Series:PER Reports

Political Will: Romania's Path to Ethnic Accomodation

Political Will: Romania's Path to Ethnic Accomodation

Author(s): / Language(s): English

Keywords: Romanians and Hungarians in Romania; Transylvania;

This is a report of a discussion that would have been all but impossible to imagine ten years ago: Romanian and Hungarian political leaders from Romania sitting down to review and analyze their successful cooperation in building that country’s program for ethnic accord—and to consider what must be done to preserve that achievement. When the Project on Ethnic Relations began its work in Romania in 1991, it took almost a year to persuade Romanian officials and leaders of the ethnic Hungarian community just to gather around the same table, so deep was the mistrust. But once they did, it marked the beginning of a lengthy, and continuing, political process that makes Romania a uniquely successful example of what can be accomplished. The path was not, and is not, easy. It involved hard, often bitter, debates between Romanians and Hungarians, intensive political bargaining and tradeoffs, and many setbacks and disappointments. And yet a group of key leaders, although deeply loyal to their own communities, saw that compromises were necessary. They were willing to take political risks to realize their vision of interethnic harmony. Any interethnic accommodation is inherently fragile. It is easily upset by political opportunism, economic difficulties, or outside influences. So Romania’s accomplishments are neither complete nor permanent. The debate over interethnic arrangements will go on indefinitely—as it should in any democracy.

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Macedonia’s Interethnic Coalition: Solidifying Gains

Macedonia’s Interethnic Coalition: Solidifying Gains

Author(s): / Language(s): English

Keywords: Ohrid agreement; multi-ethnic Skopje; ethnic conflict in Macedonia;

The first day of this two-day meeting was attended by representatives of the parties making up the governing coalition: the Social Democratic Alliance of Macedonia (SDSM), the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the Democratic League of Bosnjaks in Macedonia, the Democratic Party of Serbs in Macedonia, the Democratic Party of Turks in Macedonia, and the United Party of the Roma in Macedonia. They were joined on the second day by their colleagues from the opposition parties, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party of Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE), the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA), the Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP), and the Liberal Party (LP). The roundtable began with a discussion of what has been achieved by the interethnic governing coalition, and the impact of their accomplishments on the country. The international participants praised Macedonia, which, they said, had become an example for the region in improving interethnic relations. Indeed, they noted, recently some leaders from Kosovo have been examining the Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA) as one model of what could be accomplished with self-restraint and political will. In their turn, the participants from Macedonia stressed the benefits that they derive from the Mavrovo meetings in clarifying the positions of the respective political partners, anticipating future problems and solutions, and in providing guidelines on how to communicate with the media and the public. The participants agreed that the most urgent current topic is decentralization. While decentralization was on the agenda of each of the previous meetings, said one participant, we managed to avoid sufficient discussion of it. This time, even though decentralization is not the main topic on the agenda, it is where we now need to focus our attention.

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Central and East European Governments and Cooperation with the Hungarian Communities: Efforts, Accomplishments, Failures

Central and East European Governments and Cooperation with the Hungarian Communities: Efforts, Accomplishments, Failures

Author(s): Livia Plaks / Language(s): English

Keywords: Hungarian ethnic diaspora; Hungarian minorities abroad; ethnic mother country; Europe of Minorities;

This essay on the status of the ethnic Hungarian minorities in Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Serbia, was inspired by a meeting on that subject that was organized on June 25-26, 2004 in Sinaia, Romania. The event was sponsored by the new Project on Ethnic Relations Regional Center for Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. The Center, with headquarters in Bucharest and with an additional office in Tirgu Mures, is a branch of the U.S.-based Project on Ethnic Relations (PER), which since 1991 has been the leading private-sector organization working on problems of interethnic relations in Romania and in the region. The meeting took place under the title Central and East European Governments and Cooperation with the Hungarian Communities: Efforts, Accomplishments, Failures. It brought together Hungarian and non-Hungarian leaders from the region to discuss the evolution of their relations since the end of the communist period and to consider how they might be further improved.

