April 9, 2020

European Western Balkans -EU-backed Kosovo Coalition for Reconciliation established in Pristina

12.07.2019

PRISTINA – Humanitarian Law Centre in Kosovo, ArtPolis and AKTIV from Mitrovica have established the Kosovo Coalition for Reconciliation with the support of EU office in Pristina.

The aim of this mechanism is to improve cross-ethnic relations in Kosovo and encourage the process of reconciliation between Serbs and Albanians, IBNA reports.

During the launching event held on Thursday, Stergios Tragoudas of the EU office in Kosovo, said that the process of reconciliation is very challenging, while bringing the example of EU member countries about the way they’ve overcome problems.

He emphasised the importance of reconciliation for EU, reminiding that its members had tackled their disputes through cooperation with the citizens and different institutions.

Members of the coalition were represented by Bekim Blakaj, Executive Director of the Humanitarian Law Centre in Kosovo, Zana Hoxha Krasniqi, Founder and Director of ArtPolis and Miodrag Milićević, Executive Director of the NGO AKTIV.

“We must document the past and the fact that such a large number of people went missing during the war, because people need to know these things”, Blakaj said.

According to IBNA, Milićević stated that all ethnic groups in Kosovo want to improve their quality of life and have equal rights.

EU-backed Kosovo Coalition for Reconciliation established in Pristina

Ballkan.com-Coalition for Reconciliation is established in Kosovo

12/07/2019

The EU office in Pristina in cooperation with several NGOs for human rights, led by Albanians and Serbs, have established the Kosovo Coalition for Reconciliation.

The aim of this mechanism is to improve cross-ethnic relations in Kosovo and encourage the process of reconciliation between Serbs and Albanians.

Bekim Blakaj, head of the Humanitarian Right Fund based in Pristina, said that this time, they’ve decided to join forces with different organizations to contribute for sustainable peace and reconciliation in Kosovo.

“We must document the past and the fact that such a large number of people went missing during the war, because people need to know these things”, Blakaj said.

Miodrag Milicevic, head of “Aktiv” NGO based in Mitrovica, said that all ethnic groups in Kosovo want to improve their quality of life, they want to have equal rights and they want all communities to be respected.

EU officials have also backed the creation of this coalition, by saying that such incentives are very important.

Stergios Tragoudas of the EU office in Pristina, said that the process of reconciliation is very challenging, while bringing the example of EU member countries about the way they’ve overcome problems.

“We’re talking about reconciliation and as you know, reconciliation is a core value for the European Union. In cooperation with citizens and different institutions, EU member countries have managed to tackle their problems. We have member countries which have minorities and they have succefully managed to tackle these problems”, he said. /ibna/

https://balkaneu.com/coalition-for-reconciliation-is-established-in-kosovo/

RTK Live – COALITION FOR RECONCILIATION IN KOSOVO ESTABLISHED

11.07.2019

A beginning of the work of the Coalition for Reconciliation was solemnly marked today in Prishtina.

The Coalition was established aiming to encourage and support the reconciliation process in Kosovo.

Kosovo Humanitarian Law Center, Aktiv, and Art Polis are the founders of the coalition aiming to improve ethnic relations and at the same time raise awareness on civic initiatives’ participation within communities.

Kosovo Humanitarian Law Centre Executive Director Bekim Blakaj noted they have identified for years the joint values that these organizations share and thus decided to join forces and establish this coalition.

“The collation would be open for cooperation with all other organizations and individuals who identify their values with joint values of the coalition, and I am sure by the time we will get stronger. This project is just the beginning of joint work, and the final aim is to reach sustainable peace and give a contribution to the reconciliation in Kosovo in the future,” Blakaj said.

Aktiv Executive Director Miodrag Milicevic said the only way to reach the level of true reconciliation is to show the readiness to face the past and find the way to open a path towards dialogue, that could lead further to the better society.

