Serbia and Kosovo reach deal to end trade ban

Serbia and Kosovo reach deal to end trade ban

2011-09-04 02:23:21 GMT+7 (ICT)

BELGRADE (BNO NEWS) -- Serbia and Kosovo have reached an agreement that may end a trade dispute which has caused tensions and violence in the former province, German Press Agency DPA reported on Friday.

Negotiators of both countries met in Brussels on Friday to resume talks, which have been facilitated by the European Union since March. The parties reached an agreement under which Serbia will accept status-neutral documents for products from Kosovo.

Serbia will recognize stamps on documents labeled as "Kosovo Customs" without any state insignia such as the Kosovo flag or coat-of-arms, said Borislav Stefanovic, Serbia's chief negotiator, as quoted by Bloomberg.

The European Union (EU) described the event as an important step to improving relations in the region. "Agreements were reached on customs stamps," the EU facilitator, Robert Cooper, said in a statement. "As a result the mutual trade embargoes will be lifted."

The two sides also reached an agreement on the less contentious issue of cadastral records and continued talks on telecommunications, energy and university diplomas. The issue of Serbia's veto on Kosovo's participation in regional forums was also briefly discussed during the Brussels talks.

The agreement came after months of halted negotiations and a mutual trade embargo that ultimately erupted into violence in which a Kosovo policeman was fatally shot and NATO peacekeepers had to step in and assume control over the border crossings.

However, tensions remain high in the north, with Serbs still sporadically blocking roads and NATO troops stationed at the border. Stefanovic and Kosovo’s chief negotiator Edita Tahiri, stressed that northern Kosovo was not an issue discussed during talks on Friday.

A possible agreement on customs stamps would relate to the transit of people and goods, but not to the status of the border crossings and northern Kosovo, Stefanovic said as quoted by DPA.

According to DPA, Belgrade officials agreed to set a date for the talks as they were hoping that the EU would formally recognize their country as a membership candidate in October.

However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Belgrade two weeks ago to deliver a message that Serbia will not be allowed EU membership before it fully normalizes relations with Kosovo.

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority declared independence from Serbia in 2008, although Serbia has not yet recognized its former territory's independence.

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