Serbs divided in understanding separation from Kosovo (N1)
Serbia’s citizens are split in understanding what the term separation from Kosovo means, with 41 percent saying they know the meaning and 39 admitting they have no clue, shows the latest opinion poll by the Demostat, investigative publishing centre, the Beta news agency reported on Friday.
The poll was conducted from October 7 to 18 and covered 1,200 people.
The percentage of those supporting the Belgrade – Pristina dialogue was 79, while 12 percent preferred the frozen conflict while waiting for better time.
Despite being in favour of the dialogue, 61 percent of the polled did not agree with the idea of the south-north territory swap, i.e., the exchange of Serbia’s southern region of Presevo Valley predominantly populated by ethnic Albanians for the north of Kosovo with the Serb majority.
Against the recognition of Kosovo in exchange for Serbia’s European Union membership was 76 percent of the polled, while 66 percent would not want to see Republika Srpska, the Serb-dominated entity in Bosnia, as a part of Serbia.
The Demostat Programme Director Zoran Panovic said the poll showed “that citizens are silently saying” that President Aleksandar Vucic had not made his plan clear, while “everybody knows what that means.”
“People in Serbia are not ready to make 'scarifies' for Kosovo because all the answers clearly say there is no Presevo Valley – north Kosovo swap… That is a pretty solid position,” Paunovic said.
Earlier last month, an opinion poll by the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy, (CeSID), showed that a quarter of polled Serbia's citizens supported the separation from Kosovo, while 44 percent did not see that as a solution.