NOVANEWS
Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that Kosovo’s decision to transform its security forces into a defence force “is the single biggest threat to regional peace and stability,” at a press conference alongside EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini in Brussels on Tuesday.
Brnabic also criticised the imposition of tarrifs on goods coming from Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well the subsequent 100 percent rate-increase, saying that the stability of the region “has been really shaken to the core.”
Mogherini echoed the prime minister’s criticisms of the tariffs, stating that “this measure is a breach of CEFTA [Central European Free Trade Agreement] and of the spirit of the SAA [Stabilisation and Association Agreement]” and added that “it is in the interest of Kosovo to immediately revoke this decision.”
The parliament of Kosovo voted in favour of forming a standing army on Friday, in a vote that was reportedly boycotted by ethnic Serb members.
Serbia does not recognise Kosovo’s declaration and insists the army would violate a UN resolution which ended Kosovo’s 1998-99 war of independence.