{"id":6870,"date":"2001-01-06T12:07:53","date_gmt":"2001-01-06T11:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.nenasilje.net\/?p=6870"},"modified":"2012-02-06T12:26:20","modified_gmt":"2012-02-06T11:26:20","slug":"exploratory-trip-to-macedonia-november-december-2000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/exploratory-trip-to-macedonia-november-december-2000\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploratory trip to Macedonia  November-December 2000"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Introduction <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Exploratory trip in Macedonia in the period November-December 2000 was<\/p>\n<p>conducted by Ivana Franovic and Nenad Vukosavljevic from the Centre for Nonviolent<\/p>\n<p>Action Sarajevo.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The exploratory trip had the following goals:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; To analyse the political situation in the country<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; To explore the needs of groups active in the area of peace building, conflict<\/p>\n<p>transformation and inter-ethnic relations<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; To proof the possibilities of intensifying training-work in the triangle Serbia-KosovoMacedonia, through the opening of an additional CNA office in Macedonia<\/p>\n<p>The political situation in neighbouring Serbia has drastically changed in-between the<\/p>\n<p>time of planning and implementing the exploratory trip to Macedonia. Newly established<\/p>\n<p>acting space within Serbia\/Yugoslavia enables activities in the area of peace building and<\/p>\n<p>civil society development that have been unthinkable until recently.<\/p>\n<p>Political Situation in Macedonia<\/p>\n<p>Inter-ethnic relationships, Democracy, Human Rights<\/p>\n<p>The political situation in Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia has been the theme of all the<\/p>\n<p>talks, which were held during our visits to various organisations and the contacts with<\/p>\n<p>others. The views on the current political state of affairs and the work direction of the<\/p>\n<p>present Macedonian government are very different, although two major, each other<\/p>\n<p>opposing, points of view can be identified. Simplified, one can claim the existence of a<\/p>\n<p>Macedonian and Albanian perception of causes for the disturbed inter-ethnic<\/p>\n<p>relationships, which is considered an undeniable fact. Both points of view identify the<\/p>\n<p>opposing side as the only one responsible for and guilty of the current situation. Inbetween there are few people which have analysed the situation and found their own<\/p>\n<p>responsibility to act towards understanding and the establishment of communication<\/p>\n<p>between both sides.<\/p>\n<p>Macedonia is a divided country: the West of the country at the border with Kosovo<\/p>\n<p>and Albania is populated by a majority of ethnicAlbanians; in the rest of the country<\/p>\n<p>ethnic Macedonians represent a majority. Besides these two major ethnic groups there are<\/p>\n<p>various other ethnic groups living in Macedonia: Turks, Slavic Muslims, Serbs, Roma,<\/p>\n<p>Gorani, Bulgarians and Vlahs. Generally one can say that these national minorities share 7<\/p>\n<p>the view of\u00a0 the Macedonian \u201eside\u201c. In the Capital City of Skopje, the Albanian minority<\/p>\n<p>is strongly present making up already a quarter of the total population. The regional<\/p>\n<p>centre of Albanians in Macedonia is the town of Tetovo, west of Skopje. Albanians make<\/p>\n<p>up two thirds of Tetovo population. Tetovo University, which offers high education in<\/p>\n<p>Albanian language, has an unclear legal status, not being funded by the government and<\/p>\n<p>its graduate certificates not being recognised. In our exploratory trip, CNA has paid<\/p>\n<p>special attention to areas, which have ethnically mixed population and therefore represent<\/p>\n<p>a focus point of ethnic tensions. Those are the towns of: Skopje, Tetovo, Gostivar and<\/p>\n<p>Debar.<\/p>\n<p>The total number of people of Albanian origin in Macedonia is unknown and<\/p>\n<p>controversial. While official numbers claim 25% of Albanian population, unofficial<\/p>\n<p>estimates are 30-35%. Altogether there are about two million people living in Macedonia.