Kosovo not a Priority for Most Serbs, Survey Shows

Protesters wave Serbian flags during a protest rally against the 10th anniversary of Kosovo Independence in Belgrade, Serbia, 17 February 2018. EPA-EFE/Andrej Cukic

A new survey conducted between December 17 and 27 by Open Society Foundation and IPSOS Strategic Marketing, published on Thursday, showed only a small minority of respondents saw Kosovo as among the top problems facing the country.

"Speaking about the priorities that the Serbian government needs to deal with, the Kosovo issue is far behind economic issues, health and corruption," the authors of the survey said.

Only eight per cent of respondents told the survey that they think solving the Kosovo issue should be the most important priority, while 22 per cent listed it among three most important.

More than half of the respondents said they do not follow news and events related to Kosovo, and slightly more than a quarter stated that they follow only the basic events or main news.

The former province, most of whose inhabitants are ethnic Albanians, proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008.

However, it de facto broke away in 1999 as a result of NATO's air war on Serbia, which forced Serbia to withdraw its forces from the then province.

Most Western countries, including the US, recognised Kosovo long ago, but Kosovo's statehood is still bitterly contested Serbia and Russia, among others.

Serbian citizens also do not have a clear picture of the what the likely outcome for Kosovo is, the survey suggested.

It showed 19 per cent believe that Serbia will end up with same or less influence on Kosovo than it has today.

Another 20 per cent said they think that Kosovo "will become an independent state regardless of the effort of Serbia and that Serbia will lose all influence in Kosovo".

"There is no single attitude among citizens about what solution is in Serbia's best interest - although the...

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