Over 85% of citizens believe that keeping Kosovo a part of Serbia is an important national interest. Almost three out of four respondents – out of a total of 1,186 interviewed face-to-face from August 5 to August 15 by the scientific team of the Faculty of Political Science, as part of the three-year project „National Interests of the Republic of Serbia: from Contestation to Legitimation“ – believes that the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina is an important national interest. The majority of citizens reject any compromise proposals that imply the recognition of Kosovo.
Almost 50% of respondents rejected a proposal that makes no mention of recognition – Kosovo’s membership in the UN without formal recognition in exchange for the formation of the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities. On the other hand, only 19% approved of this proposal.
Maintaining the safety of Kosovo Serbs is also a top priority for the citizens of the Republic of Serbia (91%), highlighted assistant professor Stevan Nedeljkovic.
According to the results of the initial research of this three-year project, presented on Friday at the Media Center in Belgrade by the young scientific team of the Faculty of Political Sciences, led by Professor Milos Hrnjaz, Serbia does not belong to either the East or the West. While 13% of respondents believe that Serbia belongs to the West, 20% – to the East, but the largest percentage of citizens – over 50% – say that it belongs neither to the East nor to the West. At the same time, 69% support Serbia’s policy of military neutrality and would not change it.
The research results also show that the majority of Serbian citizens believe that membership in the EU is a national interest. That is 49% and 46% of those who say that it is an objective national interest. However, it is not an overwhelming majority, the researchers pointed out.
When asked how they would vote in a referendum on Serbia’s EU membership, citizens’ opinion is divided – about 39% would vote both yes and no.
„Practically, the result is a draw,“ stated assistant professor Ivana Radic Milosavljevic.
She highlighted that public opinion on the matter changed in recent years because according to previous surveys as many as 50% of citizens were in favor of EU membership.
„For the first time, research has shown that a higher number of citizens would vote against EU membership as opposed to those who are in favor,“ she stated.
Also, there are three national interests that citizens believe would be threatened by membership – identity issues and sovereignty issues. Radic-Milosavljevic specified that this pertains to the preservation of Kosovo, independence in decision-making, and the survival of the Serbian people wherever they live.
On the other hand, the percentage of respondents who support cooperation with the EU is on the rise. A total of 63% of citizens believe that cooperation with the EU – not necessarily membership – is important for preserving the national interest. Therefore, for the citizens of Serbia, cooperation with the EU is currently more acceptable than membership itself.
The head of the project, professor Milos Hrnjaz, explaining the research conducted in early August, stated that they actually started by defining what the national interest is – as both in the theory and practice of international relations there is a clear lack of consensus when it comes to the definition of the concept of national interest.
Assistant professor Milan Krstic added that the citizens of Serbia think that the national interest is an objective category (78%).
“It’s not some interest that varies depending on who is in power, but a permanent, objective interest, that can change depending on circumstances, but one that goes in favor of the entire nation.”
The citizens also believe, Krstic highlighted, that the national interest of the whole nation in the context of Serbia also includes the Serbian people in the diaspora.
“A total of 89% of citizens completely or mostly agree with the statement that the national interest should also include the Serbian people in the region, and 79% believe that it should also include the interests of the wider diaspora,“ Krstic said, noting that it is a high percentage.
Although 47% of respondents point out economic interests as a key element of the national interest, and 23% believe they are political interests, 9%-11% point out democratic, identity, or environmental interests. The absolute majority, however, claims that they would not sacrifice one interest for the sake of others.
The majority of citizens (59,9%) oppose a policy that would sacrifice political interests for the sake of economic ones and vice versa.
Even though respondents clearly define the position of Serbs outside the borders of Serbia as an important part of the national interest, only one-third of them recognize the mechanisms of international law aimed at protecting Serbs in the region.
Assistant professor Janja Simentic Popovic explained that when it comes to questions related to the use of specific mechanisms – the answers given were more optimistic.
Thus, a relative majority of 41% believe that for Serbs in the region, public international law can be a means of protecting national political interests.
The citizens provided concrete and positive examples when it comes to Kosovo – such as the use of a campaign to withdraw recognitions, a campaign against new recognitions, and preventing Kosovo from gaining membership in international organizations. While a slightly lower number of citizens cite the mechanism of protecting Kosovo as a national interest of Serbia through binding agreements between Belgrade and Pristina as a positive example.
The project „National Interests of the Republic of Serbia: from Contestation to Legitimation“, supported by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, is in its initial phase of implementation. The project will be finalized in 2024.
The reason why the research was not carried out in the territory of Kosovo is of a technical nature, the research authors explained, citing objective technical difficulties to carry out the research in Kosovo with the same quality as in the rest of Serbia.
However, the later stages of this project will include the publication of articles in renowned international academic magazines, an international scientific conference in Belgrade, proposals for practical policies, but also widespread media coverage. One of the goals of this project is to initiate a public debate in Serbia on the concept of national interest and its application and to understand to what extent citizens’ views regarding the official interests of the Republic of Serbia coincide.
The research is available on the National(s) website.
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