Kosovo's 100% Tariffs on Serbia Prove Invalidity of 'Kosovar State' - Moscow

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Kosovo's introduction of 100 percent tariffs on goods imported from Serbia and from Bosnia and Herzegovina may lead to a significant deterioration of situation in the Balkans, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

"This Pristina's provocation is another explicit proof of the invalidity of 'Kosovar state'… The European Union as a mediator in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue is obliged to put pressure on the Kosovar authorities and achieve immediate cancellation of this illicit decision that may lead to a significant deterioration of the situation in the Balkans," the ministry said in a statement.

READ MORE: Violation of CEFTA: EU Urges Kosovo to Scrap Duties on Serbian, Bosnian Imports

The comment was made a day after the government of the self-proclaimed republic of Kosovo ruled to introduce the tariffs at a meeting, while it also banned the deliverers of any products not labelled with Kosovar symbolics.

In 2008, Kosovo unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia. Even though over 100 UN member states have officially recognized Kosovo, Serbia, alongside Russia, China, Israel and several other countries, have not recognized the move.

The Kosovo War of 1998-1999 between the ethnically Kosovar Albanian forces and the former Yugoslavia, then consisting of Serbia and Montenegro, ended after the UN-backed international intervention following NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia's forces.