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Kosovo 2005: Assuring Security for the Neighborhood

Kosovo 2005: Assuring Security for the Neighborhood

Author(s): / Language(s): English

Keywords: Kosovo conflict 2005; Western Balkans Security;

In the late summer and fall of 2004 the news from Kosovo was dominated by the run-up to the province’s parliamentary elections, which were held in October, and the question of whether the Kosovo Serbs would take part. While Serbian president Boris Tadic encouraged Kosovo’s Serbs to participate in the elections (though at the very last moment), prime minister Vojislav Kostunica, arguing that Kosovo’s provisional government had failed to protect the Serb community, strongly urged a boycott, and, in the event, on October 23 less than one percent of the Serbs living in Kosovo turned out to vote. On the heels of this development, which seemed to promise continued difficulties in the relationship between Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo, the Project on Ethnic Relations (both through its Princeton headquarters and its Center for Central, East, and Southeast Europe in Bucharest) together with the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, organized a roundtable meeting on “Kosovo 2005: Assuring Security for the Neighborhood.” The meeting, which was held in Bucharest, took up issues of Kosovo’s political dynamics, including Serb participation in Kosovo’s provisional institutions of self-government, implementation of United Nations standards for Kosovo, ways to approach the issue of Kosovo’s status, relations between Belgrade and Pristina and the impact of developments in Kosovo on regional security. At the time of the meeting Kosovo’s new coalition government had not yet been formed, and neighboring states sought a chance to communicate with leaders from both Pristina and Belgrade about how resolution of the province’s political status might move forward, and how the open issue of Kosovo affects a region that is eager for increased stability and, ultimately, European integration.

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Macedonia: The Next Stage

Macedonia: The Next Stage

Author(s): / Language(s): English

Keywords: Ohrid agreement; Macedonia and EU; multicultural Macedonia; Mavrovo Process;

The fourth round of discussions in the Mavrovo process was held in mid-December 2004, at a moment of great challenge for Macedonia. A new government, necessitated by the former prime minister’s resignation on November 15 and his public allegations of corruption against a government member, was confirmed by parliament on the very day the Mavrovo meeting was to convene. Nonetheless, the new prime minister and his government elected to attend the Mavrovo meetings, and use them to foster open and frank discussion among the coalition partners in the government including the parties of the smaller ethnic communities and with opposition parties. In comparison to earlier sessions of the Mavrovo process, these discussions were characterized by a significant increase in the proportion of time and attention devoted by participants to what they described as “constructive criticism” and problem-solving. Although the first session of discussions was abbreviated because of the government’s need to convene its first, organizational meeting following parliamentary confirmation, this round of the Mavrovo process covered a number of important and sensitive issues facing the new leadership team. Participants discussed their understanding of the nature of representation and accountability, from the perspective of both government and opposition. Attention was devoted to the meaning and implications of “equal representation” as a principle embedded in the Ohrid Framework Agreement and as a practical goal of government policy. There was substantial discussion of the relationship between political parties, their leaders, and the government, and its crucial effect on government authority and performance. Discussion turned several times to the importance of improving the performance of the economy for resolving social and political problems, and therefore its importance for the new government. Improving the functioning of the electoral system was the focus of a substantial amount of discussion, prompted by the upcoming local elections, scheduled for March 13, 2005. Participants put forward a number of specific issues and problems for inclusion on the government policy agenda. Participants also engaged one another in candid discussion of sensitive and contentious issues concerning the integrity of electoral processes in Macedonia. These discussions led participants to consider the adoption of a “code of conduct” to guide parties in the upcoming and future elections.

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Kosovo and the Region Prepare for Change: Relations, Responsible Governance, and Regional Security

Kosovo and the Region Prepare for Change: Relations, Responsible Governance, and Regional Security

Author(s): / Language(s): English

Keywords: Kosova and its neighbors; Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo; Belgrade-Prishtina-dialogue;

