Citizens Of Kosovo Research Articles

The Internal and External Factors: EU Contestation in Kosovo as a Peripheral Country

Kosovo, as a peripheral country in the context of the EU integration process, remains a potential candidate country with one of the most isolated populations in the Western Balkan region. The citizens of Kosovo are still unable to travel to EU coun­tries without a visa. Unfortunately, this process has been a condition with Kosovo­­Serbia dialogue, facilitated by the EU. This article assesses the influence of both processes, from the internal and external perspective, on the contestation of the EU’s actress among different actors in Kosovo – political elites, experts, and citizens. An analysis of existing relevant research, statistical data of national and interna­tional organizations, and above thirty media articles published between 2015 and 2023, shows a decline in Kosovo citizens’ trust in the EU from 89% in 2015 to 73% in 2022, and lately a substantial drop with only 42%.

Digitisation of Administration and Legal Basis in Kosovo

Background: In contact with modern technologies, public administration transforms, adopting a new look and changing its legal nature to become an electronic public administration. In addition, we can also observe the use of information technologies in the activities of courts. In electronic public administration, which is based on the use of information and communication technologies and the Internet, the underlying working element is information and personal data of citizens. However, new technologies also carry numerous risks for the security of information and personal data used by administrative bodies and courts in their work, which may lead to the infringement of citizens' rights and the public interest. The demand for adequate protection of personal data in relation to administrative authorities stands out as an important need of citizens in modern society, that we tried to illustrate on the example of the Republic of Kosovo. Methods: The methodology employed in this research involves the methods of description, comparison, legal analysis and analysis of data and information collected within the context of Kosovo. The legal analysis in this paper focuses on the content of the constitutional and legal framework for public administration control instruments. The legal analysis pertaining to public administration control instruments is also widely used to clarify the implementation of laws and principles in practice within Kosovo. Through this method, it is intended to highlight the problems during the applicability of the legislation. The descriptive method used in this paper was intended to reflect the current state of public administration control instruments in Kosovo. This article provides an overview of legal mechanisms that can be implemented to stimulate digital administration in developing countries. These legal mechanisms include the development of appropriate legal frameworks for e-administration, protection of intellectual property rights, privacy and data protection laws, and cyber security laws. Results and Conclusions: Electronic public administration in Kosovo represents an altered and modern concept of public administration that has changed the way and purpose of performing state affairs. Technically, it is based on using the Internet and information and communication technologies to conduct regular state affairs and forecast the situation in various social fields. These technical elements have also influenced its legal nature, facilitating administrative bodies in expediting their duties and enhancing the execution of their responsibilities. This evolution fosters a more direct interaction between Kosovo citizens and their state, allowing citizens to gain insight into state affairs that directly affect their rights and interests.

The Constitutional And Legal Position Of National Minorities In Kosovo: Ahtisaari Package And The Privilege Of Minorities

