Eurasia Press & News
BELGRADE, Serbia
Kosovo would have to assume the servicing of more than $1 billion in foreign debt if it gains admission to the IMF and the World Bank, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Mladjan Dinkic said Thursday (May 7th).
This covers Kosovo’s share in Serbia’s debt to the Paris and London Club. Kosovo officials and media suggested earlier this week that the IMF Board of Directors has approved Kosovo’s application for membership, though the IMF has not confirmed this.
Dinkic noted that Serbia had not received a single dinar of fiscal revenue from the Kosovo area for the past ten years. He rejected concerns that if Kosovo takes over its debt, this would mean acknowledgement of sovereignty.
According to press reports, President Boris Tadic is among those who think Serbia should keep servicing Kosovo’s debt to demonstrate continuing opposition to its independence.
In other news Thursday, authorities in Colombia announced they have deported former Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku in light of an international arrest warrant against him issued by INTERPOL. Serbia wants to prosecute Ceku as a war criminal.
But by law, Colombia’s State National Security Agency could not arrest him because he is a foreign citizen. Ceku arrived in Colombia on Sunday to participate in an international disarmament conference, and on Wednesday authorities deported him.
Ceku, a former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, is wanted for alleged involvement in numerous war crimes against Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo during the 1999 conflict.
