Belgrade can’t decide on Kosovo, Kosovo official says

Belgrade cannot accept customs stamps which read The Republic of Kosovo-Customs or anything else that has the symbols of statehood.
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Rexhepi underlined that the stamps of the Kosovo customs had no symbols or titles of statehood.
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UNMIK recognizes as status-neutral the customs stamps which read Kosovo Customs, UNMIK Spokesman Olivier Salgado told Tanjug on Tuesday.
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He believes that the Kosovo customs stamps approved by UNMIK should be recognized and that all parties need to respect the CEFTA agreement.


Sorry, now I don't understand the problem: Custom stamps with (only) the words 'Kosovo Customs' are UNMIK approved, and they don't include the words 'Republic of..', which is status neutral. I thought Belgrade only refused the 'Republic of Kosovo' custom stamps, which seem not to exist.

"Rexhepi underlined that the stamps of the Kosovo customs had no symbols or titles of statehood."

And this is the reason why UNMIK concluded that the stamps do not breach 1244 - because words like "Republic of Kosovo" or "State of Kosovo" or equivalent do not appear. So, objectively, I think Belgrade should have allowed them.

so what serbia wants, is for propaganda purposes in appeasing the EU is to "agree" to talk with kosovo.

then sit down and demand from kosovo that they pretend they are not who they are in hopes they can, for propaganda purposes appease its violent minority by showing how they dont recognize the people they are already directly talking to.

yeah, good luck with that.

My reactions exactly Analyst. Can someone clarify, what do the custims stamps say?
Those who have been here a while know that I support Kosovar independence, but am critical of the treatment of K Serbs. In general, in this round, I have been more sympathetic to the position of the northern Serbs and certainly didn't approve Thaci's action.

However, given the action and reaction were all about the question of Kosovo retaliating with a boycott for the boycott on them imposed by Serbia, the reason for Serbia's initial boycott has some relevance. Not that I would support it in any case - terrible policy all round - but at least if it were true that Serbia "only" blocked Kosovar goods that had a custims stamp that was not status neutral, then I could see Serbia's point.

If in fact the stamps are status-neutral and say nothing about "Republic of" and have no other symbols of statehood, then does this mean that Belgrade has essentially orchestrated this entire unfortunate incident, which included the death of a Kosovar police officer, and the burning of a gate which basically turned Kfor against the northern Serbs? And that really it was all about nothing? If so, that is a pretty sorry indictment of Belgrade.

For the record, I oppose any attempt to violently "integrate" the north, but that is a different question. Even if you say that this was Thaci's "real" intention in sending the special police, and that at least you succeeded in getting rid of them and of the Pristina custims officials they brought, nevertheless the only reason he could have got away with trying, the only pretext, was precisely to impose the retailiatory boycott for which Serbia's apparent lies about the customs stamps are the only issue.

It's upsetting to read comments by somewhat informed commenters here when even you guys don't know the details. The custom stamps for goods has read Kosovo Customs (in Shqip, English, and Srpski) since day one; no "Republic of". The issue is not with the custom stamp itself but the accompanying documents (i.e. origin of goods) which has emblems.

This is precisely what I've been saying all along. Serbia lost the battle over the border posts and there is no reason for Pristina to accept anything less than full recognition of their customs stamps. This is elementary folks. Even a 5th grader could have told you this. Stefanovic needs a bigger megaphone! Maybe the Serbs can all dance to Kola and do shots of Slivo and forget about this whole mess they are in and move on with their lives. Truly pathetic.

So what's the Big effin' Problem then? All of this nonsense the past three weeks was because someone in Pristina got upset because the *already existing* CEFTA customs stamps didn't have a "Republic of..." prefix on it? What a waste of time! Go back to what was before July 25: "Kosovo Customs" or "UNMIK Kosovo" or whatever. I was right. This is only a political stunt by Albanians. What a waste of time!

Anyone who is NOT a Serbian should watch this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkgHkxIfgBc) on YouTube to see what K.Albanians stand for & their attitude to Serbian people & their faith..

The international community needs to start paying attention to the present and not vilifying Serbians for what they have seen on the media in the past.

Many countries have been in war, many countries have criminals.. the international community needs to do something about this and stop letting America & Germany make decisions based on their hunger for power & wealth.

Thank you to all the friends of the Serbian people and Serbian communities that support Serbia.

Anyone who is NOT a Serbian should watch this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkgHkxIfgBc) on YouTube to see what K.Albanians stand for & their attitude to Serbian people & their faith..

The international community needs to start paying attention to the present and not vilifying Serbians for what they have seen on the media in the past.

Many countries have been in war, many countries have criminals.. the international community needs to do something about this and stop letting America & Germany make decisions based on their hunger for power & wealth.

Thank you to all the friends of the Serbian people and Serbian communities that support Serbia.

“All other solutions which do not impinge upon the status of Kosovo are on the cards. We have different proposals, but one thing is certain - Belgrade cannot accept customs stamps which read The Republic of Kosovo-Customs or anything else that has the symbols of statehood. Moreover, the accompanying documentation has to be status neutral,” Stefanović told Tanjug.


