Kosovo to conduct a nationwide census that includes surveying the country’s ethnic Serb minority

By FLORENT BAJRAMI and LLAZAR SEMINI
Associated Press

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo’s government has begun its first nationwide census since 2011 which will include surveying the ethnic Serb minority in the north. This comes as tensions with neighboring Serbia remain high. The Agency of Statistics is conducting the 12-million Euro ($13 million) census, originally set to take place in 2021 but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Some 4,400 surveyors will interview residents in person from April 5 until May 17 to cover demographic and socioeconomic indicators. Kosovo was a former Serbian province until a 78-day NATO bombing campaign in 1999 ended a war between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists. Belgrade does not recognize Kosovo’s 2008 independence.