Founder and Director of Art Polis Zana Hoxha said this coalition came out naturally, as a synergy of the three organizations that worked for many years not only to achieve inter-ethnic trust but also on building the peace and creating opportunities for cooperation between different communities.

Representatives of embassies, local and international institutions, civil society and the media participated in an event.

https://www.rtklive.com/en/news-single.php?ID=14418

Forum Future 2019 – Reconciliation process and transitional justice, perception, problems and perspective

11-12. DECEMBER 2019.

The Conforencë FORUM FUTURE 2019

Dealing with the past, the present and future relations between Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo was the subject of the 2-day conference held in Mitrovica north. Other topics such as reconciliation process and transitional justice were broadly discussed between representatives of civil society, opinion makers and students from both communities.

Workshop on effective communication and role of Ethnic Stereotypes in reconciliation

Aktiv – 16 – 19 June, 2019

NGO Aktiv conducted the workshop from 16th of June to 19th of June, 2019 in Igalo, Montenegro with participation of young individuals of Serbian and Albanian ethnicities from different municipalities of Kosovo.

The general aim of training was to promote critical thinking about what are stereotypes, prejudices and behaviors of discrimination, how they are formed by people and how communication without prejudices could affect negativities in relationship between different communities, respectively among Serbians and Albanians.

Mutual Perceptions of Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo

Aktiv – 2019

Today, despite the tangible progress achieved in stabilization of ethnic relations and cooperation at political level, Kosovo still remains a divided society with deeply rooted inter-ethnic prejudices. Such a state of affairs is intentionally or inadvertently sustained and fueled by more or less all community actors, while the structural reconciliation and cooperation efforts are limited to the low-scale civil initiatives or narrow professional clusters (e.g businesses). There are many factors that contribute and fuel the lingering ethnic conflicts in Kosovo. They vary in intensity and effects on ethnic relations.

There have been many works and research in examination of the conflict drivers, but very poor efforts have been made in identifying the prejudices and misperceptions burdening ethnic relations in Kosovo, let alone engage in public dialogue aimed at their deconstruction. The study presented in this paper aims exactly at this – to label prevailing ethnic stereotypes and instigate an open dialogue that leads toward their understanding and their rejection in shaping ethnic perceptions.

The research was conducted on 527 subjects from the area of North Mitrovica, Leposavic, Zvecan, Zubin Potok, and the enclaves (Strpce, Gnjilane and Gračanica) on one side (233 total), and Mitrovica and Pristina (a total of 299) on the other.

Here you can download the document and Serbian and Albanian languages:

Download

Trend Analysis 2019: Attitudes of the Serb Community in Kosovo

Aktiv – 2019

The research was carried out between the 15th of July and the 5th of September of this year by NGO Aktiv in cooperation with RTIV Kim, and surveyed a total of 540 people, with 270 respondents coming from the north and 270 from south of the River Ibar, with a particular focus placed on Northern Kosovo, Gracanica, Strpce and Kosovsko Pomoravlje.

The document is research that has been carried out by NGO Aktiv for five years in a row, in the goal of identifying the most significant attitudes and perceptions held by Serb community in Kosovo in relation to key social, economic, political and other processes that have a direct or indirect impact on their lives. The data received offers insight into the effects that those processes have on the Serbian community in Kosovo, their needs and priorities, and how they can constitute a valuable source of information for the creation of civil initiatives, strategies and policies on all levels of governance that seek to answer to the tangible needs of the population.

The results of this research can and should become a foundation for those sorts of efforts, whether or not they are development initiatives, social dialogue or even political solutions for certain problems that have for years prevent the normalization of everyday life in Kosovo.

Here you can download the whole document in English language:

Trend-Analysis-2019 Download

Summer School on Transitional Justice 2019

HLCK 05 – 09 August, 2019

The summer school on transitional justice offers students’ knowledge about topics related to mechanism of transitional justice and dealing with the past, more concrete with the four pillars of transitional justice such as: war crime trails, truth commissions, reparation and institutional reforms.