Representatives of Serbs in the Kosovo parliament insist on withdrawal of the draft law on census from the parliamentary procedure because, according to them, conditions are not fulfilled yet for its realization.
Leader of the Serbian List, Slavko Simić, said to Tanjug that conditions are not ready for carrying out regular census in Kosovo and Metohija that would be in line with the international standards. “The Serbian List insist that Kosovo Government withdraws from procedure the proposed draft law on census, and that census is carried out not only in northern Kosovo but in all parts of Kosovo where Serbs live, at the moment when stable safety and political environment is created,” said Simić. He added that Serbs from northern Kosovo would fully participate in the census only if such conditions are met.
In the Kosovo government say that census has to be carried out soon, but did not specify when.Residents of Mitrovica North are divided when it comes to this issue, and while some are in favor of census others are against, whereas some, according to the poll carried out by Tanjug, say that they will decide on participation in census only after official Belgrade presents its stand on the issue.
One of the two Serbian ministers in the Kosovo government Dalibor Jevtić said to Tanjug that census at this moment, following conclusions of all four mayors from the north, can’t be carried out in a qualitative way due to political, security and overall situation in this part of Kosovo. “Thus, census would not yield result which it expected, it would be pointless, and collected data would not be relevant,” explained Jevtić, and reminded that census from 2011 was not successful in municipalities where residents have boycotted it. He said that due to boycott it turned out that there are less Serbs than in reality, and it also turned out that there are more people in the voters’ lists than registered by census. Jevtić also said that representatives of Serbs in the Kosovo government are supporting the recommendation of the mayors from northern Kosovo that census is not carried out until the conditions are met for carrying out such an important process.
Census in Kosovo took place in 2011, but residents of northern Kosovo have boycotted this process because it was organized by Kosovo institutions. According to these results, out of 1.7 million inhabitants in Kosovo, 92.9 per cent are Kosovo Albanians.
