ECMI Kosovo has drafted an information bulletin on local elections to be held on 3 November 2013 throughout Kosovo. The elections will be the first ones to be organised under the Kosovo legal framework in northern Kosovo, in application of the 19 April agreement between Prishtinë/Priština and Belgrade. The information bulletin presents the number of candidates from minority communities running for the 2013 local elections throughout Kosovo, with a focus on Serb-majority municipalities. It also provides an analysis of the key issues related to the participation of the Serb community, both north and south of Ibër/Ibar river. Finally, it draws conclusions from the large-scale voter education campaign conducted by ECMI Kosovo during the month of October in nine Serb-majority municipalities, including northern Kosovo.

On the occasion of the Day of Bosniaks, 28 September, ECMI Kosovo issued a press release to celebrate Kosovo’s multi-ethnicity, reflect on the particular issues the Bosniak community faces, and call upon government institutions to increase and strengthen their work towards the protection and promotion of the rights and interests of the Bosniak community, as well as all non-majority communities in Kosovo.

This publication addresses the lack of adequate budget allocation to the Consultative Council for Communities (Council), a key challenge to its effective functioning, and provides recommendations.

This Policy Paper aims to highlight the challenges faced by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) owned or managed by members of minority communities and vulnerable and marginalised groups (VMGs) in Kosovo, as well as to provide recommendations for their effective integration into the larger Kosovar business environment.

On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the European Action Week Against Racism (16-24 March 2013), the European Centre for Minority Issues Kosovo (ECMI Kosovo) would like to reiterate its strong commitment to establishing a tolerant, pluralistic, multi-ethnic Kosovo, and call upon all relevant stakeholders to increase their efforts to put an end to the persistent problem of discrimination in Kosovo society.

This project aims to promote integration of Kosovo’s community members into wider society by improving their knowledge of both official languages; through the provision of more and better opportunities to learn both languages. ECMI had worked with the Ministry of Educations, Science and Technology (MEST) on the development of an Albanian textbook; on providing training for teachers of Albanian; on facilitating language courses in both languages for municipal servants in the selected municipalities; and engaging at the policy level working on the development of a language teaching programme and on drafting a policy brief with recommendations.