Mijacic: Neither enumerators nor citizens who suffered war damage can determine its amount

Dragisa Mijacic, Coordinator of the Working Group of the National Convention on the EU for Chapter 35, says that neither enumerators nor citizens in Kosovo who suffered damage during the war period can determine the amount of that damage, and therefore the question arises of how much utility the statistical data collected within the population census will have.

"The population census currently being conducted in Kosovo contains really strange elements for such statistical data collection, especially when it comes to material damage caused during wartime destruction. When it comes to collecting other data – about human losses, it is good for that to be recorded through this mechanism, but when it comes to damage, it's really controversial," Mijacic says.

According to him, the purpose of collecting this data is to use it in some political negotiations and to exert pressure in the dialogue process with Belgrade.

"However, the credibility of such data is questionable because who can assess the damage in euros when it was then in German marks, and it is necessary to adjust those amounts in relation to inflation anyway. It is simply impossible to determine the amount of war damage in this way, nor is the census an instrument for that. This is purely a political game that is intended to be further exploited in the dialogue, but I believe it will not have a significant impact in the negotiation process between Belgrade and Pristina," Mijacic concludes.