Kosovo Police on Monday took action to close six units of the Postal Savings Bank in the north. While the action was monitored by EULEX and KFOR, some Serbian citizens carried out a symbolic action to say that this situation is unbearable for them. The action was taken a few days after the failure to find a solution for the implementation of the CBK Regulation in the north
On Monday, the Kosovo Police closed six units of the Postal Savings Bank in the north, which have been operating illegally since the post-war period. According to the deputy police commander for the north, the action took place after suspicions that some businesses were carrying out illegal activities.
“Every possible criminal activity is suspected, from not registering the business, tax evasion and other things. The police are present at these points with the TAK and that the economic crimes unit may also be involved later”, said the deputy director of the police in the north, Veton Elshani.
The Minister of the Interior, Xelal Sveçla, has said that the closure of these units is part of the measures to establish law and order in the north.
“In order to establish legality, after the communication and request of the relevant institutions and the authorization of the prosecutor, the Kosovo Police in cooperation with the Tax Administration of Kosovo, in the four municipalities in the north of Kosovo, today carried out the operation of control and closure of 6 units of the so-called Postal Savings Bank (Banka Postanske Stedionica) as an illegal financial institution of Serbia in the Republic of Kosovo”, Sveçla wrote.
The action of the Kosovo Police was monitored by members of EULEX and KFOR.
On February 1, Kosovo authorities gave Kosovo Serbs an undefined time to start using the euro only in daily transactions and stop using Serbia’s currency, the dinar.
The move irked the international community, which urged Kosovo to not take unilateral action against Serbian “parallel” structures and urged both Kosovo and Serbia to discuss the issue this within the EU-mediated dialogue.
Kosovo’s constitution defines the country as using “one single currency”. Kosovo has been using the euro since 2002, but people in Serb-majority municipalities, especially in the north, use both Serbian dinars and euros.
/Argumentum.al
