Economic losses, although much less, were collected by Serbia for almost a year and a half, due to the tax that, for political reasons, was introduced by Pristina on goods that went from central Serbia to the province. On a daily basis, the damage to Serbia exceeded one million euros. This is a bad example, but it does not diminish the importance of networking, which can prevent such situations and improve economic cooperation. Of course, with political will.
Businessmen from a meeting in Podgorica a week ago sent a clear message once again – the common economic market cannot function without the support of the governments of the region.
A step in that direction is the “mini Schengen” initiative. The four freedoms modeled on Brussels – the freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital.
“If you’ve waited five hours so far, and now you wait less than an hour, it’s a serious difference in costs, you know every hour it costs you as a manufacturer and seller and someone who is a freight forwarder, those are all things that save money,” explains Marko Cadez from the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.
First of all, that was the idea of the Central European Free Trade Agreement from 15 years ago.
Five countries in the region, UNMIK on behalf of Pristina and Moldova, have set up a duty-free trade system.
For many, Cefta failed the exam at the end of 2018. For more than a year and a half, the decision from Pristina to introduce a tax of 100 percent on goods from central Serbia and BiH was in force.
“Cefta is such a system in which one member can block all the others, whether it is Kosovo, tomorrow it can be anyone else. When Kosovo was introduced politically, the highest damage was for Serbia, but great damage was for businessmen from Kosovo,” Cadez explains.
“I think that regional cooperation and all these ideas is still an amorphous mass that does not have a precise shape, knowing that it conflicts with the problems that exist in politics and bilateral relations,” explains Idro Seferi, a journalist.
Although, says Slobodan Zecevic, the economy can relax political relations, it cannot surpass it. Cite an example.
“Here, both the United States and China have very successful economic cooperation on the one hand, and yet on the other hand they are political rivals, so the economy cannot always win politics, but the economy can contribute to conflict prevention,” said Slobodan Zecevic of the Institute for European Studies.
“It is a sad fact that the EU will not accept new members for at least ten years, so we need to prepare to last until then, and in that respect mini-Schengen is a possible solution an obstacle to further integration,”e xplains Zarko Puhovski, an analyst.
The year of the pandemic also shows how important it is to cross borders more easily. Last summer, tourists from Serbia saw the Albanian coast for the first time.
“Albanians or Serbs or others in the region cannot live normally if they do not treat each other equally,” said Idro Seferi, a journalist.
If all countries in the region and Kosovo and Metohija would support the action plan on the common regional market of bills, he says – 18 million people could move freely and exchange goods and services. For now, Montenegro and BiH have not joined the mini Schengen, RTS reports.
