Serbs in Kosovo are uninformed about the population registering and are not sure if they will participate.

This morning, the population registering began in Kosovo, which will last until May 17th. Serbs in Kosovo, with whom the Kosovo Online portal team spoke, are generally not informed about the registering. However, when speaking about participation, they mostly say they will do as the majority of Serbs decide. Regarding the threatened fines of 2,000 Euros if they do not comply, most of them are not informed, and when they find out the amount, they say it is too high and unrealistic. Registering takers started visiting and registering households in Kosovo this morning; however, they did not want to discuss it with the media.

On the other hand, citizens we spoke with say they are not fully informed about the registering details. Stefan Cirkovic from central Kosovo says he heard from the Kosovo Online team that the registering started today.

"I'm not informed; I'm hearing about it from you just now. Regarding the registering, I don't know what we will do at the moment. I'm telling you, I'm hearing this from you now," Cirkovic said.

Bosiljka Dancetovic is also not informed but says she will consider it.

"I don't know, I'll think about it," Dancetovic said.

The same is added by a resident of Laplje Selo.

"I'll think about it," says Danica Ilic.

A resident of Gracanica who wanted to remain anonymous says he will do as the majority does.

"I don't know, whatever the majority decides. If we need to participate, we will, if not, then nothing," he said.

Residents of Leposavic and North Mitrovica are either very vaguely or not at all informed about how the registering will be conducted.

Opinions vary, as some say they will participate while others are adamant they won't. However, the excessively high fines confuse and scare them a little.

When asked by Kosovo Online journalists whether they will participate in the registering, who the registering takers are, and what penalties are envisaged if they do not comply, their responses indicate they are uninformed and surprised.

"I'm not informed, I haven't received any information at all about the registering. If we become better informed about all these details, then we'll see how the majority decides; I'll do the same, I won't stand out for sure. As with everything that has been done so far, the majority decides, and I'm in that majority. I won't do anything on my own," says Vukica Milic from North Mitrovica.

Her fellow citizen Biljana Jezdovic says she only knows what she has read, namely that the registering will start on April 5th.

"Of course, and for the penalties that follow. I don't know which of their officials has spoken about it and said that it is a legal obligation and that we will have to participate in the registering. What can we do, we have to. I don't know how we will travel and how we will reach Jarinje, if they stop us and arrest us. If we don't pay those fines, what comes next?" Jezdovic asks.

Milan Gajic from Leposavic appeared surprised and uninformed, and regarding the penalties if he refuses to participate in the registering, he says they are absurd.

"I heard, I don't know. I have no information. Absurd, I have nothing more to add," said Gajic.

Jelica Simic, although partially informed, says she will participate in the registering, but she adds that she doesn't know where she can do it.

"I've heard, and I will participate. I think the registering takers will be Albanians, probably. I haven't heard about the penalties, but I will probably participate because I live in a collective center, let them provide me anywhere, and I will participate," Simic emphasizes.

Jovo Mitric has almost no information about where and how the population registering will be conducted, and he adds that, as he says, the penalties are too high for his income.

"I want to participate, but in favor of Serbs, I want to participate. I don't know who the registering takers are, but I would like them to be our people. The penalties are not just a little too much, but excessively too much, 2,000 Euros, I don't even have a 20,000 dinar pension, where would I pay from?" says Mitric.

Velimir Savic was visibly confused, without information, he says he doesn't know anything, nor under whose law the registering is conducted.

"I don't know, I am a pensioner, I rarely go out to town, and as for the penalties, under whose law is that, Serbian or Albanian, two thousand Euros for not participating in the registering, I don't know," said Savic.

Ljubisa Milenkovic knows nothing about the registering, says he hasn't heard about it anywhere, and adds that the penalties are too high and fabricated.

"No, I won't participate in the registering if it's Albanian; if it's Serbian from Serbia, maybe I would participate, but if it's not. I don't know who the registering takers are, I haven't heard anything. I don't know who invented the penalty, if there is a law for that, someone just made it up to take money and rip off the people," Milenkovic said.

In Strpce, Serbs are uninformed as well, and they say they will do as the majority of Serbs throughout Kosovo decide.

"I haven't heard yet what kind of registering it will be and how it will be held. If everyone's position is that we should participate in the registering, then I will too, but it depends on the information I have, on the stance of all Serbs from Kosovo," one of them said.

As he added, he hasn't heard about the penalties either, and it's not clear to him what they could be punished for if they decide not to participate.

"I haven't heard about the penalties, we'll see, but I don't understand what penalties, for what, everyone has their own opinion, if they want to participate, they will, and if they don't, they won't. At least that's what I think," he said.

His fellow citizen says he will do as the Serbian Government says.

"I'll do as the Serbian Government says, probably they who are in power know better and think more than I do. Now there's a small number of Serbs left in Kosovo; otherwise, when I was little, there were twice as many Serbs in Strpce," he said.

According to the Registering of Population, Households, and Dwellings Law, any person can be fined from 30 to 2,000 Euros if they refuse to provide the data requested by the registering taker. Penalties are even higher for entrepreneurs, reaching up to 20,000 Euros.