17. November. 2017. | 03:35

Trend Analysis 2017

Only 2.1% of respondents from four northern municipalities believe that the Brussels Agreement has improved the rights and freedoms of the Serbian community in Kosovo.

In the period between June and August 2017, NGO AKTIV from North Mitrovica has conducted a public opinion poll in four northern Serb-majority municipalities. The poll included 800 questionnaires, 4 focus groups and 6 in-depth interviews. The same poll was conducted in 2015 and 2016.

The public poll included questions related to the security, minority rights, economic situation, Brussels Agreement and the role of the EU in the processes in Kosovo. Majority of the trends are negative indicating rising level of dissatisfaction. One of the rare positive trends relates to the expectations of the citizens related to the establishment of A/CSM. In 2017, 32% of respondents do not expect that the A/CSM will be established, which is a decrease of 15% compared to 2016. On the other hand, the largest recorded negative trend is related to the overall security situation in northern Kosovo, as the percentage of people who think that the security situation has deteriorated in the past year (52,3% in 2017) has increased by 38% compared to 2016.

One of the most important findings from the comparative analyses of the results obtained from this and last year’s research is certainly the attitude of citizens towards the European Union. Northern Kosovo respondents do not share a positive view on the role of the EU in the process of Kosovo status resolution which caused negative trends in all questions related to the European Union compared to the previous year’s survey. This “Eurosceptic” trend could be a consequence of a wider social context, primarily the crisis in the European Union caused by Brexit, but the key generator of such a position is certainly the perception of EU role in influencing the processes of utmost importance for current and future position of Serbs in Kosovo.

On the conference organized on the 14th of November in Civic Energy Centre, NGO AKTIV presented third in a row public opinion survey. The speakers at the conference were:

Sanja Sovrlic, Executive Director, Black and White World

Jovana Radosavljevic, Executive Director, New Social Initiative

Lazar Rakic, Program Manager, Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre

Stefan Veljkovic, Executive Director of YEC Synergy

Commenting on the questions related to the media, Sanja Sovrlić stated that the Belgrade-based media and national broadcasters in Serbia have a significant influence on the public opinion. However, these media do not fall under the jurisdiction of Kosovo’s media laws. This fact comes out in the focus in the election campaigns when the local media have to strictly adhere to the reporting rules and give equal space to all candidates, whereas national Serbian media favorize only one political option without any repercussions. She also added that today’s situation in the media and the perception of the freedom of expression in the community is the consequence of the undemocratic elections of November 2013, which were legitimized by the international observers. On the other hand, Sanja Sovrlic added that the community in the north is also subject to the propaganda of the Pristina government which depicts the whole population as criminals.

In her introductory note, Jovana Radosavljevic explained that the predominant negative trends can be explained with the sense of alienation of the community in the north. While, institutionally, Serbia is slowly leaving the community, Kosovo government does not show the will to integrate the population, but seem only interested in the territory, this is leaving the community feeling that they do not belong to either side. In the situation in which Kosovo government does not have a plan of integration of the north and where 80% of the community is financially dependent on the incomes from the Serbian budget, it is not surprising that the north Kosovo community has more confidence in Serbian institutions. She also added that the trust towards the institutions is low precisely due to the fact that the citizens do not know what to expect from the institutions and that the majority of the officials of these institutions do not know the laws and procedures applicable in Kosovo system.

Stefan Veljkovic commenting on the quality of the inter-ethnic relations in Kosovo, stated that the best illustration of these relations is the fact that the usage of name “Kosovo and Metoghija” is considered to be hate speech. Dealing with the form and not the sustenance of our relations is what hinders its further development. He added that the citizens deem the Serbian healthcare and education systems, still available to the Serbian community in Kosovo, far superior to what Kosovo has to offer and he concluded that the quality of services is a determining factor when it comes to the trust in Kosovo institutions.

Lazar Rakic spoke of the trends related to the security and opening of the main bridge and stated that the issue of the bridge is being treated without due consideration of the fears of the Serbian community related to its opening. According to him, the retention wall was a physical manifestation of this fear, and the fact that the Kosovo government started resolving this issue with force and by ignoring the competencies of the local government only proved that Kosovo institutions, much like the majority community, treat Kosovo Serbs with the sense of mistrust. In this way, the mistrust Albanians have towards Serbs is transferred to the institutional doings as well, which only further antagonizes the Serbian community in Kosovo.

The research “Trend Analysis: Citizens Opinion Survey in North Kosovo” was conducted as part of the project Provide sustainable framework for civic participation and democratic decision-making on local and central institutional level in Kosovo.

This grant is financed by Democratic Society Promotion (DSP) program financed by the Swiss Cooperation Office – Kosovo (SCO-K) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (DANIDA), and managed by Kosovar Civil Society Foundation (KCSF).

The last three publications of the public opinion surveys can be found on the following links:

Trend Analysis 2015 in English, Serbian and Albanian

Trend Analysis 2016 in English, Serbian and Albanian

Trend Analysis 2017 in English, Serbian and Albanian