Kosovo conducts nationwide census surveying country's ethnic Serb minority

Kosovo's government began its first nationwide census since 2011 which will include surveying the ethnic Serb minority in the north. This comes as tensions with neighbouring Serbia remain high.

The Agency of Statistics is conducting the 12-million Euro ($13 million) census, originally set to take place in 2021 but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Some 4,400 surveyors will interview residents in person from April 5 until May 17 to cover demographic and socioeconomic indicators that “will take Kosovo a step ahead toward integration into the European Union,” according to the agency's website.

The Kosovar government, the EU's statistical office, Eurostat, UN organizations and the World Bank are funding the census which will tally the number of people residing in the country, family households, their education and employment, as well as the number of locals living abroad.

Surveyors will also ask interviewees about damages suffered during the 1998-1999 war and if they have relatives who died or were tortured at the time.

Currency ban

Kosovo is a former province of Serbia whose 2008 declaration of independence Belgrade does not recognise.

The United States and most European Union nations have recognised Kosovo's independence from Serbia while Russia and China have sided with Belgrade.

Hazbije Qeriqi, the agency spokesperson, said they hoped for "a positive response from everybody.”

In 2011 Kosovo had 1.74 million registered residents, of which nearly 1.5% are ethnic Serbs.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti called on the Serb minority Wednesday to take part in the census.

“When we make our plans for subsidies, investments, work, education ... the health system, we should have the state of the population reflected in the budget," he said.

Kosovo’s recent decision to ban ethnic Serbs from using the Serbian currency — the dinar — locally has sparked new tensions threatening to cause chaos. The dinar is widely used in Serb-run institutions, including schools and hospitals.

Kosovo and Serbia want to join the EU. The 27-nation bloc has facilitated a dialogue to normalize ties between the two that has been riddled with hindrances, fueling Western concerns about regional tensions escalating as a full-scale war rages in Ukraine.

Brussels has warned that their refusal to compromise on several issues jeopardized their chance.