Shala warns northern Macedonia: If you continue with barriers, you will impose reciprocity measures

Shala says this decision would have to apply to any minister coming to MTI.

“As long as I am and will continue to be minister of trade and industry again, while as I have said before, until the reasons that we as Government of the Republic of Kosovo have been forced to make such a decision then the measures imposed with Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina must continue to remain in force, and that should be applied to each minister, for each future government that comes with the country”, Shala said.

And speaking of the barriers Albania and northern Macedonia are presenting to Kosovo businesses, it says that with Albania they have found mechanisms to eliminate these barriers.

We have had barriers with Albania and Macedonia. With Albania after the meeting of the two governments, we have found a mechanism to eliminate all these barriers, we are on the right track, and whenever it appears to us, it is interpreted to us, both the ministries of Albania and here to us at the Ministry of Commerce, a possible barrier then institutions through the National Coordinator Zv. Prime Minister Limaj in the record term eliminates any barrier that faces being doing business between our two countries”, Shala said.

Northern Macedonia warns that if it continues with these barriers, reciprocity measures will be imposed.

On this issue, Shala says she is awaiting answers from northern Macedonia.

“We've had and have concerns from many businesses for recently implemented barriers from Northern Macedonia, we've proceeded with this information on barriers through the CEFTA mechanism and I'm waiting for answers from the Northern Macedonia Ministry if we don't have an answer and if we don't have a move that these barriers are recently implemented in relation to businesses in Kosovo then we've been forced to take reciprocal action with even North Macedonia and with each other state that has no mutual access in each respect to”, Shala told the Online Economy.

Shala in this interview has also talked about current political issues in the country.

He says that as minister, he has demanded that there be a judicial interpretation of their status following Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj's resignation.

“I too as the minister of the subject to which it belongs, but other respective ministers have also asked that we have a judicial opinion that explains our status and the entire Government of Kosovo after the created situation. What I can say now, the government is in resignation, normally the country should not have institutional vacuum. But each minister of the Republic of Kosovo needs to have a judicial clarity of”.

Shala says the country must go to the polls that according to him this is the only solution.

He says the Initiative has no red lines for any political subject in the country, but this party has not yet decided whether it will go alone in elections or make a pre-election coalition.

We don't have any red lines for any political subject. We as Social Democrat Initiatives have not yet made the decision whether the Initiative will go to this election with another political subject, the bodies of the Initiative have not made such a decision, but personally my opinion as a member of the Headship of the Initiative is that the Initiative should go on its own in elections and after elections, after the election results then see the possibilities of co-operation with other subjects which come out of these elections. What needs to underline, the Initiative has no red line with any subject that receives the trust of the citizen of the Republic of Kosovo”, Shala has said of Online Economy.