo. We place 430 million dollars’ worth of goods on that market annually. We want to solve the problem. If this war continues, Kosovo would certainly pay a far greater economic toll, but we would also have losses. Therefore we are looking for a solution before introducing additional reciprocal economic measures”, explained Ljajić in a statement to the Tanjug news agency.
He notes that Kosovo has, conditionally speaking, committed two faults with this move.
Firstly, they have breached the CEFTA agreement, since they issued certificates independently, despite not being members to the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road, since a precondition for this is United Nations membership.
The second fault is introducing measures without announcing this possibility to another CEFTA member state, nor seeking to resolve the issue through bilateral talks.
“There were several meetings in Brussels regarding the issue, as well as among CEFTA member states. We are having discussions today, with Union mediation, and we hope to find a solution this week”, says Ljajić.
The Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications also notes that the trading companies suffer severe consequences because of the blockade, therefore it is in their mutual interest to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
“I am not certain that the other side is aware of the severity of these events”, said Ljajić.
He also reflected on the recent incidents when members of the “Self-Determination” movement in multiple cases rolled over trucks carrying Serbian products intended for the Kosovo market, criticizing them for rolling the trucks over for political reasons.
“Someone is rolling over trucks with Serbian goods, and openly stating they are doing so for political reasons, because they are against this or that agreement. If economy does not prevail in this situation instead of misdirected emotion, I believe the damage will be immense, particularly for citizens of Kosovo”, concluded Ljajić.
Authorities in Priština are calling reciprocal those measures that do not allow the passage of trucks transporting hazardous substances – crude oil and gas – from Central Serbia across administrative crossings, while the Government of the Republic of Serbia is warning that this represents a violation of the CEFTA agreement.
