Kosovo relaxes import checks on Serbia amid looming trade deal dispute

Kosovo on Monday relaxed security measures on goods imported from Serbia in a bid to avoid jeopardizing Pristina's inclusion in regional trade agreements and its cooperation with the European Union.

These restrictions were introduced -- at first unofficially -- following a flashpoint incident on Kosovo's northern border with Serbia in June 2023, in which Serbian police detained three Kosovar police officers. Belgrade and Pristina dispute which side of the border the arrests occurred on.

Since then Kosovo has denied entry to Serbian trucks, citing concerns they could contain weapons deliveries for Kosovar ethnic Serb agitators alongside goods.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti told reporters that the interior ministry had ordered customs officials from Monday to step up controls and inspections instead of restricting the flow of goods across the border with Serbia.

The premier said the laxer regime will be applied for the time being only at Merdare, the largest and most frequent border crossing.

Goods will be checked manually until the arrival of special scanners able to inspect entire trucks, Kurti explained.

"It was not about trade, but security measures. Last year, Serbia brought the army to the border four times," said Kurti.

Last week the President of the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce, Lulzim Rafuna, warned that Kosovo "could be excluded from the table of CEFTA (Central European Free Trade Agreement)" if the ban on goods from Serbia continued.

Since September Kosovar media have reported that Germany requested that Pristina lift the ban, arguing that it hinders the CEFTA.

Berlin's Special Representative for the Western Balkans, Manuel Sarrazin, was quoted as saying that the ban also risked jeopardising Kosovo's participation in the Berlin Process, which aims to help the economic development of the Western Balkans countries ahead of their potential accession to the EU.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008 in a move not recognised by Serbia, which has encouraged Kosovo's Serb minority to reject Pristina's authority.

Recently tensions in Kosovo's Serb-majority north have risen over central government attempts to dismantle the region's parallel institutions, including removing the Serbian dinar currency from use and replacing Serbian license plates with Kosovo ones.