Gerxhaliu on the boycott of goods: It is time to get rid of prejudices and barriers to economic cooperation

Economist Safet Gerxhaliu pointed out that it was time to remove the barriers and for the economy to become the driving force in order for the Western Balkans to become a region of the future, peace, and perspective.

As Gerxhaliu told Kosovo Online, the dialogue had no alternative.

"The biggest problem is that people do not understand that dialogue has no alternative, in that context I support the meeting in Skopje, because it is only possible to solve problems through dialogue. In addition, I think that the meeting of the Chambers of Commerce is not part of the Agreement, but is one of the regular Administrative boards of the Investor Forum. There are barriers between Serbia and Kosovo, and we have tried to solve them several times, but the problem is that in the Balkans you can never talk about purely economic problems without political contagion, which slows down all these flows," Gerxhaliu said.

He added that it was necessary for Kosovo and Serbia to free themselves from barriers and prejudices, following the example of EU countries.

"Now is the time when the economy must be the driving force and it is time to get rid of prejudices and barricades from both Kosovo and Serbia. Only through dialogue and removing barriers can we promote the Western Balkans. If we analyze the EU countries, there is not much love there, there is only economic cooperation. Let economic cooperation be the one that will open a new perspective," Gerxhaliu said.

According to him, the meeting should be held in Pristina or Belgrade

"What worries me is the fact that the place of the meeting is Skopje. The meetings can be held in Pristina and Belgrade, because if we continue like this, then such an opinion will be created that one should not come to Belgrade or Pristina, and the reality is completely different. Today, many citizens of Kosovo are in Belgrade, as well as the Serbs who come freely to Kosovo. Therefore, it is time to formulate the region as a region of the future, and the perspective of peace and stability, because that is the only way we can improve the image of the Western Balkans, especially when regarding the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia," Gerxhaliu said.

Due to the fact that there are increasingly frequent calls for a boycott of Serbian goods in Kosovo, and with the launch of the Self-Determination activists' website "Bojkota 860" and the goods of foreign producers, Gerxhaliu says that Kosovo must be freed from prejudices.

"We need to get rid of prejudices and that political dimension. Trade is like water, it finds its own way. If we analyze the trade exchange between Kosovo and Serbia, it amounts to somewhere around 460 million euros. It is mostly raw materials and EU brands, and in that context, I don't think there is any fear. Consumers are the ones who decide what to buy," Gerxhhaliu said.

As he stated, citizens were the ones who ultimately decided which products to buy.

"There is one important indicator, and that is the costs. If Kosovo were to buy the goods it buys from Serbia from Germany, it would have to allocate 3,500 euros just for travel costs and for the same goods from Serbia, transportation costs 400 euros. There are many more calculations, but in the end citizens decide what they will buy, politics must not be a determinant of consumption," Gerxhaliu concluded.