Kosovo dedicates Bosnia: Know independence, remove visas, remove tax

Bosnia and Herzegovina has asked the Kosovo government to lift the 100 per cent customs fee for goods originating from this state. The Kosovo government has imposed customs duties for more than two months, initially at 10 and then at 100 percent for products imported from Serbia, but also from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Serbia and Bosnia are the only states to emerge from the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, which do not recognise Kosovo's independence.

Despite Kosovo's non-recognition and application of the visa regime from Bosnia and Herzegovina, this state's goods have been present on the Kosovo market.

While setting the fee for products of origin from this country has reduced imports to 80 percent.

According to foreign trade statistics for December last year, the month in which taxes were implemented, published by the Kosovo Statistics Agency, the import of goods from this state was 199,000 euros, while in the same period in 2017, the value of goods from Bosnia on the Kosovo market had reached about 8m euros.

Yes, according to Statistics Agency data, throughout 2017 Kosovo has exported goods worth about 9m euros to Bosnia and Herzegovina, while importing Bosnian products to the Kosovo market has been over 81m euros.

Due to the losses suffered, official Sarajevo has asked Kosovo without conditions to abolish the tariff to its goods on the part of authorities in Pristina. The request has also officially been presented to the Kosovo delegation during a bilateral meeting held Thursday in Sarajevo.

On the other hand, the Kosovo side has presented the position that the tariff on this state will not be abolished until Bosnian authorities recognise all documents issued by the state of the Republic of Kosovo.

Dervisoli Syritrime, director of the Department of Commerce under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, which has attended the meeting, tells Radio Free Europe that they have asked Bosnian authorities to recognise the license plates of civil, official and commercial cars.

“also, recognition of all documents issued by the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo, and recognition of national conflict marks. All of this leads to recognition of the citizenship of the Republic of Kosovo”, Dervisolli says.

Representatives of the Bosniak community in the Government of Kosovo also agree with the executive's decision on customs duties.

Qrim Bajrami, deputy minister of the Diaspore and Strategic Investments, from the Bosniak community, in a conversation to Radio Free Europe, says that although most export companies in Kosovo have been from Republika Srpska to Bosnia, the Bosniaks and Croats elected to this state, they should find the way and reflect on the recognition of Kosovo's declaration of independence, at the same time the removal of the visa regime.

The Kosovo goods export has been more from the so-called Republika Srpska, as they own documents from the Republic of Serbia and have been able to enter Kosovo without visas. I agree with the Kosovo Government's decision, because Bosniaks and Croats in Bosnia must find power and ways, despite the right to vote on representatives of the Serb community, to show they are willing to recognise Kosovo's independence. That is because Bosniaks in Kosovo and Bosnia also suffer more from the visa regime”, Bajrami points out.

Otherwise, milk products and other food products were among Bosnia's most exported goods on the Kosovo market./ Radio Free Europe