The Long Road to Europe

"Writers, travellers, painters and the early photographers bear witness to the fact that, in the past, almost every provincial town in Serbia had a hotel or a tavern called 'Europe', located inside Eastern-style mud-brick buildings. A yearning to belong to this continent thus existed back then and – as we see – it still exists today. But is it, even today, just a case of putting a newly-painted modern sign on an old house? Or will something truly European soon begin happening there, no matter how modest its exterior, just as the first films were shown in those same taverns almost as soon as the Lumière Brothers had shot them?" asked Dr Vojin Dimitrijević, first president of EMinS.

JUBILEE: A ceremonial assembly marking the tenth anniversary of the founding of EMinS took place on November 24, 2002 in Belgrade's Atelje 212 Theatre.

Nebojša Milenković

A ceremonial assembly marking the tenth anniversary of the founding of EMinS took place on November 24, 2002 in the Atelje 212 Theatre. Members and executives of the Movement, as well as numerous guests, commemorated the jubilee of this non-government organization which, at the time of its founding (a time when the very words "Europe" and "European values" were regarded as threatening, and a civil war was raging in the region), pointed the way towards the democratic changes which inevitably ensued.

front-page of the almanac, published for the occasion of 10th anniversary of the emins

TAKING AIM: "We should not lose sight of the fact that joining the EU is like aiming at a 'moving target'", Danijel Pantić

The president of the European Movement in Serbia, Živorad Kovačević, greeted those participating in the assembly, reminding them of how the Movement developed and of the time it was founded: "As far back as 1993 the European Movement in Serbia was accepted into the International European Movement. It supported and assisted the founding of numerous other non-government organizations in this country, such as Generation 21, G 17, the Association of Business Women, and so on. Among the many forums which the European Movement in Serbia has established, the most significant is, of course, the Forum for International Relations, which has nurtured many of the ambassadors chosen to represent Yugoslavia in world capitals following the changes of October 5, 2000".

On this occasion, Mr Kovačević presented the International European Movement's award for "Best European Speaker" of 2002 to the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs, Goran Svilanović. "It is with great regret that I must state that I have received this award with empty hands", Svilanović said on this occasion. "It would be better if we had already been admitted to the Council of Europe, which has been so generous and forthcoming to us, but the conflict surrounding the Constitutional Charter has delayed this important step towards joining the European family. The sooner people realize that closer relations with the ex-Yugoslav republics and good neighbourly relations are the essence of the European idea, the sooner we will be able to secure our place in the European Union. The road to Zagreb, Ljubljana and Sarajevo is also the road to Europe".

mr kovacevic, president of the emins, hands award to mr svilanovic, federal minister of foreign affairs

EUROPEAN: Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Goran Svilanović received the International European Movement's 2002 "Best European Speaker" award.

The secretary general of the European Movement in Serbia, Danijel Pantić, also addressed the audience: "We should not lose sight of the fact that joining the EU represents a kind of 'moving target'. European integration is a living, highly dynamic process that is transforming Europe. At the moment we become ripe for membership, the EU itself will not be the same organization it is today. The criteria for membership will be higher and more complicated, and our efforts to join the Union will thus be greater and more difficult. All of this will be somewhat easier if we actively follow the evolution of European structures, at the same time maintaining a clear course of reforms as a general, coordinated national interest with the goal of full membership, which also implies lasting peace and stability".

At the conclusion of the ceremonial assembly, guests were treated to a concert of European medieval music as performed by the ensemble "Joculatores Slavenses".