Background: In this article, we address the legal and constitutional position, focusing particularly on the Serbian minority and other minorities in a broader context. We delve into their rights and privileges and Kosovo institutions' obligations and responsibilities concerning national minorities. Certainly, national minorities are an integral part of the population of Kosovo; they should enjoy rights and obligations arising from the Constitution and applicable laws. National minorities are an added value in every society; they enrich the mosaic of the country where they live and should be respected, promoting the values they carry and represent in society. The article pays great attention to the Serb community living in Kosovo, their rights identified by the Ahtisaari package, and the privileges that this package recognises as a minority. The Ahtisaari package acknowledges the Serbian Orthodox Church's unique status and explicitly outlines this community's representation within central institutions. This includes reserved and ensured seats in both the executive and legislative branches. At the local level, the package determines how they will be represented. Minorities are represented in the police, prosecutors' office, court, and all other public institutions. Attention has been paid towards instances of sabotage within the state and institutions of Kosovo by the Serbian community that lives in Kosovo and is influenced and directed by Serbia. Representatives of the Serbian community in Kosovo enjoy income and benefits from the state of Kosovo for the mandate they exercise. Still, their actions within the institutions tend to align with Serbia’s agendas rather than addressing the concerns of the community they are supposed to represent. Despite the absence of recognition from the state of Kosovo and partial acceptance by some Serbs living in Kosovo, it is crucial to acknowledge that Kosovo is an independent state and internationally recognised by 116 democratic states of the world. Notably, the Constitution of Kosovo, as a strong constitution, guarantees double rights in favour of the Serbian community living in Kosovo even though they constitute no more than 5% of the overall population. The research uses the descriptive analysis method, based on the precise description and in-depth analysis of the topic through gathering detailed data related to the research problem, analysing and interpreting legal texts and relevant information and privileging a certain community. These methods have been employed to compare the legislation in force with the international obligations that Kosovo has received through the comprehensive proposal for treating non-majority minorities. Results and Conclusions: Our research shows that national minorities in Kosovo are not treated equally. The Serbian community is constantly privileged and continues to be favoured by the international community, while other communities have substantial problems living in practical terms. The citizens of Kosovo understand the issue of minority rights best. Therefore, the state of Kosovo and its citizens should not allow national minorities to be discriminated against or their rights abused. Implementing the agreements reached in the dialogue, fulfilling international obligations, and advancing the rights of minorities in Kosovo is the obligation of Kosovo and its citizens. Kosovo institutions are obligated to dialogue with the Serbian community because they are part of society and must be integrated into it.

Consumer Behavior in Decision Making - What Are the Factors?

It is challenging for businesses that operate in the market to flourish without a grasp of the requirements and habits of the consumer. Sociodemographic, cultural, and psychological factors have an impact on consumer buying behavior and the brands of goods they choose to use and consume. Most of the locally produced goods were just known by their offering name and not by their brand. Delivery of these things has improved over time. The infrastructure of product sales units has undergone significant alteration today. This study's goals are to examine customer behavior in the selection of food brands, as well as the influence of the consumer's sociodemographic and psychological traits. The Republic of Kosovo's citizens provided the study's data. These data are processed using statistical techniques such as utilizing an econometric model through multiple regression analysis to determine which socio-demographic and psychological aspects influence decision-making, using SPSS application software version 26.0. These data were gathered as a function of the study questions. The results of the analysis show that all the variables taken in the study affect the choice of food brands but from the highest impact to the least are as follows: They have the most impact the Revenue with 181%, then we have gender with 150%. Starting with a confidence level of 95% and with a high level of significance, this result is followed by the ranking with the Educational Level with 145%, it is thought that people who have a level of educational achievement are more aware of the quality of the product, the origin of him than people who do not have high educational development. Then it is followed by Age 112% and Profession 89%.

Conceptual Model for Determining the Statistical Significance of Predictive Indicators for Bus Transit Demand Forecasting

This article addresses the possibility of improving the traditional bus passenger demand forecasting models by leveraging additional data from relevant big data systems and proposes a conceptual framework for developing big data-based forecasting models. Based on the data extracted from available big data systems, the authors have developed a conceptual procedural framework for determining the significance of statistical indicators that can potentially be used as predictor variables for forecasting future passenger demand. At the first stage of the proposed framework, the statistical significance of partial linear correlations between observed statistical indicators and bus ridership demand are determined. All statistical indicators identified as potentially significant are further tested for multicollinearity, homoscedasticity, autocorrelation and multivariate normality to determine the suitability of their inclusion in the final equation of the prediction model. The final formulation of the predictive model was developed using stepwise regression. The R programming language was used to implement the proposed procedural framework to develop a model suitable for predicting passenger demand on the Prizren-Zagreb international bus route. Two predictor variables identified as the most statistically significant are the population of Kosovo and the annual number of Kosovo citizens crossing the Croatian border by bus.

