Even if Pristina would abolish the 100 per cent increase in taxes on goods imported from Serbia tomorrow, the consequences would still remain huge, as their introduction alone only leads to instability, said Serbia’s Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunication, Rasim Ljajic, on Saturday.

Ljajic told the state broadcaster that trade with business people in Kosovo has completely halted.

„Yesterday we had data from Kosovo’s customs authority saying that trade has been decreased by 20 million Euro. We used to have between 1,1 and 1,2 million on a daily basis,“ he said.

Ljajic also spoke about claims that Kosovo’s security forces will be transformed into an army, which he said would open the Pandora box.

„When they saw that nobody’s influence could make them withdraw the tax increase, they figured they can now go for everything else they had planned as well,“ he said, adding that he believes Pristina will not stop and will continue creating obstacles „which will be detrimental to the entire situation in the region.“

„If we can’t find final solutions, let’s at least enable the people to live normally,“ he said.