Six years after Kosovo was placed under the interim administration of the United Nations, 2005 has been called a decisive year for the province. The first indication that this is indeed the case came in March, when the UN Secretary General appointed a Special Envoy to conduct a comprehensive review of the so-called democratic “standards” mandated for Kosovo. Following this review, and depending on its outcome, in the fall of 2005, a formal process for resolving Kosovo’s status will be launched by the UN. In early 2005, while the international community appeared to be moving forward on the Kosovo issue, authorities in Belgrade and Pristina showed some signs of breaking their ongoing stalemate over official communication. Throughout the spring, reports of a potential meeting between Serbian President Boris Tadic and Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova appeared in the media, but an actual encounter failed to materialize. With Kosovo Serbs continuing to boycott provisional institutions of selfgovernment in Pristina, the positions of Serbs and Albanians over Kosovo appeared as entrenched as ever. ###While realizing that the large question of Kosovo’s status will only be resolved through a process established by the United Nations, the Project on Ethnic Relations nonetheless judged that an informal and off-the-record dialogue among Albanians, Serbs, leaders of neighboring countries, and representatives of international organizations could be of value at this time. In July 2005, in cooperation with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, PER convened a roundtable discussion under the title “Kosovo and the Region Prepare for Change: Relations, Responsible Governance, and Regional Security.” The agenda for the discussion included three broad topics: the regional implications of Kosovo’s future status, possibilities for high-level dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, and relations between Kosovo’s Albanian and Serb communities.

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Macedonia: On the Road to Brussels

Macedonia: On the Road to Brussels

Author(s): / Language(s): English

Keywords: Mavrovo process; Macedonia 2005; Macedonia and EU;

In June 2005, the Project on Ethnic Relations (PER) and the Embassy of Switzerland in Macedonia organized the fifth roundtable in the so-called “Mavrovo Process” series. These roundtables are an occasion for members of the Macedonian governing coalition (the Together for Macedonia coalition headed by the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) and the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI)), the parliamentary opposition and representatives of the international community to assess the implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA) and evaluate the coalition’s progress. The discussions also provide a forum for honest and open communication—off the record—among all parliamentary parties. The Mavrovo roundtables are always important events in Macedonian politics. They provide a forum wherein difficult and sometimes contentious issues of Macedonia’s daily politics can be discussed in a neutral space, free of everyday political pressures. In fact, coffee breaks, lunches and dinners between the sessions often turn out to be just as important as the plenary sessions themselves, as these provide chances for the participants to continue their discussions and build the trust necessary for reaching compromises. The Mavrovo series has also become a major channel for the political parties of Macedonia’s smaller ethnic communities. They use this unique opportunity to present their case to the other coalition members and to receive a sympathetic hearing.

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Political Uses of Anti-Semitism

Political Uses of Anti-Semitism

Author(s): Konstanty Gebert / Language(s): English

Keywords: Anti-Semitism in Southeastern Europe; Anti-Semitism in post-communist countries;

The endurance of anti-Semitism as a cultural theme in Central and Eastern Europe is particularly striking considering the near-destruction of Jewish populations during the Second World War. While there is a vast literature on anti-Semitism past and present, less has been said concerning anti-Semitism as a deliberately deployed political weapon, and less still about its use in the post-Communist states. A number of questions can be posed on the political uses of anti-Semitism in the region: Why do anti-Semitic political practices continue to resonate with the public? How did they survive the transitions to post-communist, democratic politics? What enables political actors to employ anti-Semitism as a weapon, and what are their methods? Is there any defense? To explore these issues and seek practical responses to political anti-Semitism in the region and in Romania, on September 16, 2005, the Project on Ethnic Relations Regional Center for Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe organized a roundtable discussion in Bucharest for senior political leaders, intellectuals, and journalists. These participants took on topics ranging from the historical roots of anti-Semitism, to the role of civil society and of the state in combating anti-Semitism, to the controversial issue of Romania's Emergency Decree 31, which outlaws forms of anti-Semitic discourse, including Holocaust denial. This report documents the discussions at the Bucharest roundtable. Following PER's usual practice, participants are not identified by name in the text. Konstanty Gebert, a journalist at Gazeta Wyborcza in Poland, is the author of this report, which has not been reviewed by other participants, and for which PER takes full responsibility. The text was edited by PER staff.