<\/p>\n<p>A census should be undertaken in 2001. The difference between official and unofficial<\/p>\n<p>data may be explained by an extensive problem of statelessness in Macedonia. After<\/p>\n<p>disintegration of former Yugoslavia, of which Macedonia was a member republic,<\/p>\n<p>Macedonian authorities have denied the right to citizenship and Macedonian documents<\/p>\n<p>to many people. Those affected by denial of citizenship are foremost Albanians who lived<\/p>\n<p>in Macedonia, but have not been included in census 1991 or those who have been born in<\/p>\n<p>Kosovo or other parts of former Yugoslavia, no matter of their decades of residency in<\/p>\n<p>Macedonia. About 120 000 people are affected, claim Albanian sources. As a<\/p>\n<p>consequence of this they have: no right to vote, to social insurance, to Macedonian<\/p>\n<p>documents (usually just travel documents for stateless) and therefore no right to<\/p>\n<p>participate in the political life of the society. Their citizenship requests are being rejected<\/p>\n<p>without explanation, with a notice about discretional right of police to lay open their<\/p>\n<p>reasons. In many cases one member of the family has no citizenship, whereas the others<\/p>\n<p>have. Children of stateless persons born in Macedonia also remain stateless. This hard<\/p>\n<p>discrimination act probably has a goal of reducing the political influence of Albanians<\/p>\n<p>living in Macedonia, though creating a fertile ground for political extremism.<\/p>\n<p>Political movement of Albanians in Macedonia is organised in two political parties,<\/p>\n<p>the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA), a member of the governing coalition and the<\/p>\n<p>Party of Democratic Progress (PDP) which used to be a member of former government.<\/p>\n<p>The major goal of both parties is the recognition of constitutional equal rights of<\/p>\n<p>Albanians in Macedonia. The legalisation of Albanian language as official language, the<\/p>\n<p>state financing of Tetovo University and the adjustment of percentage of Albanians in<\/p>\n<p>state service, according to their percentage in total are just single steps towards the goal<\/p>\n<p>of constitutional recognition of Albanians in Macedonia.<\/p>\n<p>The percentage of Albanians is constantly rising due to the high birth rate. This can<\/p>\n<p>be explained with the lack of education and traditionally strong patriarchal family<\/p>\n<p>structures. High birth rate is connected with poverty, low economy growth, high<\/p>\n<p>unemployment and finally the demotivation of parents to finance education of their<\/p>\n<p>children. The educational trend of the 80s has been reversed in the 90s, because people<\/p>\n<p>who received high education remained unemployed and have consequently been<\/p>\n<p>demotivated to invest in the education of their children.<\/p>\n<p>In ethnically mixed areas, as for example in Tetovo, two parallel societies exist beside<\/p>\n<p>each other. Streets are clearly dived in Albanian and Macedonian ones. Particularly in the 8<\/p>\n<p>evening it appears to be a rule not to enter premises which belong to the \u201eothers\u201c. It goes<\/p>\n<p>as far that people reject stepping into a cafe or restaurant of the \u201eothers\u201c. Lectures in<\/p>\n<p>school are divided in Albanian and Macedonian through time shifts, so that neither<\/p>\n<p>teachers nor pupils, who use the same school premises, ever get in contact with each<\/p>\n<p>other, studying in their own mother tongue respectively. Violence escalates regularly, as<\/p>\n<p>recently on 28th November 2000, the Day of Albanian Flag, as Albanian pupils hanged<\/p>\n<p>down the Macedonian flag off the school building and put up an Albanian one. In<\/p>\n<p>respond to that, Macedonian pupils boycotted the lectures and organised demonstrations,<\/p>\n<p>so that dangerous confrontation of pupils was hardly kept under control, divide by police<\/p>\n<p>cordons.<\/p>\n<p>Hatred and mistrust are ruling the country. The situation has similarities with the situation in Kosovo at the beginning of 90s, between Kosovo Serbs and Albanians. It is to<\/p>\n<p>be mentioned that the situation in Kosovo is followed with great interest. While<\/p>\n<p>Albanians in Macedonia feel solidarity with Albanians in Kosovo, many Macedonians<\/p>\n<p>fear that a similar scenario may take place in Macedonia in order to separate West<\/p>\n<p>Macedonia and merge it into Great Albania.<\/p>\n<p>The current governing coalition is made up of extreme nationalist party of VMRODPMNE and their Albanian extreme nationalistic counterpart, DPA. This constellation<\/p>\n<p>reminds us of coalition of Bosniak, Croat and Serb nationalists in Bosnia-Herzegovina,<\/p>\n<p>that governed the country before the war and started the war itself. Many media reports<\/p>\n<p>tell of corruption affairs in the government indicating criminal practice agreements<\/p>\n<p>concerning smuggling of cigarettes, drugs and weapons. Clear proofs have not been<\/p>\n<p>presented as yet.