INTERACTION, KNOWLEDGE, VALUES, BELIEFS, COOPERATION AND UNIFICATION 1 KOSOVOIn Brief: –Takes ALBANIA on Interaction,Kosovo’s knowledge, policy values, beliefs, cooperation andchallenges unification 2019 2019 2 KOSOVO – ALBANIA INTERACTION, KNOWLEDGE, VALUES, BELIEFS, COOPERATION AND UNIFICATION 3 KOSOVO – ALBANIA Interaction, knowledge, values, beliefs, cooperation and unification 2019 4 KOSOVO – ALBANIA 2019 Prishtina, Tirana PUBLISHER Kosovo Foundation for Open Society – KFOS www.kfos.org Open Society Foundation for Albania – OSFA www.osfa.al AUTHOR Agron Demi – Policy analyst Blendi Çeka – Lecturer, Political Science PROJECT COORDINATED Sihana Mehmeti – Program Coordinator, KFOS Klodjan Seferaj – Program Manager, OSFA DESIGN AND PRINT Envinion INTERACTION, KNOWLEDGE, VALUES, BELIEFS, COOPERATION AND UNIFICATION 5 Content: INTRODUCTION 09 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 11 3. INTERACTION 13 4. SOCIAL DISTANCE 19 4.1 Social distance between Albanians themselves 19 4.2 Social distance with other peoples in the Balkans and in Western Europe 22 4.3 Social distance with people of different religions 22 4.4 Social distance between Kosovo Serbs and Albanians 22 5. KNOWLEDGE 24 6. PERCEPTION OF POLICIES, SERVICES, FREEDOMS AND RIGHTS 27 7. COMMON ‘FRIENDS’ AND ‘ENEMIES’ 29 8. VALUES 32 9. TRUST 33 10. PERCEPTION OF ALBANIA’S ROLE IN KOSOVO 34 11. PERCEPTION OF OFFICIAL RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES35 12 ATTITUDES RELATED TO NATIONAL UNIFICATION 38 13. ALBANIA AND KOSOVO TOWARDS THE EUROPEAN UNION 47 14. ATTITUDE TOWARDS KOSOVO-SERBIA DIALOGUE 51 15. CONCLUSIONS 54 5 6 KOSOVO – ALBANIA ALBANIA INTERACTION, KNOWLEDGE, VALUES, BELIEFS, COOPERATION AND UNIFICATION 7 KOSOVO 8 KOSOVO – ALBANIA INTERACTION, KNOWLEDGE, VALUES, BELIEFS, COOPERATION AND UNIFICATION 9 1. Introduction It has long been speculated about Albanians’ atti- visits to Albania, perceptions of the role of Albania tude to Kosovo-Albania relations, attitudes towards and Kosovo, attitudes towards other peoples of the the issue of unification, relations with neighboring Balkans and other powerful countries, social distance countries and European integration. On the basis of with Albanians and other peoples in the region, atti- these speculations, governments of both countries, as tudes towards eventual agreement between Kosovo well as governments of the countries in the region and and Serbia. other states have often manipulated with the alleged attitudes of Albanians of Kosovo and Albania. Conducting this research is not the ultimate goal of this joint initiative between the two Foundations, but Partial studies, limited to only a few areas, have been the first step in a series of activities aimed at ana- carried out in Albania and Kosovo. But there has ne- lyzing and proposing the expansion of cooperation ver been an extensive study in both countries simul- between Kosovo and Albania, as an important project taneously to measure the perception of the citizens of in the area of regional cooperation. Albania and Kosovo on these matters. The results of the survey and the database will be To contribute in this regard, the Kosovo Foundation shared with researchers and experts from Albania for Open Society (KFOS) and the Open Society Foun- and Kosovo during various activities and through dation for Albania (OSFA) completed an extensive public communication channels. They will be used to research in Kosovo and Albania at the end of 2018 to conduct in-depth research in the areas of education, measure the interaction and attitudes of citizens of trade and customs cooperation, the labor market, in both countries on a range of issues, such as: interac- proposals for joint energy projects, joint cultural and tion, social distance, perception of neighbors, Euro- sports projects, for recommendations regarding the pean integration, regional cooperation, perceptions development of common policies in tourism, foreign and stereotypes of one another, attitudes towards of- policy and other areas. ficial cooperation of the two countries and attitudes towards national unification. The survey is structured into five main blocks of ques- tions: 1. Knowledge and contact with each-other; 2. 