Research: Every second resident of Kosovo wants to live abroad

Out of those surveyed in Kosovo, 57 percent stated that they would like to live and work abroad, according to the latest research of the "Balkan Barometer" of the Council of the Center for Regional Cooperation for the year 2023, Reporteri reports.

According to this research, Kosovo occupies a high first position in the region in terms of the number of those who want to go abroad.

Albania is followed by 49 percent of respondents who would like to go abroad, which is seven percent more than last year's survey.

Of the surveyed residents of North Macedonia, 35 percent would move abroad; that number is 38 percent in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 41 percent in Serbia, and 45 percent in Montenegro.

According to the Council for Regional Cooperation, this survey shows that the average of those who would go abroad, in the Western Balkans, is 44 percent.

For the ninth time in a row, the Council for Regional Cooperation publishes the results of the Balkan Barometer - an annual survey conducted with six thousand citizens from the entire region of the Western Balkans, giving an overview of their opinions and attitudes on regional cooperation, EU integration, trust in institutions and the media, employment, climate change, security, digital life, transportation, rule of law, travel and more.

As stated in the press release, the "Balkan Barometer" revealed three main trends of public opinion in the Western Balkans.

The first good news, as they say, is that 76 percent of respondents believe that regional cooperation is good for the development of the economies of the countries in the Balkans. As many as 69 percent of those surveyed agree that what unites the citizens of the Western Balkans is more important than what divides them.

As they state, another important item in the results of this survey is support for EU integration, and 59 percent of the surveyed citizens of the Western Balkans answered positively to that question, which is three percent less than in 2021.

As they state, the third topic, which should cause concern in this part of Europe, is depopulation, because 44 percent of the surveyed residents of the Western Balkans are thinking about living abroad, which is five percent more than in 2022.

According to the statement, it is also extremely worrying that as many as 71 percent of young people living in the countries of the Western Balkans are thinking about leaving their country.