Press Release 29.06.2022

The Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI) held today a press conference, unveiling the results of public opinion poll conducted during the period from 10 to 19 June this year. This poll reflects the views of citizens in Kosovo and Serbia on the normalization of relations between both countries.

When presenting the data, the Violeta Haxholli from KDI stated that the poll consisting of 8 questions for the citizens of Kosovo and Serbia is related to the process of normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia in general; benefits of dialogue between both countries; lack of progress in this process; implementation of concluded agreements; EU role as facilitator in this process; final agreement; and guarantors and deadlines for concluding agreements.

In the first question addressed to the citizens of Kosovo and Serbia as to how much the dialogue has improved the relations between Kosovo and Serbia, Haxholli revealed that 49,3% of the respondents in Kosovo and 56,5% of the respondents in Serbia are of the opinion that the relations between Kosovo and Serbia are the same, despite the dialogue process between both countries.

In the question addressed to the citizens of both countries as to who they think is benefiting more from the dialogue, namely whether the political parties in Kosovo, political parties in Serbia or citizens, 51,4% of the respondents in Kosovo responded that political parties in Serbia are benefiting more from the dialogue. On the other hand, 30,4% of the respondents in Serbia stated that they do not know who is benefiting from the dialogue. Whereas only 11% of the respondents in Kosovo stated that the citizens of Kosovo are benefiting from the dialogue, namely 7,9% of the respondents in Serbia are of the opinion that the Serbia’s citizens are benefiting from this process.

With regards to the question as to who the citizens think is responsible for the lack of progress in the dialogue, Haxholli revealed that the data of this poll reveal that 49,7% of the respondents in Kosovo are of the opinion that the Government of Serbia is responsible for the lack of progress in the dialogue. Whereas 48,4% of the respondents in Serbia blame EU for the lack of progress in the dialogue. On the other hand, the Serb citizens in Kosovo, namely 78,6%, consider the Government of Kosovo as responsible for the lack of progress in dialogue.

In the next questions as to how satisfied the citizens of Kosovo and Serbia are with the EU facilitating role in the dialogue process between both countries, the respondents of both countries, namely 70,3% of respondents in Kosovo and 75,4% of respondents in Serbia, have stated to be unsatisfied with the role of EU as facilitator of this process.

In this poll, the citizens of both countries were also asked for the format of the final agreement within the dialogue process, where 35,4% of respondents in Kosovo expressed that a final agreement that includes mutual recognition may be reached. Whereas, 56,1% of respondents in Serbia are of the opinion that no final agreement will be reached between both countries, which is also the opinion of 31,35 of the respondents in Kosovo. Whereas, a higher percentage, namely 61,9% of the Serb citizens of Kosovo, shared the same opinion.

Citizens were also asked in relation to the guarantors of the dialogue agreements by imposing sanctions on the parties that do not implement them, where they had the opportunity to chose one or more guarantors. The answers revealed differences between the views of citizens of both countries. In this regard, 49,7% of the respondents in Kosovo stated that US should be the guarantor of the agreements between Kosovo and Serbia. Whereas, 40,7% of the respondents in Serbia considered that the UN should be the guarantor. Whereas 72,5% of the Serb citizens in Kosovo consider EU as the guarantor of the dialogue agreements.

In the second last question of this poll, regarding how the citizens of both countries see the much-talked agreement for the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, 54.1% of respondents in Kosovo are of the opinion that this agreement impairs the internal functioning of Kosovo. On the other hand, 30.7% of respondents in Serbia stated that this agreement provides more rights for the Serb community in Kosovo. Different answers were provided by Kosovo Serb citizens, where 50% of respondents from this community stated they did not know or did not answer at all about what impact this agreement has on the functioning of the state of Kosovo or their rights.

In the last question of this poll regarding the deadlines for reaching a final agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, Haxholli stressed that the highest percentage of respondents in Kosovo surveyed in this poll, namely 31.2%, are of the opinion that a final agreement can reached after 5 years. Whereas, 49.6% of the respondents in Serbia are of the opinion that a final agreement can never be reached. On average, only 2.2% of respondents in Kosovo and Serbia expect a final agreement to be reached this year.

This public opinion poll was conducted in the framework of the project “Civil societies in Kosovo and Serbia promote a participatory and meaningful reconciliation process”, supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.