Serbia Hints at Referendum on Kosovo Deal

Serbian officials have continued to hint that citizens will be given an opportunity to declare their views on any proposed settlement of the Kosovo issue.

Many believe a referendum is the most likely solution, as Serbia's constitution mentions Kosovo as part of the national territory.  

"The obligation is to call a referendum if the preamble of the constitution changes ... and essential changes to that issue, which must happen due to the obligation to sign a legally binding agreement, require a referendum," Bojan Klacar, from the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy, CeSid, told BIRN.

Serbia's President, Aleksandar Vucic, on May 11 said that Serbian citizens "will be given an opportunity to voice their opinion on what we think is a rational and compromise solution", without explaining the likely solution, or how citizens would make their views known.

Earlier, on February 10, the head of the parliamentary group of Vucic's ruling Progressive Party, Aleksandar Martinovic, said Serbia's citizens "should give the final word on what will be agreed between Belgrade and Pristina in a referendum".

"They [citizens] are sovereign, they are those who will give their opinion on whether what we have agreed is good for Serbia or not. We never ran away from that referendum," he said, according to N1 television.  

Rasim Ljajic, Tourism Minister and head of the Progressive's junior coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party, agreed with Martinovic a few weeks later.

Latest survey, published in April, shows that while most Serbs don't want to abandon their claim to Kosovo, they do not want to make any personal sacrifices, or lose out on EU membership, over it.

Survey conducted between December 17 and 27 by...