Source: AFP
Serb communities in parts of Kosovo are struggling to get their hands on dinars, jeopardizing the wages, pensions and social security payments that thousands there receive from Belgrade.
Frustrations are mounting more than a month after a controversial new rule made the euro the only legal tender in Kosovo, effectively banning the use of the Serbian dinar.
The move sparked outrage in Belgrade, which does not recognize Kosovo’s independence and continues to fund a parallel health, education and social security system for Serbs there.
But Kosovo’s government has repeatedly blocked currency shipments across the border, hoping to choke off the cash supply that authorities say is the lifeblood for organized crime groups across the north, where most Serbs live.
Kosovo’s roughly 100,000 Serbs have clung to the dinar since a violent war in the late 1990s between Serbia and Albanian rebels led to the withdrawal of Serbian troops and government personnel from the breakaway province, which declared independence in 2008.
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Those living near the northern border with Serbia have greater connections to Serbian government institutions and still have access to a few dinars.
But it is much more difficult for enclaves further from the border that are already more integrated into the Kosovo system.
Cash had run out for Serb communities south of the northern city of Mitrovica by Thursday, according to Serbian state broadcaster RTS.
The AFP was unable to independently verify the claim.
“already difficult”
Source: AFP
In Gracanica — home to a 14th-century Orthodox church that has been a spiritual and political stronghold for generations of Serbs — the dinar regulation has hit the surrounding community hard.
Long lines have formed at the Postal Savings Bank of Serbia — the only place where Serbs could receive pensions and wages for work in Serbian institutions in the region.
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With its cash reserves dwindling, the bank has imposed a withdrawal limit of 10,000 dinars (85 euros).
“The pension is late, but the bills are not. I don’t know how we will manage,” said Snezana Vujovic, a 43-year-old nurse.
“The economic situation is already difficult and without the money from Serbia it is even more difficult,” Momir Cevic, a 68-year-old pensioner, told AFP as he stood next to an empty cash register.
“Now anyone who wants money has to go to Serbia,” added CefiΔ, saying he would likely have to dip into emergency food supplies saved for a rainy day.
The spiraling economic crisis has forced many Kosovo Serbs to spend hours on the road traveling back and forth to the neighboring border towns of Kursumlija, Vranje and Bujanovac in Serbia for money.
The cash crunch has provided a rare boon for taxi drivers, according to local media reports, with drivers charging passengers as much as β¬10 per person.
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“All this is aimed at harming citizens. Such decisions are strange,” Dragan Kolic, 68, told AFP.
“The greater the inflow of money, the richer Kosovo is.”
Termination of parallel mode
Source: AFP
Despite criticism of the ban from many Western governments, including the US, Kosovo authorities have doubled down on the measure.
Officials have introduced a three-month transition period to help the Serb community adjust.
Branimir Stojanovic, a Kosovo Serb civil society leader based in Gracanica, said the measure would likely rein in the parallel state that has allowed Serbs to bypass Kosovo’s institutions.
“Financial aid from Serbia is literally fuel for the only engine that works here,” Stojanovic said.
“When you cut off whatever feeds that mechanism, you’ve actually made a move to shut down the entire system.”
Ferdi Ahmeti, a Roma grocer in Graçanica, is in the middle of the tug of war.
Its receipts have halved since the first day of the crisis. “I can’t buy wholesale products from Albanians in Pristina for euros and sell them to Serbs in Gracanica for dinars like before,” he said.
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“I hope a solution will be found soon. For me, it’s the same — dinar or euro.”
Source: AFP