<\/p>\n<p>Only few years ago, at VMRO rallies one could spot slogans as \u201eAlbanians into gas<\/p>\n<p>chamber!\u201c, whilst DPA has been playing with thoughts of Great Albania. Therefore it<\/p>\n<p>seems unbelievable that the coalition of these two parties has been excellently<\/p>\n<p>functioning for two years. Majority of Albanians in Macedonia is mainly satisfied with<\/p>\n<p>the government&#8217;s achievements so far, as some steps towards equalisation of status of<\/p>\n<p>Albanians with Macedonians have been done. On the other hand, the majority of<\/p>\n<p>Macedonians is scared of this development. The slow but sure change of ethnic balance<\/p>\n<p>in Macedonia scares Macedonian population extremely. One can hear statements as:<\/p>\n<p>\u201eThey will take away everything from us.&#8221; \u00abThey will become majority here and make<\/p>\n<p>our country a part of Great Albania\u201c.<\/p>\n<p>Some of our discussion partners have the opinion that democracy development has<\/p>\n<p>been reversed under the new government. Local elections in 2000 have had various<\/p>\n<p>irregularities, pointing out at attempts of election fraud. The great defeat of the governing<\/p>\n<p>party VMRO during the first round of local elections, has been miraculously reversed in<\/p>\n<p>the second round (in Skopje about 100 000 votes for the opposition were \u201enot casted\u201c in<\/p>\n<p>the second round). Independent election monitors reported of various physical attacks,<\/p>\n<p>false identification documents and similar.<\/p>\n<p>In all parts of Macedonia there are claims of ruling party corruption and abuse of<\/p>\n<p>authority in favour of single political parties. This is also reported to be a reversed<\/p>\n<p>political development trend and perceived as a burning issue. Although the previous<\/p>\n<p>government lost the elections because of their numerous corruption affair involvements, it is now being described, in comparison to VMRO, as less corrupt. In the town of<\/p>\n<p>Gostivar, populated with 95% of Albanians, an NGO activist claimed that especially<\/p>\n<p>West Macedonia is, now after the fall of Milosevic regime, the last dictatorship bastion in<\/p>\n<p>the Balkans.<\/p>\n<p>All major parties of the political scene have been or are currently part of the<\/p>\n<p>government, therefore all are connected with corruption. There is no recognisable<\/p>\n<p>alternative to the nationalistic course of both sides. Oppositional parties are also using<\/p>\n<p>nationalistic rhetoric, that appears to be a safe tool in the fight for power.<\/p>\n<p>Some government moves have been faced with approval of the Albanian population,<\/p>\n<p>because they are seen as steps towards recognition of equal rights. This policy is being<\/p>\n<p>insufficiently presented and explained to the public, so the Macedonian part of the<\/p>\n<p>population has small acceptance and understanding of it. Moreover, fear is growing<\/p>\n<p>among Macedonians. Instead of leading a public debate and searching for support of<\/p>\n<p>citizens and their initiatives, small government circles are making and implementing<\/p>\n<p>decisions, hoping that glorifying tones of state TV will convince the public of their<\/p>\n<p>success. The lack of democracy and the culture of dialogue is threatening to turn steps<\/p>\n<p>which could contribute to stabilisation into a major violent setback in the future, possibly<\/p>\n<p>at next general elections.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Existing Initiatives in the areas: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Peace, Conflict Transformation, Inter-ethnic Communication and Regional <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Cooperation <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are only few organisations and initiatives that gather Albanian and Macedonian<\/p>\n<p>activists. Ethnically divided, the NGO scene seems to be focussing on differently defined<\/p>\n<p>goals. Hence, most Macedonian organisations that do some inter-ethnic work, describe<\/p>\n<p>their goals as \u201eeducation for loyal citizens\u201c. Under these terms, assimilation is being<\/p>\n<p>considered and hardly any space left for joint efforts in the creation of common future.<\/p>\n<p>Albanian organisations, on the other hand, are mainly focussing on advocacy for their<\/p>\n<p>own rights, which are indeed in many ways unfulfilled. There are hardly any cases of<\/p>\n<p>solidarity across ethnic borderlines. A feeling of fear and discrimination is shared among<\/p>\n<p>Macedonians in areas where they are a minority. Only few people have the awareness of<\/p>\n<p>sharing the society they live in with others, and being responsible to further the social<\/p>\n<p>transformation process through dialogue.