Who cares what Stefanovic accepts or does not accept. "Kosovo Customs" stamp is in accordance with 1244 and CEFTA provisions according to UN. If Stefanovic does not accept it, than Serbian stamps are also not accepted. Everything is solved.

so what serbia wants, is for propaganda purposes in appeasing the EU is to "agree" to talk with kosovo.

then sit down and demand from kosovo that they pretend they are not who they are in hopes they can, for propaganda purposes appease its violent minority by showing how they dont recognize the people they are already directly talking to.

yeah, good luck with that.

This is precisely what I've been saying all along. Serbia lost the battle over the border posts and there is no reason for Pristina to accept anything less than full recognition of their customs stamps. This is elementary folks. Even a 5th grader could have told you this. Stefanovic needs a bigger megaphone! Maybe the Serbs can all dance to Kola and do shots of Slivo and forget about this whole mess they are in and move on with their lives. Truly pathetic.

So what's the Big effin' Problem then? All of this nonsense the past three weeks was because someone in Pristina got upset because the *already existing* CEFTA customs stamps didn't have a "Republic of..." prefix on it? What a waste of time! Go back to what was before July 25: "Kosovo Customs" or "UNMIK Kosovo" or whatever. I was right. This is only a political stunt by Albanians. What a waste of time!

My reactions exactly Analyst. Can someone clarify, what do the custims stamps say?
Those who have been here a while know that I support Kosovar independence, but am critical of the treatment of K Serbs. In general, in this round, I have been more sympathetic to the position of the northern Serbs and certainly didn't approve Thaci's action.

However, given the action and reaction were all about the question of Kosovo retaliating with a boycott for the boycott on them imposed by Serbia, the reason for Serbia's initial boycott has some relevance. Not that I would support it in any case - terrible policy all round - but at least if it were true that Serbia "only" blocked Kosovar goods that had a custims stamp that was not status neutral, then I could see Serbia's point.

If in fact the stamps are status-neutral and say nothing about "Republic of" and have no other symbols of statehood, then does this mean that Belgrade has essentially orchestrated this entire unfortunate incident, which included the death of a Kosovar police officer, and the burning of a gate which basically turned Kfor against the northern Serbs? And that really it was all about nothing? If so, that is a pretty sorry indictment of Belgrade.

For the record, I oppose any attempt to violently "integrate" the north, but that is a different question. Even if you say that this was Thaci's "real" intention in sending the special police, and that at least you succeeded in getting rid of them and of the Pristina custims officials they brought, nevertheless the only reason he could have got away with trying, the only pretext, was precisely to impose the retailiatory boycott for which Serbia's apparent lies about the customs stamps are the only issue.

Anyone who is NOT a Serbian should watch this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkgHkxIfgBc) on YouTube to see what K.Albanians stand for & their attitude to Serbian people & their faith..

The international community needs to start paying attention to the present and not vilifying Serbians for what they have seen on the media in the past.

Many countries have been in war, many countries have criminals.. the international community needs to do something about this and stop letting America & Germany make decisions based on their hunger for power & wealth.

Thank you to all the friends of the Serbian people and Serbian communities that support Serbia.

Belgrade cannot accept customs stamps which read The Republic of Kosovo-Customs or anything else that has the symbols of statehood.
...
Rexhepi underlined that the stamps of the Kosovo customs had no symbols or titles of statehood.
...
UNMIK recognizes as status-neutral the customs stamps which read Kosovo Customs, UNMIK Spokesman Olivier Salgado told Tanjug on Tuesday.
...
He believes that the Kosovo customs stamps approved by UNMIK should be recognized and that all parties need to respect the CEFTA agreement.


Sorry, now I don't understand the problem: Custom stamps with (only) the words 'Kosovo Customs' are UNMIK approved, and they don't include the words 'Republic of..', which is status neutral. I thought Belgrade only refused the 'Republic of Kosovo' custom stamps, which seem not to exist.

It's upsetting to read comments by somewhat informed commenters here when even you guys don't know the details. The custom stamps for goods has read Kosovo Customs (in Shqip, English, and Srpski) since day one; no "Republic of". The issue is not with the custom stamp itself but the accompanying documents (i.e. origin of goods) which has emblems.

"Rexhepi underlined that the stamps of the Kosovo customs had no symbols or titles of statehood."

And this is the reason why UNMIK concluded that the stamps do not breach 1244 - because words like "Republic of Kosovo" or "State of Kosovo" or equivalent do not appear. So, objectively, I think Belgrade should have allowed them.

Anyone who is NOT a Serbian should watch this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkgHkxIfgBc) on YouTube to see what K.Albanians stand for & their attitude to Serbian people & their faith..

The international community needs to start paying attention to the present and not vilifying Serbians for what they have seen on the media in the past.

Many countries have been in war, many countries have criminals.. the international community needs to do something about this and stop letting America & Germany make decisions based on their hunger for power & wealth.

Thank you to all the friends of the Serbian people and Serbian communities that support Serbia.

“All other solutions which do not impinge upon the status of Kosovo are on the cards. We have different proposals, but one thing is certain - Belgrade cannot accept customs stamps which read The Republic of Kosovo-Customs or anything else that has the symbols of statehood. Moreover, the accompanying documentation has to be status neutral,” Stefanović told Tanjug.


Who cares what Stefanovic accepts or does not accept. "Kosovo Customs" stamp is in accordance with 1244 and CEFTA provisions according to UN. If Stefanovic does not accept it, than Serbian stamps are also not accepted. Everything is solved.