Kosovo’s decision to ban the use of the Serbian dinar in its northern region is causing hardship for local Serbs, a senior US official said on Thursday.
US Special Representative for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar said Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti had promised him to consider some of his proposals on the issue. Escobar after meeting with Kurti in the capital Pristina said:
The prime minister accepted this and promised to look at some of the proposals I presented to him today.
Escobar emphasised that the central bank’s decision on the dinar has created difficulties for some citizens of the country, adding that the new regulation makes life difficult for Kosovo Serbs. He also added:
We will continue to work on this issue, which is an urgent humanitarian issue that must be addressed immediately.
The Serbian government’s Kosovo Office announced on Monday that the Serbian Postal Bank has opened four improvised bank branches near border crossings with Kosovo where Kosovo Serbs can withdraw their income from the Serbian state, such as salaries and pensions in dinars. According to the statement, the Post Bank of Serbia opened branches in the Serbian part of the Jarinje, Bërnjak, Končulj and Merdare border crossings.
Kosovo adopted the euro for cash payments on 1 February, despite concerns from ethnic Serbs living in the north.
The country’s central bank announced the decision on 18 January, stating that currencies other than the euro could be used in Kosovo only for physical storage or in bank accounts.
The decision sparked outrage because ethnic Serbs in Kosovo used the dinar, the official currency of neighbouring Serbia, in both government and commercial establishments. Many local Serbs are tied to or loyal to Serbia.
Escobar, meanwhile, said he hoped the Kosovo government would show flexibility at a meeting next week in Brussels as part of a dialogue process with Serbia. On Tuesday, he said the US has a problem in communicating with Kurti.
Escobar claimed the problem is not only faced by the US but also by other partners such as the EU, NATO, Britain, Albania and North Macedonia.
Western countries including the US, France, Italy, Germany and the UK have called on Kosovo to suspend the introduction of currency regulation.
Kosovo was a former Serbian province until a 78-day NATO bombing campaign in 1999 ended the war between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo and drove Serbian troops out. Belgrade does not recognise Kosovo’s independence, proclaimed in 2008.
