Kosovo Academy Seeks Delay to Census

Kosovo's top academic institution says that the census planned for spring needs to be postponed. It objects to plans not to count Kosovars living abroad in the general head count of the population. 

ASHAK says that serious discrepancies between the concepts of “resident population” and “present population” need to be addressed.

As matters stand, “All persons who have not been in Kosovo for more than 12 months will not be included,” ASHAK said in a press release.

“In this way, the real demographic condition [of Kosovo] will not be presented and the rights of our countrymen living abroad will be violated," the academy added. 

The academy wants Kosovars living abroad to be considered part of the general population. 

As the law stands, the count will include persons who have been temporarily absent from their place of residence for less than 12 months for reasons such as work, study, travel, medical treatment or education. 

Kosovars not considered as "resident" but who are citizens of Kosovo can be included on a supplementary list if their families supply the right information. 

A government source told Balkan Insight that MPs had debated the issues raised by the academy but the process had moved on. "The whole process of the census is nearly finished and things will continue this way," the source said.

The head of Kosovo’s Statistical Office, Ibrahim Gashi, said the methodology used in the census complied with EU norms, official institutions were ready and the process was ready to start. “The methodology meets EU standards,” he told Balkan Insight.

The Central Census Commission said the chosen methods were not a particular standard for Kosovo; major international organisations, including the EU's statistics office, EUROSTAT, and the EU, had helped Kosovo to prepare for the count.

Rifat Blaku, head of the commission, said: “When the Kosovo government has a stronger budget, more staff and more cooperation with all countries worldwide, then we can have a census of the diaspora.” 

The sponsor of the census law and the process itself is the Ministry of Public Administration, MPA.

“The government, including the ministry, are obliged to respect and comply with the law on the population census, which has been approved... in compliance with international recommendations for a population census,” Majlinda Lulaj, the MPA’s spokesperson, told Balkan Insight. 

Lulaj said that the government and the Statistics Office had fulfilled all requests made within reasonable boundaries concerning the census.

A separate concern is whether the Serbian community in Kosovo will participate. Oliver Ivanovic, Serbia's minister for Kosovo, said that the Serbian government had not yet taken a stance on whether Kosovo Serbs should take part. 

"One problem concerns internally displaced Serbs who will not be able to prove their property rights in Kosovo," Ivanovic told Balkan Insight. 

He said that the best option might be a regional census taking place at the same time and including Slovenia and Albania.