(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) A survey by a Kosovo think tank shows that the public is losing faith in the EU-sponsored dialogue with Serbia.
As many as 71.7 of Kosovars have a negative view of the establishment of the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities and see it as harmful for Kosovo the survey by the Kosovar Center for Security Studies KCSS says.
The establishment of the association of Serbian-majority municipalities was a key point in last August's agreement reached during the EU-facilitated dialogue.
It has sparked strong reactions from opposition parties in Kosovo however and political life has remained in deadlock as a consequence.
Last December the Constitutional Court in Kosovo ruled that some of the provisions of the agreement were unconstitutional.
The survey which drew on 1070 respondents shows that 90 per cent of them see Serbia as the most hostile country towards Kosovo - and almost half of them believe that Serbia is benefiting more than Kosovo from the dialogue.
Fisnik Korenica director of the GLPS said the low level of trust in the dialogue is partly down to the way that the authorities have managed the process.
“Opposition to dialogue is growing because it is being managed without consensus. The opposition is bigger than it was two years ago and requires a serious approach” Korenica said.
Naim Rashiti from the Balkans Policy Research Group said public institutions need to explain what the dialogue means for Kosovo’s state-building process.
“Dialogue with Serbia is an instrument of good neighbourhood policy so institutions should be more transparent and explain the interest aim and benefits that Kosovo will have from the dialogue with Serbia” Rashiti said.
The survey concluded that lack of transparency throughout the process and behind-closed-doors decision-making left room for misinterpretation and “misuse of the content of the agreements by the political elites in both countries”.