The Serbian List party in Kosovo – which has the support of Belgrade – described the decision to ban the use of the dinar as “persecution of the Serbian population without the use of weapons”.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Besnik Beslimi, confirmed that from tomorrow, Thursday, February 1, the implementation of the decision of the Central Bank, which stipulates that cash payments and payment transactions will be made exclusively in euros.
Beslimi stated in a press conference that “this decision aims to control the money circulating in Kosovo, in combating criminal activities, protecting consumers and the payment system of Kosovo”.
The decision to exclusively use the euro in monetary transactions in Kosovo in practice it means banning the use of the dinar, the official currency of Serbia, which is used in all areas where Serbs form the majority of the population.
In addition to commercial transactions, the dinar is also the currency used by the Serbian budget to pay salaries, pensions, social assistance and other benefits to Kosovo Serbs.
Bislimi explained that in the future the dinars will be able to reach Kosovo but will have to be converted into euros for payments to be made.
Until now, the dinars have been arriving in Kosovo illegally in various ways through the Central Bank of Serbia, which has a vault in the town of Leposavic in northern Kosovo from where a private company distributed the money to the branches of the Serbian Postal Savings Bank in the Serbian regions.
From the Serbian budget, annually, approximately 800 million euros are earmarked for Kosovo. The Kosovo government complains that only 200 million of this money reaches the Kosovo Serbs and the rest “gets lost somewhere along the way”.
The political leadership of Serbia and the Serbian List party in Kosovo – which has the support of Belgrade – described the decision to ban the use of the dinar as “persecution of the Serbian population without the use of weapons”.
The US has asked the Kosovo government to postpone the relevant decision on the dinar.
The European Union also requested the same. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti rejected all these demands and announced that there will be no delay in implementing the Central Bank’s decision to use the euro exclusively.
Source :Skai
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