Preparations begin for census, documentation for north

The latest census was conducted in 2011, which was boycotted by Serb residents of the country's four northern municipalities.

Demographers say Belgrade's policy has hampered this process, but, according to them, it is a civic duty everyone must submit to.

Days ago, the Agreement of Understanding was signed between the Government of Kosovo and the United Nations Office for Project Services, UNOPS, in connection with the census of Population, Family Economy and residences in Kosovo in 2021.

The project will be realised by the Kosovo Statistics Agency (ASK). The last census was conducted in 2011, where no northern municipalities in the country inhabited by the Serb majority population were involved. Residents of these municipalities influenced by official Belgrade have boycotted the census. But demographic Rifat Blaku says the census is a duty to citizens to whom everyone must submit.

This time around, Eurostat and the EU will have to put pressure on the so-called installed parallel power in the north, which certainly participate in the census and are not tool in Belgrade's hands”, Blaku told Radio Kosovo.

Meanwhile, Hazbije Qariqi, official for communication with the public at the Kosovo Statistics Agency, said they have started preparations for basic documentation for the Kosovo population census in 2021. She said the documentation would be the same for all municipalities.

“The AKS has made all necessary preparations to implement the project even in northern Kosovo, but they have then been political issues that have prevented the population of that area from participating in the census. We have prepared the preparations for all municipalities in Kosovo, we will make maximum preparations and make the sensationalisation campaign even in that part of Kosovo, as in all other parts, but what will come next, we cannot predict”, Qariqi said.

Under the Understanding Agreement, the Kosovo Statistics Agency (ASK) as the project host will implement it in close co-operation with UNOPS, which will manage with the fund created for covering expenditures.

The project will be led through the Steering Committee, whose members will be all participants in the fund. The Kosovo government will finance 40% of the project, while international partners and donors will finance 60% of the project.