"Serbia shouldn't support census in Kosovo"
Serbian Ministry for Kosovo State Secretary Oliver Ivanovic stated that the conducting of the population census in Kosovo should not be supported.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Monday, January 10, 2011
He added that the process should be opposed by all political means.
Ivanovic told that the decision on the possible census of the Serb population in Kosovo should be made by the Serbian government, warning that a large number of exiled Serbs will not be able to be encompassed by the census.
"There is a great possibility that a large number of Serbs will not be included in the census, which will thus not give proper results," he stressed.
The state secretary pointed out that the Kosovo Albanians boycotted the population census organized by Belgrade in 1991, so their number in Kosovo could only be approximately assessed.
"This will be the first census since the conflicts in Kosovo. I believe that a large number of Serbs will not want to be encompassed by the census, and that Albanians will thus approximately assess the number of Serbs living in the province," he underscored.
"My suggestion is that a regional census be carried out in all former Yugoslav countries except Slovenia, but including Albania. That is the only way to conduct a relevant census which, under a careful supervision of the international community, may provide the data useful to all Western Balkan countries," Ivanovic stressed.
