Trump decided to break their spines: Washington introduces 4 new measures against Pristina

An explicit warning to Pristina for the introduction of a taxes

The United States is obviously persistent in its intention to force provisional Kosovo institutions to withdraw a decision on taxes on products from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), which would be the first step towards unblocking the negotiating process that would lead to the final agreement between Belgrade and Pristina. As can be seen from official, and unofficial communication channels, Washington has introduced four, it's free to say, disciplinary measures to Pristina. 

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- It is time for Kosovo to abolish taxes, that Serbia responds constructively, to stop provocations from both sides, for Belgrade and Pristina to return to the dialogue led by the European Union, and that both sides are boldly opting for peace - it was assessed in a joint authorial text by US ambassadors in Belgrade and Pristina.

- If you do so, we are optimistic that you can achieve a historic agreement on normalization in 2019 - said Kyle Scott and Filip Kosnet.

Although the prime minister of the provisional Kosovo institutions Ramush Haradinaj himself said that the US is actually creating Pristina's policy, he disobeyed Washington's request to withdraw the decision on taxes.

That is why he himself was attacked by one of the measures imposed by the State Department against provisional self-government institutions in the southern Serbian province. Namely, according to official and unofficial decisions of Washington, 4 measures against Pristina were introduced:

1. Ramush Haradinaj is denied for visas for traveling to the United States;

2. Suspension of the training of the representative of Pristina;

3. Suspension of education of representatives of Pristina;

4. Suspension of military visits to Pristina.

In relation to the last measure, the US Embassy in Pristina confirmed today that the commander of the National Guard of Iowa, Major-General Timothy Ore, canceled a visit to Kosovo because, as they say in the embassy, because of the taxes.

US Embassy spokesman Richard May told Koha website that the visit was canceled due to a taxes.

- We can confirm that General Ore's visit was canceled due to taxes on products from Serbia and BiH - said May.

Koha announced yesterday that the rejection of Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj to suspend tax on products from Serbia and BiH has affected the cancellation of the OSCE visit to Pristina.

The visit was planned for February 16th and 18th, on the 11th anniversary of the unilateral declaration of independence. 

Director of the Center for Euro-Atlantic Integrations Jelena Milic says that the mentioned cancellation of the visit of Ora explicitly warns Prishtina about the introduction of a taxes.

Milic told Tanjug that the cancellation of the visit, with the fact that Ramush Haradinaj did not receive a visa to go to Prayer Breakfast in Washington, is one of the strongest concrete, visible measures of the United States after the introduction of a taxes, and draws attention that Pristina was warned that training and education in the field of military cooperation could be endangered.

When asked whether this US decision would affect Kosovo's cancellation of taxes, Milic said that if they knew anything about international relations and diplomatic messages coming from different bodies of the US administration, Pristina should "put a finger on the forehead".

- They should ask themselves what is the future of transformations of their safety forces if they were warned at such a high level that bilateral cooperation with the USA is endangered due to stubborn political decisions about taxes and the block of dialogue - said Milic.

She recalled that two weeks ago, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic met with the head of the National Guard of Ohio of the state of US that is a partner of Serbia for strengthening bilateral relations in the field of defense, just like Iowa for Kosovo.

- Kosovo is now losing this kind of support, and Serbia is stronger - Milic said.

In the meantime, consultations of leading people of provisional Kosovo institutions have been frequent. Namely, today, a meeting was held from which a statement was issued that the representatives of the temporary institutions in Pristina discussed the final phase of the dialogue, especially on the platform for dialogue with Belgrade, which, according to Koha, is expected to be adopted soon in the Assembly of so-called Kosovo.

The participants in the meeting, the president and the prime minister, and the president of the assembly and members of the dialogue team with Belgrade, estimated that all Kosovo institutions should support the platform.

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(Telegraf.co.uk)