<\/p>\n<p>Obstacles for initiatives that wish to engage in sincere inter-ethnic dialogue, are<\/p>\n<p>certainly present within the surrounding environment, which may extort pressure and<\/p>\n<p>create fear. Besides this, NGOs are usually afraid of local authorities, which may use<\/p>\n<p>tools in their hands to act against those groups, who dare criticise them or pursue<\/p>\n<p>politically opposed goals. Questioned about the legal regulations concerning NGO work,<\/p>\n<p>many of our discussion partners told us that there are no problems. During our visit at the<\/p>\n<p>only organisation in Tetovo, to our knowledge, that employes both nationalities and does<\/p>\n<p>inter-ethnic work with children, we asked our host whether they could somehow<\/p>\n<p>intervene in ongoing troubles between high-school pupils. The person answered that they 10<\/p>\n<p>do not dare do that, because they would immediately feel the power of local authorities<\/p>\n<p>through intense financial control and otherwise. Similar to Bosnian NGO regulations,<\/p>\n<p>Macedonian ones are also stuffed with beaurocratic forms and limitations, that force<\/p>\n<p>NGOs to use \u201ecreative\u201c bookkeeping in order to meet the legal requirements. The<\/p>\n<p>practice is known to the authorities and tolerated up to the point that someone needs to be<\/p>\n<p>threatened.<\/p>\n<p>There are some initiatives that focus on inter-ethnic meetings of youth and children,<\/p>\n<p>designing those meetings with more or less recreative and educational contents. These<\/p>\n<p>meetings are held in Macedonian language, that almost all Albanians speak, as hardly any<\/p>\n<p>Macedonians understand or speak Albanian language. These activities are very valuable,<\/p>\n<p>offering unique opportunities for people of different ethnic origin to get to know each<\/p>\n<p>other and communicate.<\/p>\n<p>In the area of conflict transformation, we met a single group that is the Ethnic<\/p>\n<p>Conflict Resolution Project &#8211; ECRP, from Skopje, which does Trainings in Conflict<\/p>\n<p>Transformation. The group gathers both Macedonians and Albanians, who work as<\/p>\n<p>trainers with ethnically mixed groups of youth from high schools. In this case, the<\/p>\n<p>activities go beyond meetings and educate participants in nonviolent communication,<\/p>\n<p>conflict resolution, dealing with prejudice and difference, etc. Nevertheless, this group<\/p>\n<p>has rather limited capacity with only 4 Trainers. CNA has brought this group in contact<\/p>\n<p>with our participants from the Training for Trainers and besides this agreed on terms of<\/p>\n<p>future cooperation. The cooperation should enclose attendance of ECRP staff and former<\/p>\n<p>participants to our training courses and visits of ECRP trainers as guest trainers at CNA<\/p>\n<p>events.<\/p>\n<p>A particular problem seems to be the orientation of NGOs towards concrete projects.<\/p>\n<p>This means that very few NGOs have a clearly designed mission and strategy. Most of<\/p>\n<p>them create project proposals in the moment when Donors announce advertisments for<\/p>\n<p>implementing partners in a specific area of work.\u00a0 Hence, donors define strategy of civil<\/p>\n<p>society development and work priorities instead of authentic local activistic initiatives.<\/p>\n<p>As a result of such practice, many groups were formed based on financial interest and<\/p>\n<p>without activistic motivation. Occasional practice of NGOs connection with political<\/p>\n<p>parties, whose policies they advocate, draws an even darker picture.<\/p>\n<p>There are basically no local initiatives that concentrate their work on the wider<\/p>\n<p>region, beyond Macedonia. Burning problems within Macedonia probably contribute to<\/p>\n<p>such orientation. Despite that, some of the people we spoke to\/discussed with expressed<\/p>\n<p>interest in joining regional activities and profiting from cross-border experience exchange.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusions <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Capacity building <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Existing capacities in Macedonia appear insufficient. Some of the initiatives founded<\/p>\n<p>within the past 1-2 years offer potential for capacity development. Nevertheless, these<\/p>\n<p>groups need in the first place training and structural support themselves.<\/p>\n<p>The education of multipliers deserves particular attention.