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Serbs in the Twenty-First Century

Serbs in the Twenty-First Century

Author(s): Steven Burg / Language(s): English

Keywords: Serbian ethnic identity; Serbia and EU;

Southeastern Europe, including Serbia, is at a crucial juncture in its history. Following the crises of the 1990s, the countries of the region are making great efforts to join the European Union, and, in fact, some have made the important step of becoming EU candidates. Serbia’s pivotal location at the center of this region and its historic, political, economic and ethnic ties to its neighbors make the country’s success an essential element for the success of the entire region. Moreover, Serbia’s continued democratic development and its stability are key factors to broader regional stability. For these goals to be achieved, Serbia’s path to European integration must be secured, and the feeling inside Serbia of being “left behind” must be dispelled. With these considerations in mind, in 2005-2006, the Project on Ethnic Relations (PER) carried out a major project in Serbia under the title “Serbs in the Twenty-First Century.” This project was supported by the Balkan Trust for Democracy of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the Romanian Government, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. In the first part of this initiative, PER organized a dialogue in Belgrade among Serb political leaders, both from within and outside of Serbia, on issues related to the interplay between identity and politics. During this meeting, participants analyzed the relationships between Serbia and the Serbs and their political representatives who live outside Serbia in states that emerged after the dissolution of Yugoslavia. They also discussed their relations with Serbia as a state, and models of cooperation between their “mother state” and their home countries. PER followed this first meeting with a dialogue in Novi Sad on multiethnicity and citizenship in Serbia, relations between minorities and the Serbian majority, and possibilities for how Serbia can redefine itself as a country of all its citizens. Minority representatives also took part in this dialogue. The last part of the “Serbs in the Twenty-First Century” initiative, held in Bucharest, brought to the table representatives of the Serbian government and parliament, representatives of Serbia’s neighbors, and participants from U.S. and international organizations to discuss the issue of Serbs and their neighbors. This discussion was conceived in the belief that everything that happens in Serbia and to Serbs has an impact on its neighbors, and everything that happens in the neighborhood has an impact on Serbia. Important topics in this discussion were the referendum on independence in Montenegro and the question of Kosovo’s future status, and how these developments will influence Serbia and its stability. Participants also considered how the international community could help Serbia in this difficult and uncertain period.

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The Balkans and the EU: Challenges on the Road to Accession

The Balkans and the EU: Challenges on the Road to Accession

Author(s): Livia Plaks / Language(s): English

Keywords: Western Balkans and EU;

On November 19, 2005, the Project on Ethnic Relations, in cooperation with the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, organized an international roundtable discussion under the title "The Balkans and the EU: Challenges on the Road to Accession." The purpose of the roundtable was to provide a venue for frank dialogue among countries of the region and European institutions on the next wave of EU en-largement, how to make EU accession a reality, and the regional implications of future European inte-gration. The discussion also focused on the issue of Kosovo, and how the province's future status will impact the EU integration process for the region as a whole and for Serbia and Montenegro in particu-lar. The roundtable, which was held in Bucharest, brought together senior political leaders and gov-ernment officials from Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro including Kosovo, and Slovakia, as well as representatives of the Council of Europe, the European Union, and the United Nations. While all participants in the roundtable were in agreement that European integration should be their states' eventual goal, sharp differences in opinion were ex-pressed over the question of Kosovo. Kosovo Albanian leaders continued to insist that independence is the optimal solution both for Kosovo and for the region. Serbs rejected the possibility of an inde-pendent Kosovo and argued that such a step would set a dangerous precedent. Representatives of EU institutions avoided involvement in this debate but stressed that the countries of the Western Balkans still have much work to do, and many outstanding problems to resolve, before EU membership will be a reality for them. The Bucharest roundtable was unusual as a neutral, off-the-record setting for open discussions of often sensitive issues. This report documents those discussions.

