http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42838
INTER PRESS SERVICE
BALKANS: 'Peace Does Not Mean Reconciliation'
By Vesna Peric Zimonjic
BELGRADE, Jun 17 (IPS) - Peace has come to the Balkans after the bloody wars
of disintegration of former Yugoslavia, and the region is economically
booming, but there is little sign of reconciliation between the formerly
warring nations, a conference at the International Press Institute concluded
Tuesday.
The International Press Institute (IPI) is a global organisation dedicated
to the promotion of media freedom. Founded in 1950, it has members in 115
countries. Its 57th congress was held in Belgrade Jun 14-17 on 'Neighbours,
Partners, Rivals: Perceptions of South Eastern Europe (SEE)'.
The 1991-95 wars in the Balkans, the worst conflict in Europe since World
War II, took more than 120,000 lives. The limited conflict in Kosovo in 1998
and 1999 is believed to have taken more than 10,000 lives.
"The Balkans is a booming region, with steady economic progress,
particularly since 2000," economist Vladimir Gligorov said at the
conference. "There is a significant growth in mutual trade, economic
connections being stronger than they used to be. However, there remain
strong pockets of mutual animosity... Newly created nations want to
cooperate with the European Union (EU), but they lack the will to
politically cooperate between themselves."
Such a paradox will remain, and will burden the relationships among Balkans
people -- ethnic Albanians, Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs -- as long as there
is no normalisation between them, Gligorov told IPS.
"The process should go through media as well, as what we have now all around
are simplified stories about each other, with media having the excuse that
they are following the 'interest of their public'; there is no real insight
into the situation in the neighbourhood."
One of the encouraging sings of normalisation, if not reconciliation, is the
increasing internal migration for economic reasons, Gligorov said. "Bosniaks
go to work in Croatia or Montenegro; Serbs go to Montenegro or Bosnia,
Slovenia etc. That is promising; real life is sometimes stronger than cruel
politics."
According to prominent Croatian journalist Drago Hedl, the Balkans needs
catharsis.
"We should re-establish trust between neighbours; it is difficult to build
and easy to lose. Oceans of hate are still left here, and they could become
a foundation for new conflicts, or seeds of evil," Hedl said.
"The role of media is of extreme importance, as journalists helped reveal
the war crimes," Hedl told IPS. "Nations of the region will always be here,
neighbours. It is like we all live in a building which we cannot escape."
But reconciliation and normalisation must begin from all sides, said Senad
Pecanin from Sarajevo weekly Dani. "We have some stones for reconciliation
laid down, such as Serbian President (Boris) Tadic paying his respect to the
victims of Srebrenica," Pecanin told IPS, referring to Tadic's attendance in
2005 of the ceremony to mark 10th anniversary of the massacre of 7,000
Muslim men and boys.
"But few media speak about nationalism among their people, which is the
biggest problem in the region, or the terrible and devastating role of
religious leaders who still represent the main obstacle to reconciliation,"
Pecanin added. "They are still promoting division and nationalism in Bosnia.
We still have separate, apartheid education for three ethnic groups (Serbs,
Croats, Muslims).
Prospects of reconciliation, the panellists said, seem to be smallest
between ethnic Albanians and Serbs, particularly after Kosovo declared
unilateral independence in February. Serbian media, they said, continues to
take the official line.
"The huge differences with Albanians still remain, as they were always
regarded as second rate citizens," said Serb dramatist Biljana Srbljanovic.
"There is no diplomacy towards Kosovo, no efforts on the Serbian side. The
only cooperation we see is the DNA identification," she added, referring to
the process of laboratory identification of remains of ethnic Albanian and
Serb victims of the 1998-99 conflict.
Agron Bajrami, editor-in-chief of Pristina daily Koha Ditore, said the
reconciliation process is far where Kosovo and Serbia are concerned.
"It is not only an issue of perception," Bajrami told IPS. "It is, for
example, how the ordinary Kosovar sees Tadic. He never heard Tadic
addressing ethnic Albanians, only the international community or Serbs. In
this case, how one treats the others shows how one will deal with
cooperation and reconciliation."
But this is not a uniquely Balkans problem. "In the long lasting
Palestinian-Israeli conflict, it is the media that should turn the culture
of war into the culture of peace on both sides," Munther Dajani from the
al-Quds University in Jerusalem told IPS. "There should be responsible
journalists, educators who would put an end to the blame game that never
ends. Through their work they could influence the public, as the peace
process does not start by signing a piece of paper." (END/2008)
Serbian News Network - SNN
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http://www.antic.org/
