The Ethnic Forum

Project Coordinator : Dragan Lakićević , Ph. D.
Project Assistant: Dragana Aleksandrić, e.mail: dragana.aleksandric@emins.org

The Ethnic Forum was established as a result of the need for the development and further coherent coordination of a number of EMinS activities in connection with resolving ethnic conflicts. Firmly believing that inter-ethnic dialogue is the only way of settling disputes, in February 2001, within the framework of the Political Forum, EMinS organised a workshop entitled " Inter-ethnic reconciliation as a condition of economic development " (Kruševac); the participants were representatives of both ethnic communities from the southern part of Serbia, as well as representatives of other ethnically mixed regions (Sandžak, Vojvodina, Eastern Serbia) and the international community (UNDP, UNMIK, OESC). At the end of the workshop a document which entitled " An initiative for multiethnic cooperation - the Kruševac Declaration " and represented the initial document of the Ethnic Forum of EMinS was produced.

The most important activities of the Ethnic Forum so far include:

•  Research work and writing a chapter entitled " The Prevention of Conflicts and Transformation in FR Yugoslavia " for a projected book on conflicts in South-eastern Europe to be published by the European Centre for the Prevention of Conflicts from Utrecht . The EMinS authors were Dragan Lakićević, Ph. D., and Danijel Pantić, M. Sc., in cooperation with Zoran Lutovac, Ph. D., and Maria Theresa Mauro.

•  A seminar on " The A rt of Dialogue and Integration " , organised in cooperation with the Institute for Peace from Washington . The seminar, involving 40 participants from governmental and non-governmental organizations, was held on Mt. Zlatibor in July 2001. In addition to expert lectures and simulations of resolving political conflicts through dialogue, the seminar had another dimension: a direct friendly and informal dialogue between Serbs and Albanians from the area of Bujanovac, Preševo and Medveđa.

•  Research work , field work and writing a report for UNDP on the capacity of municipal structures in Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa. The report contains : an assessment of the state of equipment, the structure and qualifications of municipal authorities, an assessment of economic, ethnic and political problems, proposals for the improvement of the work of municipal services, interethnic coexistence and speedy economic recovery; a proposal for six programmes of education for participants from this area under the auspices of EMinS.

•  A workshop entitled " Reconciliation and reintegration " , organised in Vranje (March 2002), gathered relevant representatives of the local communities of Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa, representatives of the United Nations, European Agency for Reconstruction, OESC and the coordinating body established by the Government of the Republic of Serbia. In the course of the workshop, the results of the EMinS initiative from the Kruševac seminar were presented, as well as the work of international agencies aimed at economic development and improving interethnic relations.