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Macedonia: Agenda 2006

Macedonia: Agenda 2006

Author(s): Livia Plaks / Language(s): English

Keywords: Mavrovo process; Ohrid agreement; Macedonia EU candidacy;

The December 2005 Mavrovo roundtable came at a historic moment for Macedonia. Having received a positive evaluation on Macedonia from the European Commission in November, the EU’s Council of Ministers was set to grant the country EU candidate status—a major milestone for a state still dealing with the consequences of a violent ethnic conflict in 2001. However, on December 12, the day before the beginning of the Mavrovo talks, the news from Brussels was that the Council, troubled by such setbacks as the recent French and Dutch popular rejection of a new European constitution and the continuing stalemate in budget negotiations, might vote to delay a decision on Macedonia’s candidacy until the next EU Presidency. This potential uncertainty over the country’s EU prospects sent shockwaves through Macedonia’s political scene. While the potential for a delay in Macedonia’s EU candidacy dominated much of the discussion at Mavrovo, other questions, such as the upcoming 2006 parliamentary elections and the implementation of certain reforms related to the Ohrid Framework Agreement, were also significant topics of discussion. Even these issues were seen by many participants as highly connected to the developments in Brussels, however, and Macedonia’s EU candidacy returned time and again in the discussions as the dominant outside factor shaping the country’s immediate future. This Mavrovo roundtable, the sixth since the series began in 2003, was characterized by a high degree of consensus. No participant disputed that European integration should be one of the state’s top priorities; to the contrary, some opposition leaders claimed that their parties, rather than the current government, should in fact be credited with paving the way to the country’s expected EU candidacy. The question of election irregularities was also an important agenda item on which there was broad agreement, with many participants supporting tougher penalties for violators, as well as reforms to the election law and the makeup of the election commission to improve the quality of the campaigns and the voting process itself.

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Kosovo Roundtables. 2001 - 2005

Kosovo Roundtables. 2001 - 2005

Author(s): Livia Plaks / Language(s): English

Keywords: Kosovo 2001-2005; status of Kosovo; ethnic conflict in Kosovo;

The future of Kosovo has been a matter of grave international concern for more than a decade. The unresolved interethnic dispute between Serbs and Albanians and the struggle between Belgrade and Pristina over whether Kosovo would become independent or remain part of Serbia has been the most intractable problem remaining from the historic breakup of former Yugoslavia, threatening the stability of the entire region. For more than a decade, the Project on Ethnic Relations (PER) has played a key background role in efforts to ease ethnic tensions in the Western Balkans between the Albanian populations of that region and their neighbors. As early as 1992, PER arranged a roundtable in New York City where Serb and Kosovo Albanian intellectuals and social scientists discussed their troubled relations. In 1995, PER was one of three cooperating organizations that convened a roundtable in Belgrade bringing together representatives of the Serbian Socialist party and other ruling and opposition parties with Kosovo Albanian political leaders. (The Albanians broke their long-standing boycott of contacts with official Belgrade in order to participate.) PER then continued to work in the background, conducting numerous off-the-record dialogues and informal negotiations. In 1997 it finally succeeded in arranging a landmark meeting in New York City that brought together senior political leaders from Belgrade and Pristina—their last contacts, as it would turn out, before the war and the NATO intervention of 1999. Following the war in Kosovo, between 2000 and 2005, PER convened five international roundtables on “Albanians and Their Neighbors.” There, decision makers from all the countries of the region as well as from the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, NATO, the Council of Europe, and other key international entities took up critical questions of the day and debated alternatives for the future. PER followed up these large regional gatherings with country roundtables in Macedonia, Montenegro, and Kosovo to address their specific problems. This report concerns the meetings about Kosovo that took place in Pristina from 2001-2005.

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Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic Integration: Advancing Common Interests

Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic Integration: Advancing Common Interests

Author(s): Livia Plaks / Language(s): English

Keywords: Movrovo Process; Ohrid agreement; Macedonia and EU; Macedonia and NATO; Macedonia and Greece;