Estimating Salt Intake by Citizens of Kosovo Using 24-Hour Urine Sodium Excretion

Background: The minimum physiological need for sodium is estimated to be 200-500 mg/day (about 0.5-1.25 g of salt per day) (WHO, 2012). Many studies have shown that salt consumption is the main factor in increasing blood pressure (BP) and cardiovascular disease cases. Methods and Results: This transversal cross-sectional study was performed in Kosovo in 2019. The study included 219 people of both sexes (49.9% men and 50.2% women) aged 20–59 years. Urine was collected within 24 hours in accordance with the written instructions, and an oral explanation was provided to each research participant. Na and K in urine were analyzed using SmartLyte® autoanalyzer (Diamond Diagnostics, Holliston, Massachusetts, USA). Our results showed that the average urinary Na excretion over 24 hours in the Kosovo population was 9.52 g/day, which corresponds to a daily salt intake of 23.8 g/day. The average amount of urinary Na excreted in 24 hours was significantly higher in men (11.60 g/24h) than in women (7.46 g/24h) (P<0.001). Thus, the average amount of salt consumed by participants was 29.46g/day for men and 18.94 g/day for women. The average urinary K excretion over 24 hours in men was 2.02 g/day, while that in women was 1.61 g/day (P=0.000). The Na/K ratio was significantly higher in men (6.58) than in women (5.27) (P<0.05). Conclusion: the citizens of Kosovo consume a large amount of salt, greater than 5g/day. In Kosovo, there has yet to be a comprehensive strategy for reducing salt consumption.

The Impact of Digital Marketing vs. Traditional Marketing on Consumer Buying Behavior

Objectives: This research aims to measure the impact of digital marketing vs. traditional marketing on consumer behavior by analyzing their motives and reasons related to the orientation and purchase of products or services through social media and identifying the differences in marketing strategies used depending on the demographics of respondents. Methods: The research was realized based on primary data. For the realization of the research objectives and questions, a quantitative method was used, where 400 citizens of Kosovo were a part of the research. Findings: Based on the ordinary least squares (OLS) model, it turned out that the two marketing types impact consumer buying behavior, but digital marketing turned out to be the indicator with the greatest impact on deciding to make purchases. Also, based on the t-test and ANOVA, there was no significant difference in using traditional and digital marketing types depending on demographic variables. Novelty/improvement:Through this research, businesses receive comments on the preferences of citizens for the marketing type and the possible offers depending on the preferences, as well as the impact of traditional and digital marketing on the purchasing behavior of consumers. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2022-03-03-08 Full Text: PDF

Public Health Experts have the Highest Impact on Citizens’ Compliance with COVID-19 Prevention Recommendations

Introduction: In this study, we investigated the sources of information that have had the highest impact on Kosovans’ compliance with preventive measures against COVID-19. Methods: We recruited 744 participants, aged 18-35, to participate in this cross-sectional survey between 27th April and 5th May 2020, utilising an online questionnaire. Results: Our findings show that public health experts had the greatest influence in persuading citizens to obey the recommendations, with 63.2% (470) compliance, followed by family members, with 18% (134), and health workers, with 10.2% (76). Conclusion: Our study has shown that public health experts have had the greatest impact on Kosovo citizens, persuading them to follow recommendations designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Kosovo-Serbia Negotiations

Negotiations are forms of conversation, communication and bilateral or multilateral dialogue to resolve any kind of problem. Negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia are regional and global, as evidenced by the involvement of the EU and the US in these negotiations. The only way to finally resolve the problem between Kosovo and Serbia is dialogue. The purpose of the research is to analyse and measure Kosovo’s opinion on resolving the problem with Serbia through dialogue and their opinion on Kosovo’s representation in the talks and the agreement reached in Washington. The research was conducted through a questionnaire with structured questions, while a total of 470 respondents from all over Kosovo participated. Statistical analyses were analysed through the SPSS program, while qualitative ones through the inductive method. Based on the results, we see that demographic factors such as gender, age, and qualification affect the citizens of Kosovo’s citizens to solve the problem with Serbia. Part of this research was also interviewing with experts on the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. What we can recommend from this research is that dialogue should move from technical issues to political issues because the essence of this dialogue is political. The only way to its final solution is to reach an agreement that would include its resolution of all problems. The solution can be achieved through one of the possible scenarios in this paper in the theoretical and research part.

