Experts: There are fewer and fewer people in Kosovo, half of the young will leave after the cancellation of visas

According to the data of the Kosovo Statistics Agency (KAS), the number of inhabitants in Kosovo is decreasing, and as stated by KAS Acting director Ilir Berisha, the decline in birth rates is connected with migration, while, according to the head of the UNFPA office in Kosovo, Visare Mujko-Nimani, when visa liberalization comes into effect, half of the young people will leave Kosovo, reports Koha.

Professor Mimoza Dushi, from the University of Pristina, said that in the early years, Kosovo had the highest number of births compared to the countries of the region and added that the number of the population is migration, not a drop in the birth rate.

Mujko-Nimani stated that there would have to be changes in the migration policy, stressing that everyone was worried because the population in Kosovo was decreasing.

"Everyone is worried about what will happen because the population is decreasing. The orientation is what other affected countries are doing, what measures should be taken and what have been successful for them. The countries that have faced this problem have confirmed and made changes in policies such as education, maternity leave, parental leave. We as Kosovo are waiting to see what will happen now with the liberalization of visas, where half of the youth will go," she said.

KAS data, which were presented in a discussion on "Declining birth rates in Kosovo: What is happening and what we can do", organized by KAS and the Population and Development Program (UNFPA), show that in 1986 there were 56,283 born children in Kosovo, while in 2019 there were 25,794.

According to these data, a decrease in the number of deaths is also recorded.

Acting KAS director Ilir Berisha said that the decline in the birth rate in Kosovo was related to migration.

He emphasized that this phenomenon was present in the entire region and beyond, but that other countries took measures in time.

Sevdie Spahiu, from the National Institute of Public Health, says the problem is a lack of education for young people about sexual and reproductive health.

"The birth rate has decreased, the factors of the decline have been mentioned, but what is important is that it depends on many factors, it is important that we as an Institute have to work as much as possible with young people on sexual and reproductive health. We hold trainings with secondary schools. Unwanted pregnancy is dangerous, so it is necessary to work with young people because these are taboo topics in our families," she stressed.