German government urgently calls on Kosovo to postpone decision barring dinar

The German government urged Kosovo to postpone plans to implement the decision to make the euro its own currency amid concerns that the decision could exacerbate ethnic tensions by cutting the flow of cash to ethnic Serbs in the country's north.

“We strongly urge Kosovo to postpone the implementation date until an acceptable” solution is found, Christiane Hoffman, deputy spokeswoman of the government, told reporters in Berlin on Friday.

While considering this issue is a sovereign decision for Kosovo, Hoffman called the currency decision a key <x0-step with broad consequences”, which requires more time and preparation.

New York news agency “Bloomberg News” writes that European leaders have failed in efforts to normalise ties between Serbia and Kosovo, whose sovereignty authorities in Belgrade refuse to recognise. Tensions in northern Kosovo dominated by Serbs over the past year in the worst violence in nearly two decades, broadcast Express.

Kosovo's central bank announced earlier this month that by next week, it will ban any creditors to operate without license, potentially affecting Serbia's Postanska Stedionica, the main channel for funds in Serbian dinars, which support about 90,000 Serbs in Kosovo.

The dinar fee

The Central Bank of Serbia, which claims the payments are registered transparently and with surveillance from Pristina, said in a statement that restrictions pose a direct threat to the existence of the Serbian population and aim to expel more Serbs from Kosovo”.

The Serbian community receives payment for pensions, health care, education and investments paid so far with little supervision from Kosovo authorities, which are dominated by ethnic Albanians. The government in Belgrade sends more than $100m annually to support Kosovo Serbs, this medium writes.

The EU and the US have warned against any sudden change as mediators seek to facilitate an inclusive agreement between Balkan neighbours, both of which have aspirations to join the 27-member bloc. The talks are mainly stuck to the fate of Serbs who became minorities after the division of Kosovo.

“Kosovo should be able to control currency in the country '%s' should not be controversial”, said Florian Bieber, director of the Centre for Southeast European Studies at the University of Graz.

The “But dialogue with Serbia is now in such a difficult place, and at the end of the day, the Government of Kosovo should try to make Kosovo Serbs see themselves more integrated”.