The seventh Mavrovo roundtable of leaders of Macedonia’s parliamentary parties revealed deep fissures between the leading political parties in the government and those in the opposition, as well as within some of the opposition parties. Tensions between the two major ethnic Albanian parties, and between the leading Albanian opposition party and the government, were evident in a series of events that occurred in the weeks immediately preceding the meeting. They were reflected in the decision by a key Albanian opposition leader not to participate in this Mavrovo meeting. The internal divisions within each of the Albanian parties were evident in the discussions. Reconciliation between the government and the main Albanian opposition party was hampered by disputes between them over issues of local governance, establishment of the parliamentary committee on communities, adoption of the police law, and implementation of the language provisions of the Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA), and by the suggestion that the leading party of government was intent on “splitting” the Albanian opposition rather than working with it. Senior members of the government at Mavrovo made it clear that the government has accepted responsibility for continuing the policies of the previous government with respect to EU accession, and is intent on adhering to EU standards. But, at the same time, the government showed its impatience with the delays inherent in democratic processes, and pressed for changes in parliamentary procedures designed, according to them, to energize the parliamentary process, or as the opposition sees it, to reduce opportunities for debate and disagreement. Participating MPs who are not members of the three major ruling coalition parties all criticized the government’s proposals for limiting parliamentary debate, and called for dialogue between government and opposition to be carried out within state institutions, including the parliament. Representatives of the main opposition parties expressed deep skepticism about the government’s calls for dialogue and professed their unwillingness to enter meaningful dialogue at this stage on any issues other than those required by the EU accession process. Internal differences among opposition leaders, evident in their statements at Mavrovo, complicated the task of shaping any process of consultation or dialogue with a strong potential to achieve consensus.

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New Majorities and Minorities in the Changing Balkans

New Majorities and Minorities in the Changing Balkans

Author(s): Livia Plaks / Language(s): English

Keywords: interethnic relations in the Balkans; interethnic government; multiethnic Kosovo; mother-countries and diasporas;

During the last decade in the Balkans new interethnic dynamics have been created by various regional settlements. Many of these settlements not only changed the dynamics but created new ethnic ma-jorities and minorities. Overnight former ethnic minorities became majorities. This new set of circum-stances requires changes in the way these societies are governed. This is especially true for Kosovo, the status of which the international community is determined to resolve in 2007. These factors and the timing prompted the Project on Ethnic Relations (PER) to organize in cooperation with the Hungari-an Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with the support of the U.S. State Department through a USAID grant, in Budapest on December 2-3, 2006, a regional roundtable of political leaders from Southeastern Europe. This regional roundtable discussion, the eighth such endeavor organized by PER between 2000-2006 was titled New Majorities and Minorities in the Changing Balkans. The meeting brought to-gether political leaders, decision-makers and officials from the region, the U.S. State Department, the European Union, the Council of Europe, and OSCE to discuss the changing dynamics of interethnic rela-tions in the area as the international community prepares to resolve the issue of Kosovo’s status. One of the main purposes of the roundtable was to encourage the region’s policy makers to think construc-tively about the new reality that is being created in the region during the last decade by various Balkan settlements and about changes in policies that this new reality requires.

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Confidence-Building Measures in Kosovo 2006-2007

Confidence-Building Measures in Kosovo 2006-2007

Author(s): Livia Plaks,Alex Grigor'ev / Language(s): English

Keywords: Kosovo status; Kosovo-Serbia conflict; Albanian-Serbian dialogue;

In June 2006, PER held roundtable discussions with senior leaders of the two major political groupings of the Kosovo Serbs: the Serb List for Kosovo and Metohija of the Kosovo Assembly (SLKM), and the Serb National Council (SNV). In consultation with PER’s offices in Belgrade and Pristina, the following questions for the meetings’ agenda were drafted: What are the top issues of concern for the daily existence of the Kosovo Serb community? What are the causes of these problems? What are the Serb community’s expectations for the immediate future (prior to the status resolution)? Are there problems that could and should be resolved while the status talks are going on? How should these problems be resolved? Who should be responsible for resolving such issues? Due to severe political disagreements among Kosovo Serb leaders, PER was forced to hold two separate meetings in Mitrovica: one for the SNV group, and the other for the SLKM group. Both rounds of discussions were chaired by PER Executive Director, Alex Grigor’ev (then the PER Director for the Western Balkans).

