30. 04. 2015

Kosovo residents "dissatisfied with institutions, media"

30.4.2015. (B92, Tanjug) - PRISTINA -- Most citizens in Kosovo "are disgruntled with the work of Kosovo's key executive, legislative and judicial institutions," Tanjug is quoting a UNDP-USAID poll.

They have "lost trust in media freedom, and youth unemployment is the biggest problem," the survey, co-funded by the UNDP and USAID, dubbed Public Pulse, has shown.

It notes that only 21 percent of respondents are satisfied with key Kosovo institutions, while the figure stood at 46 percent in April last year.

According to the report, 35.5 percent of those questioned believe that the media in Kosovo enjoy freedom of expression, compared to 40 percent in November 2014.

When it comes to the justice system, 16 percent of respondents believe that it is independent, so the figure is up from 13 percent in November last year.

The report also shows that around 31 percent of those questioned are either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the economic situation in Kosovo - 52 percent think that joblessness is a major problem, while 27 percent deem that poverty is the biggest problem.

Only five percent of respondents said that the biggest problem in Kosovo is corruption, said the survey.

The UNDP said that the brief, presented on Thursday, provides "a concise overview of key indicators and results covering the period from November 2014 to April 2015." One of the main findings is that Kosov's president, parliament speaker, prime minister and central institutions r"eached the lowest level of citizens' satisfaction since March 2007."

The findings also indicate that "unemployment, poverty, and corruption remain the biggest problems in Kosovo," and provide "some insights in relation to the recent emigration from Kosovo where more than half of the respondents claimed that at least one of their relatives or friends has left Kosovo in the past six months were also presented."