The European Union called for the immediate revoking of tariffs imposed by the Kosovo government on goods from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and warned that all agreements reached in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue must be implemented, a statement issued after a meeting of the EU-Kosovo Stabilisation and Association Council said on Monday.

 The EU “deeply regrets the Kosovo government’s unilateral increase of those tariffs as well as the imposition of non-tariff barriers, and insists on their immediate revocation,” the Council said.

In November, Pristina had introduced 10 percent import tariffs for goods from Serbia and Bosnia, in response to what Kosovo government said was Serbia’s “destructive behaviour”. Later that month, the tarrifs were raised from 10 to 100 percent.

“The introduction of these tariffs damages the economic interests of Kosovo and its people, reducing trade flows and diminishing Kosovo’s attractiveness as a place for investment and business. Any impediments to trade should be resolved within the appropriate fora and mechanisms, with the constructive participation of all sides concerned, in a spirit of regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations,” it said.

EU officials “underlined the relevance of Kosovo’s continuous engagement” in the EU-facilitated Pristina-Belgrade dialogue to reach a legally binding agreement on a comprehensive normalisation of their relations, it said and added that “all dialogue agreements need to be fully implemented without any further delay, in particular the 2015 agreement on the Association of Serb municipalities”.

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