Kosovo Integration in European Union

Kosovo is a new state which has just been established and has not yet been fully promoted in the international arena. Kosovo drafted a foreign policy strategy which consisted of key objectives such as lobbying for new recognitions and establishing diplomatic relations with the states that had recognized us. The purpose of the research is to measure the opinion of the citizens of Kosovo on the importance of Kosovo's integration into the EU, to measure the challenges, opportunities of Kosovo's citizens after integration, the impact it has on the economic field and to measure the opinion of state officials and experts on integration in EU.
 Total of 400 respondents from all over Kosovo, a senior government official and two integration experts participated in the research. The research was conducted through a survey of citizens through the online platform and interviews with officials. We confirm the results of the research that the citizens of Kosovo will not migrate even after Kosovo's integration into the EU, and the integration of Kosovo has a significant positive impact on the development and economic prosperity of businesses. On the other side, it has been found that there are gender differences in terms of their opinion on the impact that EU integration has, and some citizens fear that integration would negatively affect their lives. So we recommend that Kosovo should be integrated into the EU as soon as possible in order to have a genuine economic development and for this the future legislatures should work seriously on this.

Challenges of Guaranteeing Privacy in Pandemic Time

Abstract The right of citizens to privacy in the Republic of Kosovo is guaranteed under the Law on Personal Data Protection. Moreover, this right is guaranteed by the Constitution (Official Gazette, 2008), which is the highest legal act. The purpose of this academic paper goes beyond a superficial assessment of the level of implementation of this fundamental right of the citizen. The core of this paper focuses on highlighting the existing challenges and those that may persist in guaranteeing the privacy of each of us under the reign of the 'Covid 19' Virus in the geographical and psychological space of all citizens of Kosovo. Despite the existence of an independent authority, mandated to oversee the implementation of this right in the public and private sector, its implementation is a permanent mission of this authority, which in our country is the Information and Privacy Agency, but also is subject to challenges, which are not always generated by human negligence. To give the deserved physiognomy to this article, official accessible sources of the sole authority that oversees the implementation of this right in our country have been used. Statistical data presented within the trunk of the paper reinforce the thesis introduced in the introduction of the article, which is confirmed during its full elaboration, reinforcing the view that part of the main challenges for Information and Privacy Agency persists being the limited number of human professional resources, as a guarantee for establishing an unwavering trust among the citizens that their privacy is guaranteed.

Citizenship in Post-Conflict Kosovo

The recent developments of the refugee crisis have shaken Europe but many forgot that it all happened with the Kosovo Albanians leaving their land in the winter of 2015 and heading to EU. They have been the first passengers on the immigration route leading to EU after many others followed them creating a big immigration crisis. The reasons for this crisis are various and we will focus on the case of Kosovo and thus try to help understanding it. Years ago Kosovo citizens started leaving their country legally with Serbian passports and this has created a worrying effect in the EU. As an outcome Serbia was forced to issue a different kind of passport to its citizens in Kosovo. In fact Serbian citizenship belongs to each and every citizen of Kosovo, in fact they are all dual citizens. The problem was that the Serbian government issued passports of a different kind to its Kosovo citizens and that way prevented them from using the visa free travel to EU. This case of discrimination is coming together with the somewhat forceful pushing of the Kosovo citizenship onto the Serbian minority in North Kosovo.

Several Aspects of Procedures in Kosovo Constitutional Court Regarding Fair Trial

Kosova is not a member of European Council and consequently as signatory of the European Convention for Human Rights and Freedoms, mainly its citizens cannot make complaints at the Court for Human Freedom and Rights in Strasbourg even when they claim that their rights are violated by Courts or other Institutions in Kosovo. Therefore the final authority that deals with these claims is Constitutional Court which its decisions bases on practice of European Court for Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms. Kosovo citizens more and more are using this right and are directing to the Constitutional Court in cases when they claim that their rights are violated.