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the lack of awareness about the need for regional, cross-border work, we estimate<\/p>\n<p>it important for Macedonian participants to be included in regional activities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Meeting Point Macedonia <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Macedonia can be used as a neutral meeting point for people from Kosovo and<\/p>\n<p>Serbia. Meeting and training work in conflict transformation can concentrate on these<\/p>\n<p>three regions including minorities respectively. The exchange may get additional quality<\/p>\n<p>and easen likely ethnic confrontation between Albanians on one side and Serbs and<\/p>\n<p>Macedonians on the other, through inclusion of participants from Croatia, BosniaHerzegovina and Montenegro. Similar conflict lines, but partly different ways of their<\/p>\n<p>expression and development stages, offer a rich background for necessary constructive<\/p>\n<p>confrontation and conflict transformation.<\/p>\n<p>Contacts with organisation gathering ethnic Albanians from Macedonia offer easier<\/p>\n<p>access to Albanian organisations in Kosovo. These contacts have been made during the<\/p>\n<p>exploratory trip and therefore a precondition for improvement of contacts to Kosovo has<\/p>\n<p>been achieved. Due to many prejudices and recent terrible events in the region, it is<\/p>\n<p>particularly difficult for people of Serb origin to get in contact with Albanians and the<\/p>\n<p>other way around. Grave security circumstances in Kosovo make it very dangerous for<\/p>\n<p>native Serbo-Croat-Bosnian speakers to travel through Kosovo.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Language barrier <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Native Serbo-Croat-Bosnian speakers understand Macedonian language and the other<\/p>\n<p>way around. Workshops that CNA conducted in Skoplje and Tetovo confirm this,<\/p>\n<p>although language difficulties have occurred sometimes. In particular young people of<\/p>\n<p>Albanian origin needed translation occasionally, as they never learned Serbo-CroatBosnian language in school, as it was practice previously.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Training need <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The need for inter-ethnic work in Macedonia is very big. Trainings in nonviolent<\/p>\n<p>conflict transformation with themes: nonviolent and intercultural communication, teamwork, dealing with difference, national identity, prejudice, gender; are perceived by CNA<\/p>\n<p>as needed in order to initiate and enhance the communication process at different levels<\/p>\n<p>of the Macedonian society.<\/p>\n<p>To our knowledge, there is no Training for Trainers in nonviolent conflict<\/p>\n<p>transformation in Macedonia. Some activists have taken part in educational courses<\/p>\n<p>outside the country, primarily in USA and Scandinavia. Criticism about these courses<\/p>\n<p>concerned mainly the non-adjustment of curricula and the non-applicability to the<\/p>\n<p>settings of their local environment.<\/p>\n<p>There are only few brochures in Macedonian and Albanian language, which can be<\/p>\n<p>considered as literature concerning conflict transformation. CNA met a high demand for<\/p>\n<p>our training Manual \u201eNonviolence?\u201c, as there is no comparable literature in either of the<\/p>\n<p>languages.<\/p>\n<p>Strengthening of NGO capacities through NGO management deserves also attention,<\/p>\n<p>since there are some international agencies and groups concentrating on this area. Some<\/p>\n<p>local groups are already offering trainings in NGO Management and work on networking<\/p>\n<p>and information exchange.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Strategy Recommendation <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A group residing in Macedonia has various possibilities of contributing to peace<\/p>\n<p>building. Nevertheless, because of public acceptance there are some possibilities that can<\/p>\n<p>be recommended. It could be an initiative that gathers:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Macedonians and Albanians , with or without additional activists of other ethnic<\/p>\n<p>origin, that have conflict transformation as a focus of their work<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Only Macedonians, working with Macedonians on issues of prejudice reduction,<\/p>\n<p>hence creating preconditions for further inter-ethnic work<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Only Albanians, working with Albanians on issues of prejudice reduction, hence<\/p>\n<p>creating preconditions for further inter-ethnic work<\/p>\n<p>A potential CNA office in Skopje should necessarily gather trainers from Macedonia<\/p>\n<p>from both main ethnic groups, beside two activists from CNA Sarajevo (Serbian and<\/p>\n<p>Serbian-Montenegrin origin) \u2013 who would help build up the office. Due to our knowledge<\/p>\n<p>there are only few Macedonian trainers that could get engaged and no Albanians. A<\/p>\n<p>contribution to trainers education and capacity building can be pursued also from outside<\/p>\n<p>Macedonia.