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The divide between the Serbian and Albanian communities in Kosovo continues to be deep, while relations between them are further aggravated by great distrust, according to research by the non-governmental organization Center for Social Action (CASA).
The research, titled "Report on the Trust Index on the State of Interethnic Relations in Kosovo", was presented on November 13 in Pristina.
This research surveyed 800 people, 500 from the Albanian community and 300 from the Serbian community. The research is based on the perceptions of Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo about each other, the main factors influencing their relations and the prospects for their improvement.
More than half of respondents from the Serbian community, over 51 percent, believe that relations between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo will deteriorate further, while around 28 percent of Albanians think the same.
The study also showed that both communities – over 70 percent of respondents – believe that political tensions between Belgrade and Pristina contribute to interethnic clashes.
Likewise, 79.6 percent of Albanian respondents consider the Serbian Government to be instigating tensions, while 74.5 percent of Serbs think that the Kosovo Government is responsible for this.
When it comes to factors that would help peace and stability, over 62 percent of Serbs believe that this would be their autonomy, while over 44 percent of Albanians think that the solution is the integration of Serbs into Kosovar society.
Miodrag Marinković, director of CASA, assessed that the results of the trust index show that ethnic relations between Serbs and Albanians are damaged, and that politicians from Kosovo and Serbia are largely responsible for this.
He emphasized that the "populist politics" pursued by both sides negatively affects coexistence, the lives of ordinary people, their daily lives, and the reconciliation process.
Visar Ymeri, executive director of the Musine Kokalari Institute in Pristina, said during a panel discussion that the Albanian and Serbian communities in Kosovo face the two biggest problems regarding cooperation and coexistence: “they live in fear and in mutual illusion.”
"According to him, the illusion among Kosovo Albanians is based on the idea that Kosovo is an Albanian state, belonging to Albanians, while among Serbs there is the illusion that Kosovo will return to Serbia. I am not talking about all Albanians or Serbs, but as long as these two illusions exist, the situation will never calm down," he said.
He added that there is a constant fear among these communities – Albanians fear that Serbia might attack Kosovo, while Serbs fear that the decisions of the Kosovo authorities might endanger them.
Marigona Shabiu, executive director of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights – YIHR Kosovo, emphasized that the attack in Banjska in 2023 significantly influenced the polarization of society in Kosovo, but also the "unilateral actions of the Government of Kosovo", which, according to her, have violated non-majority communities since they were not offered an alternative solution.
A Kosovo police officer was killed and three attackers were injured in an armed attack by Serbs in Banjska, northern Kosovo. Milan Radoićić, former deputy leader of the Serbian List – the main Serb party in Kosovo, which is supported by Belgrade, claimed responsibility for the attack.
On the other hand, the Pristina authorities, since the withdrawal of Serbs from Kosovo institutions in November 2022, have actively worked to establish state control in northern Kosovo, through the closure of Serbian institutions, the ban on the Serbian dinar, Serbian license plates, and similar measures.
The international community has criticized most of these steps, as many Serbs in the north receive salaries from the Serbian budget and enjoy rights through the Serbian institutional system.
Darko Dimitrijevic, editor-in-chief of Radio Goraždevac, believes that Belgrade and Pristina are primarily responsible for the deterioration of ethnic relations, as they constantly blame each other for the bad situation in society.
"That toxic narrative, that toxic communication, is being observed with great indifference by the international community," he said, adding that for this reason it also bears some responsibility.
Kosovo and Serbia have been conducting a dialogue to normalize relations since 2011, during which dozens of agreements have been signed, but many of them have never been implemented.
Also, political dialogue has been blocked since 2023, as Kosovo seeks responsibility for the armed attack in Banjska.
Serbia has denied any involvement in the attack, but refuses to hand over Radoicic and others to Kosovo, who have been indicted for terrorism./ REL
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