The impact of the European Union visa liberalisation process on the reduction of organised crime and corruption in Kosovo

On January 19, 2012, the European Commission (Commission) decided to launch a visa liberalisation dialogue with Kosovo, and on June 14, 2012, it handed over to Kosovo’s government a ‘Roadmap Towards a Visa-free Regime’. This document included 95 requirements that Kosovo had to fulfil. By 2016, the Commission had adopted four reports on progress made by Kosovo in the visa dialogue. In a report issued on May 4, 2016, the EC proposed to the Council of the EU (Council) and the European Parliament (EP) to lift visa requirements on the citizens of Kosovo. The Commission stressed that by the day of the adoption of the proposal by the EP and the Council, Kosovo must have ratified the border/boundary agreement with Montenegro and strengthened its track record in the fight against organised crime and corruption. On July 18, 2018, the Commission confirmed in a report on the progress made by Kosovo in the visa dialogue, that the country had fulfilled the last two requirements included in the roadmap. The aim of this article is to analyse the visa-liberalisation dialogue between the European Union (EU) and Kosovo and whether liberalisation through a visa-free regime with Kosovo had an influence on reducing organised crime and corruption in Kosovo. The article is based on an analysis of primary and secondary sources, as well as statistical data.

The benefits and challenges of sustainable buildings in Prishtina, Kosovo

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the benefits of construction of sustainable buildings and highlight the challenges of achieving sustainable buildings in Kosovo. The present paper not only focuses on social, economic and environmental benefits of the sustainable buildings viewed from the perspective of construction industry experts but also on the challenges that the construction industry in Kosovo faces in achieving sustainable buildings.Design/methodology/approachThe present study uses a qualitative research method and semi-structured interviews as a research instrument. The present study interviews around 20 experts of real estate management, architecture, civil engineering and sustainability.FindingsThe present research finds that the citizens of Kosovo are not very well informed about the benefits of sustainable buildings due to lack of adequate promotion of such buildings. The present study finds that sustainable buildings from the view of construction professionals in Prishtina, Kosovo, have economic, social, and environmental benefits mainly in the form of energy savings, lower operational costs, reduction of pollution and CO2 emissions and better health and satisfaction of occupants. The challenges are mainly of economic, structural and organizational and regulatory character.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study has great implications for the society and construction industry because it shows to the investors all the benefits of building and using sustainable buildings. The findings of the present study, to a certain extent, fill the gap of lack of information that the construction industry in Kosovo faces regarding the benefits and challenges of sustainable buildings. The construction industry, buyers and authorities can benefit from the present study since they can understand the benefits and challenges of sustainable buildings, which can encourage them to invest more in sustainable buildings.Originality/valueThe study is the first qualitative study about the perception of construction professionals in Prishtina, Kosovo, regarding the benefits and challenges of sustainable buildings.

WHAT HAPPENED THAT LEAD TO THE WAR IN KOSOVO

As it is well known, in Kosovo on June 12 the last war in which the country has passed has ended. On this date, NATO troops, called KFOR, have been established in the territory of Kosovo, an international military force that still operates within the territory of the state and is responsible for the security of the Republic of Kosovo, in accordance with United Nations Resolution 1244 United States and based on Kumanovo's technical-military agreement. This military force has the mandate to create and maintain the security of Kosovo's citizens and at the same time to control and oversee Kosovo's borders. It should be noted that this military force has a mandate to operate within the territory of Kosovo, but we must bear in mind that today Kosovo needs immediate access to international security organizations such as Europol and Interpol for reasons of growth (terrorism, human trafficking, international trafficking in narcotics, etc.), as well as in terms of nationality and problems that threaten the globe. Control of the entire territory of Kosovo is a challenge in itself.

The Indoctrination of Religious Practitioners by the Takfirideology and the Current Situation According to Citizens' Survey in Pristina

In the postwar period, after 1999 in Kosovo, not only Kosovo citizens are those who claim that the Islamic religion in Kosovo does not seem to be at the same level of faith as it has been preached for centuries.What is happening in Kosovo is something special when is known that the vast majority of Kosovo's population belong to two major religions - Muslim and Catholic religion. After not a very short period of time the state bodies, including the Islamic community, have proven that in the Republic of Kosovo there are ideologies which until after 1999 in Kosovo were not mentioned that have ever been present.The question arises why and from when have these ideologies began to appear in Kosovo that are endangering the stability of security at the same time they are making parallelism to Islamic faith in the Republic of Kosovo.So what happened to Kosovo's kosovo how occurred that the impact of some destructive ideologies and especially the takfir ideology to emerge and to try that coexistence and religious tolerance be put into question, precisely in the period of state building.

