Kosovo Serb MPs Camp in Parliament in Tax Protest

MPs of the Belgrade-backed party in Kosovo, Lista Srpska, spent Sunday night in the Kosovo parliament building and vowed not to leave until they met EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn, who was due in Kosovo.

They erected a banner in English, reading: "100% tax= 0% freedom", expressing their opposition to the decision of the Kosovo government to apply a 100-per-cent tax on imports from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"If this tax is not rescinded within a short time, we will have major problems, not only the Serbs in Kosovo, who we represent, but all the citizens of Kosovo, because there will be a lack of milk, water and food," the head of the party's parliamentary group, Sasa Milosavljevic, told the media on Sunday.

"We do not want to come to that, so in a peaceful and in a democratic manner, at a meeting with Commissioner Johannes Hahn, we will inform him about this major problem," he added.

The customs taxes are the main topic of Hahn's visit to Kosovo. However, the government led by Ramush Haradinaj shows no sign of backing away from its move, which it took after Serbia blocked the country from joining the global police body, Interpol.

Kosovo first imposed a tax of 10 per cent but on November 21 it hiked it to 100 per cent.

Most people in Kosovo appear to support the move as a justified response to Serbian hostile actions.

However, the EU has condemned it as a violation of Kosovo's membership of the regional free trade body, CEFTA.

The decision has also caused outraged in the mainly Serbian far north of Kosovo, where four mayors resigned last week and joined protests staged by Kosovo Serbs in the divided town of Mitrovica.

Read more: 

Serb Mayors in Kosovo to Resign Amid...