Haradinaj's AAK party sends Kurti a coffin as a warning against abolishing taxes

Activists of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo brought a coffin to in front of the government building in Pristina

Foto: Tanjug/AP

The opposition Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) led by Ramush Haradinaj, who is the fiercest opponent of revoking the taxes on goods from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, today sent a coffin to Prime Minister of the provisional Pristina institutions Albin Kurti plastered with pieces of paper containing warnings, challenging the abolition of the measure.

The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo activists brought the coffin to in front of the government building in Pristina.

They pasted pieces of A4 paper all over it, which read, among other things, "100 percent txes," "promises," "principles," "reciprocity " in this way letting it be known that they did not deviate from their previously stated position on Kurti's proposal to abolish the taxes on products from central Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the meantime, an extraordinary session is under way in the Kosovo parliament convened at the request of 41 opposition MPs against Kurti's announcement about a gradual and conditional abolition of the taxes.

Kurti announced last week that the taxes would be abolished on raw materials starting on May 15, and if, as he stated, Belgrade sees this as a sign of goodwill to continue the dialogue and remove obstacles, the taxes would be completely abolished from April 1, for a period of 90 days.

Otherwise, Kurti said, if Serbia doesn't meet Kosovo's demands, the taxes will be reinstated from June 15 until the reciprocity measure is applied, Pristina's Lajmi portal reported.

The United States is opposed to such an announcement and is demanding from Kurti that the government immediately abolishes the taxes, which is also the position of the Democratic League of Kosovo, led by Isa Mustafa, a coalition partner of Kurti' Self-Determination Movement.

Haradinaj party activists arrested

Several younger activists from the opposition Alliance for the Future of Kosovo led by former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj have been arrested for carrying a coffin to in front of the government building this morning as a symbol of "a burial of promises" by the current government, Gazeta Express reports.

MPs attending the extraordinary session of parliament discussing the proposal of the Kosovo prime minister for a gradual and conditional abolition of the taxes on Serbian and Bosnia and Herzegovina products were informed about the arrests by deputy AAK leader Teuta Haxhiu.

"I deeply regret the arrest of AAK youth who carried out this activity," she said.

According to the Pristina-based Gazeta Express newspaper, the coffin was placed in front of parliament and symbolizes "a burial of promises" made by the current government.

(Telegraf.rs/Koha)