Last Updated: February 12, 2024, 21:37 IST
Protesters at the rally in the Serb half of the divided northern Kosovo city of Mitrovica stated that abolishing the dinar violates the rights of the Serbs in Kosovo and is discriminatory. (Photo: X)
Tensions escalated after the authorities of Kosovo, a former Serbian province, banned banks and different monetary establishments in the Serb-populated areas from utilizing the dinar in native transactions
Thousands of minority Serbs in Kosovo on Monday protested a ban on the use of the Serbian forex in areas the place they reside, a difficulty that has been the trigger of the newest disaster in relations between Serbia and Kosovo.
Tensions escalated after the authorities of Kosovo, a former Serbian province, banned banks and different monetary establishments in the Serb-populated areas from utilizing the dinar in native transactions, beginning Feb. 1, and imposed the euro.
The dinar was broadly utilized in ethnic Serbian-dominated areas, particularly in Kosovo’s north, to pay pensions and salaries to employees in Serbian-run establishments, together with faculties and hospitals.
The ban has angered each Kosovo Serbs and Serbia. The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo sparred over the situation at a gathering final week at the United Nations Security Council.
Protesters at the rally in the Serb half of the divided northern Kosovo city of Mitrovica stated that abolishing the dinar violates the rights of the Serbs in Kosovo and is discriminatory. They urged the worldwide neighborhood to put strain on the Kosovo authorities to reverse the transfer.
“This virtually means taking away food from our tables,” stated Dusanka Djorovic, from a neighborhood pensioners’ affiliation.
Dragisa Milovic, a health care provider, stated that Kosovo’s determination “is aimed at abolishing Serb institutions in these areas.”
In Pristina, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti dismissed such criticism in a message to the Kosovo Serbs. Kurti insisted that the new measure is geared toward curbing unlawful cash stream and “does not stop Serbia from financially assisting the citizens of Kosovo’s Serb community.”
“Kosovo did not stop the dinar, or the dollar, pound, or Swiss franc,” stated Kurti. “The only change from Feb. 1 is that the cash cannot cross the border in sacks … but should come through bank accounts and (be) withdrawn in euros.”
In 1999, a 78-day NATO bombing marketing campaign ended a conflict between Serbian authorities forces and ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo. Serbian forces had been pushed out however Belgrade by no means acknowledged Kosovo’s independence and nonetheless considers it a Serbian province.
The European Union and the United States have expressed concern that Kosovo’s ban of the dinar might elevate tensions in an already risky area and known as for consultations and a delay in the ban.
The EU has brokered negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo in a bid to normalize their relations however the talks have confirmed sluggish progress whereas occasional violent incidents have fuelled fears of instability in the Balkans as the conflict rages in Ukraine.
(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