<\/p>\n<p>Goal definition should foremost enclose the education of trainers of Albanian and<\/p>\n<p>Macedonian origin. Lack of capacity appears apparent in Kosovo and Serbia, which are<\/p>\n<p>having similar problems and conflicts. Regional focus of the work demands cross-border<\/p>\n<p>cooperations which could, thanks to CNA Sarajevo&#8217;s experience, be successfully done<\/p>\n<p>when the initiative is carried out by educated activists of various ethnic origin.<\/p>\n<p>Communication barriers and prejudice can be overbridged more easily with such a set up.<\/p>\n<p>The high priority of CNA should be support of local initiatives that wish to work on<\/p>\n<p>improving inter-ethnic relationships in Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia.<\/p>\n<p>Political changes in Serbia have opened totally new space for action. Two activists<\/p>\n<p>from CNA Sarajevo, who should pursue the extension and intensification of work in the<\/p>\n<p>triangle Serbia-Kosovo-Macedonia, could do the following:<\/p>\n<p>To develop regional training work in the triangle Serbia-Kosovo-Macedonia, hence<\/p>\n<p>responding to numerous training requests from Serbia and Macedonia.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 To act as a local initiative within Serbia, contributing to the development of a culture<\/p>\n<p>of dialogue, demilitarisation, communication with neighbouring regions and coinitiate the reconciliation process through dealing with the recent violent past.<\/p>\n<p>Opening an office in Belgrade\/Serbia as an authentic local initiative, gathering<\/p>\n<p>activists from Serbia (current CNA Sarajevo staff), including further activists of nonSerbian origin (useful because of public acceptance), appears as a possible response to<\/p>\n<p>the current situation. Unthinkable, until recently, this possibility has become realistic<\/p>\n<p>through the revolution in Serbia.<\/p>\n<p>The main goal of the Belgrade Centre should be furthering of training work in<\/p>\n<p>nonviolent conflict transformation in the Balkan region. Trainings should, at this stage,<\/p>\n<p>take place in Macedonia or Montenegro, including participants from Serbia, Kosovo,<\/p>\n<p>Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia. Contacts in Macedonia<\/p>\n<p>should be used for improvement of the contact net in Kosovo and reaching out to those<\/p>\n<p>activists there who need such training.<\/p>\n<p>An additional dimension of the Centre in Belgrade should be public acting, practice<\/p>\n<p>and advocacy of the culture of dialogue and the overcome of the culture of violence in<\/p>\n<p>Serbia itself. Future political agreements and solutions to the question of Kosovo&#8217;s status,<\/p>\n<p>clarification of minority status, demilitarisation, will only be possible if there is a broad<\/p>\n<p>acceptance by citizens of them. Such acceptance within the population can be reached<\/p>\n<p>only through multi-level public work and the process of opening up taboo themes in<\/p>\n<p>society. Those are the preconditions for a sustainable Peace and Democracy<\/p>\n<p>development.<\/p>\n<p>CNA Belgrade could give a strong contribution in capacity building, through trainers<\/p>\n<p>education in the area Macedonia-Kosovo-Serbia. Contacts and knowledge of the situation<\/p>\n<p>gathered during the exploratory trip in Macedonia are needed preconditions for an<\/p>\n<p>efficient choice of partner organisations and well targeted development of human<\/p>\n<p>resources there. Gathered knowledge is already been of benefit in the work of the CNA<\/p>\n<p>Sarajevo office.<\/p>\n<p>In order to secure efficient regional work, an exploratory trip within Serbia is to be<\/p>\n<p>recommended. An exploratory trip in Kosovo is recommendable also, as far as the<\/p>\n<p>security situation there allows free movement for Non-Albanians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Exploratory trip in Macedonia in the period November-December 2000 was <\/p>\n<p>conducted by Ivana Franovic and Nenad Vukosavljevic from the Centre for Nonviolent<\/p>\n<p>Action Sarajevo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":215744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,653],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-publications","category-research"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}