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Reviving Interethnic Political Dialogue in South Serbia

Reviving Interethnic Political Dialogue in South Serbia

Author(s): Livia Plaks,Alex Grigor'ev / Language(s): English

Keywords: South Serbia; Presevo; Bujanovac;

It is worth noting that after Kosovo’s proclamation of independence and the protests and violence which resulted in Serbia, South Serbia is the only area which has so far remained quiet and calm. By not organizing protests or celebrations, both local Albanian and Serb leaders exercised the caution needed to keep their communities from imploding or exacerbating the already high tensions of this momentous occasion. In fact, this caution shows that the local leaders have begun to realize the importance of peaceful coexistence, restraint, and a moderate approach to politics. That said, an insufficient political will in Belgrade for resolving many of these outstanding issues continues to frustrate local leaders. As you will read in the following text, promises are often made but follow through is less common. To be fair, results from these commitments are slowly coming to fruition, but their speed and efficacy remains deficient. Frustration is felt not only by the Albanians, Serbs, and Roma in South Serbia but by the international community as well. Since much of the progress in South Serbia has been a direct result of interest and pressure by the international community, this weariness is a troubling development. For the foreseeable future, the dynamics between Belgrade and Pristina will dominate headlines and international policy, which is why it is more important than ever for civil society and non-government agencies to remain engaged on other interethnic and intra-ethnic issues affecting Serbia. As is often the case in the Balkans, interethnic relations are far more complex than they seem, and tensions in one locality often have a way of spilling over into another. Without addressing many of these problems, majority-minority relations will remain faulty, and interethnic tension will persist. By engaging instead of ignoring these issues, PER will continue to work for a better and peaceful future for Southeastern Europe.

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The Balkans as a Source of Security and Stability in Europe

The Balkans as a Source of Security and Stability in Europe

Author(s): Livia Plaks,Alex Grigor'ev / Language(s): English

Keywords: Western Balkans; EU in the Balkans; Balkan Stability; democratic transformation;

The past decade has been a period of momentous change for countries and peoples in the Balkans. Some have newly acquired membership in the European Union, others remain in different stages of the candidacy process, but all are interested in strengthening regional peace and security and creating foundations for self-sustaining democratic societies. The resolution of Kosovo’s status poses a major challenge to the stability of the Balkans. No matter how it is resolved, it will inevitably produce dissatisfied groups. Regional cooperation is crucial in preventing the reoccurrence of violence and strengthening interethnic cooperation. Regional cooperation is also vital to economic development, the key to the region’s ultimate goal of integrating into Euro-Atlantic structures. Major conflicts have ceased in the Balkans, yet they remain embodied in weak institutions, political infighting and parliamentary boycott. The fragility of the present balance is reflected in Serbia’s January 2007 national elections, in which the Serbian Radical Party secured a plurality of the vote; the continuing distrust between Kosovo Albanians and Serbs; interruptions in interethnic dialogue in Macedonia; and persisting ethnic tension in South Serbia. The need for consolidating regional cooperation and the timing of Kosovo’s status prompted the Project on Ethnic Relations (PER), in cooperation with the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, and with the support of the US State Department through a USAID grant, to convene its ninth high-level Balkan regional roundtable in Athens on June 15-16, 2007. This roundtable was also supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The discussion was titled “The Balkans as a Source of Security and Stability in Europe” and was intended to provide policymakers from the Balkans, the US, the European Union, the Council of Europe, and NATO with an opportunity to present and exchange their ideas and points of view concerning the region’s current security situation. Our goal was to provide regional leaders with effective and coordinated strategies to accelerate internal and external integration of the region into European institutions.

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Developing a Comprehensive Minority Policy in Montenegro

Developing a Comprehensive Minority Policy in Montenegro

Author(s): Livia Plaks,Alex Grigor'ev / Language(s): English

Keywords: interethnic relations in Montenegro; Minority legislation; minorities in the constitution; minorities in media;

