Kosovo

CSDRI pays special attention to the burning political issue of Serbia and the region, and that is the issue of Kosovo.

Our attention is primarily focused on three key political issues;

BRUSSELS DIALOGUE

The Brussels dialogue, and Chapter 35 of Serbia’s negotiations with the EU, within which dialogue monitoring is the central topic.

AGREEMENT

The issue of the final solution of the Kosovo problems, i.e. the agreement between Belgrade and Priština.

NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONS

Reducing ethnic distance and normalizing relations between the Serbian and Albanian people as the most important aspect of solving this political problem.

CSDRI addresses this political issue through active participation in dialogues and deliberations on the Kosovo issue with actors dealing with this issue, such as NGOs and think tanks, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, the National Convention on the EU and the working group for Chapter 35, etc. We also build and maintain intensive relations and cooperation with socetial and political actors in Kosovo, both among Serbs and Albanians

Based on all the above activities and communication, we conduct research and make analyzes with recommendations in order to help achieve positive outcomes on all three policy issues, with special emphasis on the third issue we consider the most important.

In 2021. CSDRI will implement the project „Improving communication for the comprehensive agreement“.

This project is a set of comprehensive tailor-made activities designed to support the process of normalization of relations between Serbians and Albanians through offering the Serbian public and political actors a positive communication strategy to reach a comprehensive agreement on normalization.

Through nation-wide public opinion polls, comprehensive and comparative analysis, policy papers, podcast, op-eds, and an online platform normalizacija.rs we will use data and evidence and utilize the knowledge, expertise, and contacts to achieve the goal of this project. We call all our partners to join us in this endeavor.

This project is supported by the Balkan Trust for Democracy, a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the USAID.

CSDRI is a member of the National Convention on the EU Working Group for Chapter 35, For more on the working group, see NACIONALNI konvent o Evropskoj uniji

Internal dialogue

CSDRI, as a member of the Working Group for Chapter 35 of the National Convention on the EU, participated in a round table with government representatives. The views of CSDRI were presented by the Chairman of the Board, Dušan Lj. Milenković.

Presentation by Dušan Milenković

Comprehensive Understanding for a Comprehensive Agreement

The ‘Comprehensive Understanding for a Comprehensive Agreement’ project was implemented during 2019, with the support of the US Embassy in Belgrade.

The project researched the attitudes of Serbian citizens on the Kosovo issue, including attitudes on the Brussels dialogue, on potential solutions to the Kosovo issue, measuring ethnic distance, etc.

Also, within the project, we presented research and analysis at the most important security and political forum in the region – the Belgrade Security Forum.

RESEARCH

Normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina from citizens perspective – What we know and what we feel?

A number of articles were published on the topic we were dealing with within the project.

Within the ‘Comprehensive Understanding for a Comprehensive Agreement’ project which was supported by the US Embassy in Belgrade, a number of author’s texts related to this topic have been written and published. The first text we promote is the text we published on the Belgrade Security Forum page: A Long Walk to Agreement.

The second text we promote within the ‘Comprehensive Understanding for a Comprehensive Agreement’ project is the text by Milica Andrić-Rakić ‘Between the Most Expensive Word and Lost Paradise’, which was published on the KoSSev portal.

The third text we promote within the ‘Comprehensive Understanding for a Comprehensive Agreement’ is the text by Milan Krstić ‘Kosovo between internal and external support to Vučić’, which was published on the Talas portal.

The fourth text we promote within the ‘Comprehensive Understanding for a Comprehensive Agreement’ is the text by Sanja Sovrlić ‘Is Unconscious Recognition of Kosovo Possible’, which was published in the Vreme weekly.

The fifth text we promote within the ‘Comprehensive Understanding for a Comprehensive Agreement’ is Nikola Jović’s text ‘The Role of the Media in Progressive Serbia: Informing Citizens or Breaking the Kosovo Myth’, which was published on the KoSSev portal.

Report from the BSF presentations

CDDRI had the honor to present its report and analysis at the prestigious Belgrade Security Forum. Read the report from this presentation at the following link.