February 17th 2010
On the second anniversary of Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia, a look at the latest Gallup Balkan Monitor results showed Kosovo Albanians as being less positive toward independence. Seventy-five percent of Kosovo Albanians said independence was a good thing, down from 93% who said so in 2008. One in five Kosovo Albanians said they did not have an opinion. Furthermore, 80% of Kosovo Serbs believed that independence was a bad thing, statistically unchanged since 2008.
Despite being less positive that Kosovo’s independence was a good thing, almost half (48%) of Kosovo Albanians said things in the country were going in a good direction. Hardly any Kosovo Serbs agreed with that (2% vs. 86% who disagreed). The proportion of Kosovo Albanians who said the country was going in a good direction is among the highest in the Western Balkan region. Some of the lowest proportions were seen in Croatia (8%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (16%), and Serbia (21%).
Looking to the future, a large majority of Kosovo Albanians and Serbs said they would not be ready to accept a division of Kosovo with the Serbian territory joining Serbia as part of the final peace settlement. Such a solution would not be acceptable to 94% of Kosovo Albanians and 82% of Kosovo Serbs. More than 1 in 10 Kosovo Serbs (12%) said they could accept such a division.
While 65 United Nations member states have recognized Kosovo’s independence, 80% of Kosovo Serbs said Serbia would never accept this. Furthermore, almost two-thirds (64%) of Serbian respondents said Serbia would never recognize such independence.
