28 October 2006

58 percent of Serbian citizens want Kosovo to remain within Serbia

Serbian Press Agency SRNA, Bijeljina, 29-09-2006 16:22:11

Belgrade, September 29 (SRNA) - According to a survey by CeSID (Centre for Free Election and Democracy) 58 percent of surveyed Serbian citizens are in favor of Kosovo and Metohija remaining a region within Serbia, 22 percent would like to see a division into Serb and Albanian parts, 2 percent believes that it is desirable to maintain the status quo, while 6 percent see independence as desirable.

CeSID program director Marko Blagojevic told reporters that Kosovo and Metohija as an autonomous region within Serbia is supported by 80 percent of supporters of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), 76 percent each of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) and the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), 55 percent of G17 Plus, 50 percent each of the Democratic Party (DS) and the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), and 31 percent of the Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP).

Kosovo and Metohija is seen as an independent country by 57 percent of supporters of the Serbian Renewal Movement, 50 percent of the Liberal-Democratic party, 44 percent of the Democratic Party, and 41 percent of the Serbian Radical Party.

Approximately one third of those surveyed are in favor of integration into the EU and NATO, about 70 percent for integration into the EU, and 15 percent are opposed to any sort of integration.

Examined by party membership, the greatest percentage of supporters of the Liberal-Democratic Party are for integration with the EU, 75 percent of them, as well as 62 percent of the Democratic Party, 61 percent of the Serbian Renewal Movement, and 55 percent of G17 Plus.

Project coordinator Milos Mojsilovic emphasized that more than 70 percent of those surveyed do not want to see Albanians as statesmen nor would consider marrying an Albanian, while 40 percent do not consider them desirable as citizens of Serbia.

Next on the list of animosity are the Croats, because 61 percent of those surveyed do not want to see them as statesman, 53 percent would not consider marrying a Croat, and 28 percent do not want them as citizens of Serbia.

/ Translator's note: CeSID is a Belgrade-based NGO largely funded from abroad by various U.S. and European governmental and private sponsors, including the EC, OSCE, NED, USIP and the Open Society Fund. For a complete list see
http://www.cesid.org/eng/onama/index.jsp /