73% of Serbs opposed to a new war over Kosovo

Belgrade, Serbia | Tirana Echo – Most citizens of Serbia are not willing to go to war over Kosovo – according to a survey conducted by the Belgrade Center for Security Policy.

In the survey conducted by the BCSP, when asked if they would be prepared to go to war in order for Kosovo to remain part of Serbia, 73% of respondents said “no,” 10% said “yes” while 17% “did not know.”

The survey also shows that most voters from right-wing parties such as the SRS and Dveri would not be ready to take up arms for the sake of Serbia’s southern province, writes the Belgrade-based paper Blic.

Respondents aged 18 to 29 are the most belligerent as 15 percent would go to war over Kosovo, continued the article. At the same time 70.6 percent of SNS voters said they were against the idea of going to war in order to keep Kosovo within Serbia, while the number was 86.5 percent when it comes to DS voters, and 70.2 percent with SPS-PUPS-JS voters.

The highest percentage of negative answers came from the supporters of the Enough is Enough Movement – 96 percent.

The poll was conducted with the support of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry from December 26 until January 14 and included 1,403 adult citizens of Serbia.

Tensions have been high between Serbia and Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence from it in 2008, in a move that has been recognized internationally by more than 100 countries.

Earlier in January, Kosovo accused Belgrade of an act of provocation when a Serbian train which had the slogan “Kosovo is Serbia” painted on it, was driven to northern Kosovo, although it was stopped from crossing the border.