Criminal-Legal and Criminological Overviews of Kosovo Citizen’s Participation in Armed Conflicts in Syria and Iraq

The criminal offence of Kosovo citizen’s participation in armed conflicts outside of the country has been included in Kosovo criminal legislation in 2015. It has been addressed by a special law and this was determined due to the inclusion of a considerable number of Kosovo citizens in armed conflicts in Syria and Iraq. A perpetrator of this criminal offence can be any person that is a Kosovo citizen, whereas their incriminating actions shall be punishable from 6 months up to 15 years of sentence by imprisonment. Conducted researched for this criminal offence prove in armed conflicts in Syria and Iraq are currently 314 Kosovo citizens, among them also 27 children and 38 women. Kosovo citizens included in these conflicts exercise their military action mainly in support of terrorist organizations ISIS, SALUSTRA etc. In these conflicts until now died 57 Kosovo citizens. Concerning this criminal offence The State Prosecution has issued 34 decisions on implementing investigations, whereas courts did not yet promulgated any judgment punishing its perpetrators. The causes of Kosovo citizen’s participation in armed conflicts in Syria and Iraq are different, but dominate those economic, ideological, the poor work of justice bodies and media. This criminal offence causes numerous consequences of political, psychological, personal and family character.

Migration and Its Effects on the Economic Development: Case of Kosovo

Migration is a complex process that has affected our country over many decades and still continues to be part of developments in our country's history. Migration has played and continues to play an important role in alleviating unemployment and poverty level in Kosovo, where, from the migration and remittances has positively influenced the growth of social and economic welfare. The main causes of youth migration are economic reasons. The emigration of young people has eased the labor market pressures to some extent and remittances from abroad have helped many families to enjoy a decent standard of living. However, migration does not always have positive effects. By leaving of a part of the workforce, the country is losing a part of human resources that are ready for the job market.The purpose of this paper is precisely to explain the positive role played by this phenomenon towards the human resource development, reduction of unemployment and vocational training through the experience that they gain in destination countries, as well as to affect the negative points or side effects that are brought by the spread of this phenomenon over the years. The paper was conducted through a survey of 300 citizens of Kosovo. The survey was conducted in order to obtain information about the reasons of citizens’ emigration and also to obtain information about the effects that emigration brings to local families. At the end, it is seen from the results that the effects of emigration for the economic development of the country are both positive and negative at the same scale. This phenomenon is a persuasion to the economic and social development of the country, but it also gives negative effects, by removing human resources, that are often professionally able outside the country.

International Child Abduction in Civil Matters Pursuant to Kosovo Legislation

Migration and settlement of Kosovo citizens, whether on individual basis or family groups in other countries, amongst others, have also caused the problem of international child abduction. This abduction was done by one of the parents or a temporary guardian. Although cases involving international child abuse have practically occurred, children have not been protected lacking legal provisions. For the first time in Kosovo, this matter was regulated by promulgation of UNMIK Regulation no. 2004/29 on Protection against International Child Abduction dated 05 August 2004. Pursuant to Kosovo legislation the child abduction shall mean removal or retention of a child which constitutes breach of rights of custody attributed to a person or any other body, under the law of the State in which the child was habitually resident immediately before the removal or retention. Hereby it is intended to recon in aspects of international child abduction and their prompt return from Kosovo to the Requesting State, the child return procedures and cases from the court practice. The court authorities having jurisdiction set forth by law, shall implement the child return procedures once the legal conditions are met, and for the purpose of such implementation, they may issue different measures. The Basic Court of Pristina shall have exclusive first instance jurisdiction in Kosovo. The Ministry of Justice being the central authority shall carry out the administrative procedure for a voluntary return of the child to the Requesting State.