2,504 citizens were surveyed in both countries in Oc- Attitudes and stereotypes; 3. Values and beliefs; 4. tober and November 2018: 1,200 in Albania and 1,304 Common policies; and 5. Attitudes on unification and in Kosovo (1,004 Albanians and 300 Serbs). Data col- Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. lection was carried out according to the same metho- dology but by two different companies, namely IDRA In knowledge and contacts with each-other, the in Albania, and Kantar TNS Index Kosova in Kosovo. citizens of both countries were asked whether they The survey format and number of questions were the had visited and if so, how often they had visited Alba- same in both countries, but a shorter version of the nia/Kosovo; their reasons for (not) visiting; whether survey was used for Serbian citizens in Kosovo. The they planned to make future visits; their attitudes survey with Serbian citizens included questions about towards marriages with someone from Kosovo/Al- 10 KOSOVO – ALBANIA Partial studies, limited to only a few areas, have been carried out in Albania and Kosovo. But there has never been an extensive study in both countries simultaneously to measure the perception of the citizens of Albania and Kosovo on these matters. bania; marriages between Albanians of different reli- to cooperation, and further scope of cooperation gious beliefs; cohabitation in a neighborhood/village/ between the two countries. city; knowledge of key historical dates and heads of institutions; relationships with other countries, ethni- Finally, respondents were asked questions about their cities in the region and beyond. attitudes towards national unification, about fac- tors which could aid/hinder unification; whether they Regarding attitudes and stereotypes, surveyed ci- would choose national unification over EU integra- tizens were asked about individual and family values, tion; whether they consider national unification and whether they are valued/found more among Koso- European integration as issues which contradict each vo Albanians or Albania Albanians, such as: who are other, or are complementary; their attitude on conti- more hardworking, more trustworthy, more traditio- nuation of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, nal, more family-oriented, etc. eventual agreements between the two countries, etc. Regarding trust in political and social institutions, Statistical data are provided in percentages for each survey participants were asked about their attitudes of the major blocks of questions, with graphical repre- towards representative institutions, judicial institu- sentations of key indicators. tions, and security institutions. They were also asked in which country, Albania or Kosovo, people are more In order to distinguish between surveyees from the law-abiding; in which country there is greater secu- Albanian and Serbian communities of Kosovo, the re- rity; which country is more/less corrupt, etc. port provides separate data for «Kosovo - Albanian sample» and «Kosovo - Serbian sample». Regarding cooperation to date and potential en- hancement of cooperation between the two coun- tries, participants were asked about their opinion regarding the level of cooperation, potential barriers INTERACTION, KNOWLEDGE, VALUES, BELIEFS, COOPERATION AND UNIFICATION 11 2. Executive Summary The Kosovo Foundation for Open Society (KFOS) and did not feel safe to travel to Albania (32.6%), as com- Open Society Foundation for Albania (OSFA), in order pared to Albania Albanians to travel to Kosovo (10.9%). to measure the attitudes, perceptions and knowledge of the citizens of Albania and Kosovo on topics related to In general, Kosovo Albanians have more general interaction between countries and citizens, cooperation knowledge and are more familiar with political de- with countries in the region, attitudes towards natio- velopments in Albania than vice versa. Kosovo Alba- nal unification, European integration and other issues, nians follow the Albanian media more than the other have conducted an extensive research, and the first of way around. Respondents in both countries think that its kind, in Kosovo and Albania. The main results of the the percentage of minorities in Kosovo and Albania is research which was conducted in the period between much higher than official figures. When citizens of each October-November 2018, are presented in this report. country are asked about the number of inhabitants in the other country, respondents’ knowledge is mainly A total of 2,504 citizens participated in the survey, of inaccurate. whom 1,200 in Albania and 1,304 in Kosovo (1,004 Alba- nians and 300 Serbs). The survey was structured into five Social distance, or the willingness to accept others as main blocks of questions, in order to measure knowledge equal in every aspect of social interaction, is narrow and relationships with one another, attitudes and ste- between Albanians in both countries. Albanian respon- reotypes, values and beliefs, common policies and ins- dents in Albania and Kosovo would have no problem titutions, and attitudes towards unification of the two maintaining social relations with each-other, living in countries. shared spaces, marrying each other, or working to- gether. But to a greater degree, Albanians of Albania The survey results show that Kosovo Albanians visit Al- express a greater affinity to Kosovo Albanians than vice bania more