What will the granting of special social protection status mean for Serbs in Kosovo?

Granting special social protection status to Serbs in Kosovo, as announced by the President of Serbia, seems like the most logical step, considering that one of the roles of social protection is to mitigate the effects of social exclusion and to help vulnerable groups of the population. But who are the vulnerable groups among Serbs in Kosovo? More precisely, who isn’t, given that the unilateral decisions of Pristina affect everyone without distinction.

By: Dragana Savic

Although the new, special status of Kosovo has not yet been precisely defined, some steps can be anticipated.

The unemployed, pensioners, those with housing problems, large families, and people with low incomes are just some of the categories of the Serbian population in Kosovo whose situation will likely be targeted by the new social protection measures that Vucic mentioned in his address.

Reactions from our interlocutors range from optimism and hope in the official Belgrade policy to resignation, as they say, only a small number of Serbs remain in Kosovo.

Before receiving additional aid, they need basic living conditions—"freedom, justice, their own currency, their own doctor"—which Pristina has taken away from them, while they look to Belgrade, expecting these to be restored.

Moreover, everyone agrees that the most important aspect of the new aid package is that it reaches the right address—namely, those living in Kosovo—so that different types of assistance are not misused by those who only live in Kosovo fictitiously.

Political scientist Ognjen Gogic told Kosovo Online that granting Kosovo special social protection status primarily aims to mitigate the consequences of unilateral measures imposed by Pristina on the Serbian population, such as the ban on Serbian goods imports and the ban on the use of the dinar.

He recalls that all of Pristina's measures have led to increased living costs for citizens.

"To withdraw your money, you have to go to the administrative crossings or to other cities in central Serbia, and this involves additional travel costs. The goal will probably be to somewhat alleviate these costs, to somehow compensate citizens for them. This has also led to a decline in economic activity in Serbian communities because citizens go to withdraw money in Raska or Kursumlija and also do their shopping there, as they can buy products that are unavailable in Kosovo due to the bans. So, it will likely be necessary to inject additional funds to stimulate the Serbian economy in Serbian areas in Kosovo and Metohija," Gogic explains.

He adds that the planned relocation of temporary offices, i.e., registry offices to the border crossings, will incur new costs that need to be compensated in some way.

"Additionally, there was talk of support for the unemployed, student allowances, and new employment. These are primarily jobs in the healthcare sector – new healthcare personnel, but there was also discussion about geriatric caregivers and personal assistants. These are social protection services that are insufficiently provided in Serbian areas in Kosovo and Metohija. This is an important measure if it is recognized and included, because on the one hand, it encourages new employment, namely geriatric caregivers and personal assistants, and on the other hand, it provides support services to people with disabilities, children with developmental difficulties, or the elderly who need them," Gogic said.

According to him, it is important that these measures do not create dependence on social assistance, but rather are stimulative for the employment of Serbs in Kosovo.

He reminds that one of the announced measures is assistance to Serbs in the form of construction materials.

"The issue is that Pristina has halted certain infrastructure projects financed by Serbia in northern Kosovo, which were aimed at providing housing for certain individuals. Since Serbia will likely have less and less ability to invest directly, especially in the construction of new houses and apartments, a new strategy will likely be found to provide support to individuals in the form of materials or direct goods, or they will purchase them themselves and invest in building their own houses and apartments," he explains.

Regarding real estate transactions, he emphasizes that this is related to the condition mentioned by the president, which is that those receiving various forms of aid must reside and live in Kosovo.

"This is a response to the criticisms heard in central Serbia and among Serbs in Kosovo that some recipients of aid do not actually live in Kosovo but only go there to collect money. In fact, they no longer even need to do that since they can withdraw money in Raska or Kursumlija, and then invest in real estate in central Serbia. So, these measures will likely be introduced to prevent abuse, as this has indeed happened in the past – money was going to citizens who allegedly needed it but did not live in Kosovo and were using the money to provide housing in central Serbia. So, some stricter measures and controls will likely be introduced to put an end to such practices," Gogic believes.

Dusanka Djorovic from the Association of United Pensioners told Kosovo Online that the declaration of Kosovo as a special social protection area will have little impact on people's lives, as few Serbs remain in Kosovo, and they lack basic living conditions.

She emphasizes that these basic conditions include "freedom, rights, their own currency, their own doctor, their own school, and everything that belongs to their linguistic area."

"As I personally understood the designation of special social protection status for Kosovo, it is intended for families with no income. Personally, I believe it would be better to check families that have two, three, or four incomes but do not live in Kosovo and Metohija, and then redirect that money into the social program fund for Kosovo and Metohija. As for our northern part, I personally think it is better provided for than the southern part," said our interviewee.

She reminds that there is an employment problem in Kosovo because there are no jobs, "in terms of markets, opening factories—basic conditions in Kosovo simply don’t exist, especially for the youth."

"This affects Albanians as well, but they experience it differently from us. They are working toward building their own state, while we think we are already in our own state, which is a significant difference," she explains.

According to her, attention must be paid to the people living in Kosovo.

"That has been my stance since the end of the war. Those living and staying in Kosovo should be given substantial financial support. If you live in Serbia and work here, a high salary enables you to buy an apartment, and eventually, you'll secure yourself a job, making you a potential candidate for leaving, which is exactly what's happening. This should have been dealt with much earlier," Djorovic believes.

She adds that "even one hundred dinars means a lot when someone gives it to you if you have nothing, and many have nothing," which is why there is a significant outflow of both Albanians and Serbs.

"I don’t have an overview or picture of the most vulnerable families. This should be the responsibility of the local government. Ideally, they should have already kept track and made a list of who truly needs help and addressed it earlier. This is the responsibility of the local government—they should know who the most vulnerable families are and give them priority. Ultimately, they should also provide lists of those eligible for social protection. But how effective is that when you don’t have freedom, peace, your own currency? You have 20,000 dinars, but you need to travel to Raska, Bujanovac, or elsewhere in Serbia to withdraw that money. You'll end up spending a portion of that money just on travel," Djorovic warns.

Srdjan Popovic, a member of the Serbian List Presidency from Gracanica, also believes that any help is welcome, commenting on Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's announcement that Kosovo will be designated as a special social protection area.

"You can see for yourself that the political and security situation is very difficult, which has impacted the existence of people, especially the youth who are increasingly leaving Kosovo and Metohija. I think these measures will slow down that process. I believe these measures are very important for our youth, for young married couples, and I can also say that our state is doing a lot to help our people here," Popovic told Kosovo Online.

He estimates that nearly 90 percent of the Serbian population in that area relies on assistance from Serbia.

According to him, the feedback he has heard regarding the announced aid has been very positive.

"The situation is very difficult, and people are primarily confused. Here we are in 2024, and everyone expected the situation to be much better than in previous years. But you can see that month by month, the situation is simply getting worse. Once again, we see that this isn't stopping, yet we continue to live in hope. What we need to do now is endure, and I hope that common sense will eventually prevail and that this will come to an end," Popovic believes.