Under the ‘Promoting and Communicating Benefits of the Kosovo-Serbia EU-Facilitated Dialogue’ project funded by the EU, members of the Kosovo – Serbia Policy Advocacy Group (KSPAG), Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS), NGO Aktiv and Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP), conducted research to explore citizens’ perceptions and their personal experiences with the technical dialogue and its outcomes.

This publication is a compilation of articles on the benefits of agreements deriving from the technical dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. The articles highlight the impact of agreements on citizens’ lives as well as the achievements of technical dialogue in normalizing relations between the two parties. The authors of articles, citizens and professionals from Kosovo and Serbia bring their personal views and experiences on the positive results of a number of technical dialogue agreements, such as those on energy, free movement, the judiciary, customs stamps, integrated border management (IBM) ) and the Agreement on the Carriage of Dangerous Goods (ADR). Some articles also describe the impact of these agreements on relations between citizens, both within Kosovo and between Kosovo and Serbia. They also provide concrete recommendations for improving the implementation of these agreements and identify new areas that need to be addressed in the context of efforts to normalize relations.

Publication of Balkans Group: The Agreement on the Association/Community of Serb Majority Municipalities marks the cornerstone of discord of the EU-facilitated dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. The General Principles for the establishment of the Association/Community, agreed in August 2015, brought more controversy and caused an unprecedented crisis in Kosovo. Proponents championed it as a tool to integrate northern Kosovo Serbs into Kosovo jurisdiction and advance normalisation of relations between the two states. Yet, the Association has become a complicated matter in practice. Many segments of Kosovo society reject an Association of this kind, the Constitutional Court ruled it to be in violation of the spirit of the Constitution and the government is largely reluctant to implement it until Serbia presents clear plans for withdrawal of the parallel institutions it funds around Kosovo. Read more on BPRG website.

This research has been prepared for the needs of the “Point One” project. It was carried out by NGO “AKTIV” within the framework of the “Point One” project implemented by the Civic Energy Center and financed by the Kosovo Foundation for Open Society. The aim of this research was to show trends in viewpoint on most important social and political issues among citizens of North Kosovo in 2018, including comparison to results deducted from the research done within 2017’s Trend Aanalysis.

This paper was developed as part of the project “Enhancing cooperation between northern Kosovo Businesses and the Kosovo Chamber Of Commerce”, implemented by NGO AKTIV in cooperation with Kosovo Chamber of Commerce and funded by the United States Embassy in Prishtina The project was composed of activities aiming at familiarizing northern Kosovo businesses with various requirements set by Kosovo legal framework, as well as tackling concrete existing obstacles for northern enterprises to enter Kosovo-wide market.

This research has been prepared for the needs of the “Point One” project. It was carried out by NGO “AKTIV” within the framework of the “Point One” project implemented by the Civic Energy Center and financed by the Kosovo Foundation for Open Society. The aim of this research was to show trends in viewpoint on most important social and political issues among citizens of North Kosovo in 2017, including comparison to results deducted from the research done within 2016’s Trend Aanalysis.

This research has been prepared for the needs of the “Point One” project. It was carried out by NGO “AKTIV” within the framework of the “Point One” project implemented by the Civic Energy Center and financed by the Kosovo Foundation for Open Society. The aim of this research was to show trends in viewpoint on most important social and political issues among citizens of North Kosovo in 2016.

This publication is supported by the Democratic Society Development (DSP) – funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (DANIDA) and managed by the Kosovo Civil Society Foundation (KCSF). The content of this publication is the responsibility of NGO Aktiv and can not in any way be regarded as SDC, DANID or KCSF.

Loosely defined provisions of Brussels agreements that leaves too much space to arbitrary interpretations, inconsistent implementation of the agreements, national laws and by-laws, and general lack of knowledge about what has been agreed upon result in real-life problems that citizens of Serbia with permanent residence in Kosovo face in regard to their every-day life. The situation as such not only jeopardizes their freedom of movement, but also affects the integration process of non-majority communities – foreseen by Kosovo highest legal document, the Constitution and pursued by the EU-led dialogue.

There have been many works and research in examination of the first two conflict drivers, but very poor efforts have been made in identifying the prejudices and misperceptions burdening ethnic relations in Kosovo, let alone engage in public dialogue aimed at their deconstruction. The study presented in this paper aims exactly at this – to label prevailing ethnic stereotypes and instigate an open dialogue that leads toward their understanding and their rejection in shaping ethnic perceptions.