The European Union has condemned what it called the "escalation" represented by the closure of the six branches of the last Serbian bank in Kosovo, AFP reports.
Their closure makes it impossible to withdraw dinars, prompting the EU to criticize Pristina for "unilateral and uncoordinated actions".
"The closure of these branches without prior notification or coordination, just a few days after the last dialogue meeting [under EU auspices, ed.] is an escalation and contrary to the spirit of normalization," the EU diplomatic service said in a press release.
"The 20 May operation proves once again that the Kosovo authorities prefer unilateral and uncoordinated action to cooperation with their friends and allies," the EU criticized.
On 20 May, Kosovo police arrived at the last six branches of the Serbian Postal Bank in northern Kosovo and closed them because they were operating "illegally": according to a decree of 1 February, transactions in dinars are now banned in Kosovo - where they were previously tolerated in Serb-majority areas.
In a statement released after the operation, police said they had seized 1.6 million euros, 74,700,000 Serbian dinars (637,800 euros), 19,500 Swiss francs (19,740 euros), 13,800 US dollars (12,700 euros) and 40 Australian dollars (24 euros).
Since the ban on transactions in Serbian dinars, numerous meetings have been held in an attempt to find common ground between Pristina and Belgrade, which has never accepted Kosovo's independence and continues to fund a system of so-called "parallel" institutions, such as hospitals and schools.
But neither Serbia nor Kosovo is ready to reach an agreement, Europeans regretted at the end of the seventh fruitless meeting between negotiators in mid-May.
"The status of all structures and services supported by Serbia is expected to be resolved in the framework of the EU-facilitated dialogue in connection with the establishment of the Association/Union of Serb Majority Municipalities," the text continues.
Pristina has recently faced the Council of Europe's refusal to admit Kosovo to the EU until an Association of Serbian Municipalities is established - a long-standing demand of Belgrade. / BGNES