Montenegro remained deficient in its minority policy legislation. The country’s first Minority Law remained stagnant in draft form despite the comments and encouragement of outside reviewers such as the OSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities and the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe. The problem was a lack of political consensus on several contentious points, and an inability to break the political stalemate and move forward. To address the specific issue of the political stalemate over the Minority Law as well as Montenegro’s general deficiency in minority policy legislation, in July 2005, with funding from the Global Opportunities Fund of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, PER launched a three-year initiative devoted to helping Montenegro develop and strengthen its state policies toward ethnic minorities, and in the process galvanize the authorities to show more political will in helping minorities in the country. Success was achieved early on in the project. In May 2006, Montenegro finally adopted the Minority Law and opened a new chapter in the history of majority-minority relations in Montenegro. But the Montenegrin path to minority accommodation was not without its setbacks. In July 2006, two key provisions of the Minority Law were declared unconstitutional by the Montenegrin Constitutional Court. The rejection of these provisions, which guaranteed seats in parliament and local assemblies for representatives of ethnic minorities, was perceived as a let-down by many minority leaders and continues to be an increasing source of tension between them and the majority. Mutually beneficial majority-minority relations have been the core of Montenegro’s successful model of interethnic accord. Damage to these relations will be the destabilizing factor in this multi-ethnic country.

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The Future of Multi-Ethnicity on Kosovo

The Future of Multi-Ethnicity on Kosovo

Author(s): Livia Plaks / Language(s): English

Keywords: multiethnic Kosovo; Serbs and Albanians; exclaves; North Kosovo;

An earthquake in the Balkans sent shockwaves through the entire world. The earthquake was the violence emanating from the 1999 conflict between Serbia and its southern province of Kosovo. Some say the violence was due to the multiyear discrimination and eventual efforts at ethnic cleansing of the Albanians by the Serbian government of Milosevic. Others have said that the violence started with the appearance and activities of the then shadow Kosovo Liberation Army. In any case, the international community eventually got involved and Serbia and Montenegro (as well as Serbia’s southern province of Kosovo) received more than a month of intensive bombing by NATO forces against military targets (with countless civilian casualties as well). A decade has passed since those events and the reality on the ground looks different. Kosovo has now been recognized by over 50 countries as a new state and is trying to enter the path of belonging to the Euro-Atlantic structures. However, there is still a serious international presence on the ground which is mostly meant to protect and encourage the Serbian community to be part of Kosovo’s life even if not recognizing its current status. Relations between Belgrade and Pristina are at best frozen if not downright hostile. The greatest challenge for all inside Kosovo as well as the international community is how to deal with the relations between Kosovo institutions and the Serbian community.

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Interethnic Dialogue and Reconciliation in Kosovo - Year Two

Interethnic Dialogue and Reconciliation in Kosovo - Year Two

Author(s): Livia Plaks / Language(s): English

Keywords: multi-ethnic Kosovo; interethnic dialogue in Kosovo; interethnic conflict in Kosovo;

The activities carried out by PER in Kosovo between the summer of 2009 and the fall of 2010 were concentrated on helping to resolve specific, practical issues that the Serbian community encounters in everyday life in Kosovo with the purpose of improving the life of this community as well as improving interethnic relations in Kosovo. Issues such as how to deal with budgets and employment and how to bring more investments to a community, united Serbs and Albanians around the table preparing them to cope with the real challenges that need to be overcome. Another topic of importance in our work this past year was the effort to start a dialogue between Albanians and Serbs to help overcome and heal wounds that have been festering for many generations. Although it will take a considerable amount of time before there will be understanding and acceptance between the two communities, PER through its Forum for Dialogue has created one such venue for dialogue. The discussions have been very open and sincere on both sides. The open TV debates that followed some of the discussions with key representatives of the Albanian and Serb communities showed very clearly that interethnic dialogue can take place across the table even on some of the most sensitive topics. We judge that significant progress has been made in Kosovo south of the Ibar River in improving the living conditions of minority communities and advancing their political integration into Kosovo’s mainstream society. The local elections that took place in November 2009 resulted in expanded participation by the Serbs. The start of the process of decentralization which marked a significant change in access to power and influence at the community level, that is reflected in a more relaxed atmosphere in Kosovo and is visible in the interaction of Albanian and Serb politicians at all levels. With a number of municipalities now under the control of pragmatic mayors, mostly from the Serbian community, more decisions are made at the local level and this empowerment of the communities has helped to improve the situation in Kosovo.

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