(With Consideration of the Reasons that Impede the Flow of the Process of Reconciliation)
„What happened in India, Babylon, Egypt, Greece and Rome may sometime happen in modern Europe. European civilization may perish, over flooded by barbaric tribes. But if any one believes that we are safe from such catastrophes, he is perhaps yielding to an all too optimistic delusion. There are no barbaric tribes in our neighborhood to be sure — but let no one be deceived, their instincts lie latent in the populace of European states” (Gumplowicz L. 1:1899 Outlines of Sociology, p. 196).
Unfortunately, these destructive instincts emerged during the wars in former Yugoslavia during the period of one decade, from 1990 until 2001. As common, many atrocities, violations and hostilities were committed that left wounds still opened. While thinking about the causes of such disastrous phenomena, I would like to claim that I agree with the conclusions given by Marko Kmezic in the book Elements of Successful Diversity Management in Conflict Regions. He states:
“The „identification“ of territory with ethnic belonging is one of the most problematic legacies in the tradition of the classic Central European ideology of the nation state or the “dark side of democracy” as it has been called recently. All „ethnic conflicts“ in the past in the Western Balkans were violent conflicts for political domination of territory by ethnic entrepreneurs and through mobilizing the ethnic feelings of such groups which consider themselves to be nations, not minorities.” (Kmezic M, Stöckl E, Marko J. 1: 2006 Elements of Successful Diversity Management in Conflict Regions p. 6)
However, I have no intention of speaking about the past. My aim is to get out of the veils of past’s obscurity and trauma and to start building basement of future work and cooperation. Unfortunately, I have to confess that the flow of the process of reconciliation is burdened due to the numerous reasons. One of them would present changeable rhetoric of representative politicians. Despite their participation in diverse conferences and the promising statements they make during such conventions, the rhetoric of politicians often changes in their home countries before their domestic audiences and it usually does not contain a very positive opinion of other countries from the region. In addition to that, their effectiveness is quite low. Everything remains on the level of the signatures of high state officials who claim themselves not being responsible for implementing the policies into national political systems.
The second type of reasons that stops smoothness of flow of the reconciliation is influence of media and high amount of war trauma that parents who survived the horror of wars transgenerationally transmitted to their children. The term “chosen trauma” is well explained in the work of Vamik D. Volkan. He states:
“Chosen trauma refers to the shared image of an event that causes a large group (i.e., ethnic group) to feel helpless, victimized and humiliated by another group. Of course, no group intends to be victimized, but it can “choose” to psychologize and to mythologize the event. When this occurs, the group carries the image of the event – along with associated shared feelings of hurt and shame and with the defenses against perceived shared conflicts they initiate – from generation to generation. During this transgenerational transmission, the image of the event emerges as a significant large-group marker; the group draws the shared image of the traumatic event into its very identity.” (Volkan V. 1:2007 Chosen trauma and its transgenerational transmission p. 1)
Unfortunately, it is not assumptionally derived argument, it is a fact that young people from all nations that took part in the wars during the dissolution of Yugoslavia consider themselves as victims. The systems of education jointly with media, both public and private, play a significant role in choosing to represent neighboring countries in a more negative than positive light, created the background for phenomenon of so-called “nations of victims”. Consequently, the more often occurring outbreaks of nationalism, hatred, xenophobia, prejudicial thinking, willing to revenge, discriminatory behavior on the basis of national belonging, hate speeches often heard during sports matches reinforce a sense of fear and mutual mistrust among a large part of the population.
Therefore, I came up to the conclusion that the relationship with the past is still the key topic and a remaining obstacle on the road to good relations. Problems in the region emerged from a common history. It should be highlighted that, as all of the Western Balkans countries were member states of one country, they should share the common facts and the common perception of truth. Here comes the problem: each state has its own perception of what happened during the wars, as well as its own perception of causes and consequences of the wars. Every part has its own ‘truth’ concerning interpretation of the conflict, which makes the establishment of good relations between neighbors difficult. Instead, it provides the source of hatred and conflict. If conflicts were considered from the same perspective at schools, future generations could profit by acknowledging the events of the past and learning to leave them behind. As it is stated in the book The Contributions of Truth to Reconciliation-Lessons from South Africa: “ Truth may not be the only route to reconciliation, but it is an increasingly popular cho,ice of those seeking to move beyond the past to a more peaceful and democratic future” Accordingly, the concept of multiperspectivism in history should be introduced in the system of education so that future generations will be familiar with the same interpretation of facts jointly with the same concept of causes and consequences of the past-related actions.
With wounds being still opened, I have to admit that it is hard to change people’s opinion brought up in a certain way. Consequently, the process of reconciliation should be guided institutionally, through various levels. Politics that is clearly directed towards reconciliation and regional cooperation, rhetoric of the politicians that is not changeable depending on the public they are referring to, media that is free, joint projects and actions of the governments in the areas where cooperation is essential such as combating common threats in connection to organized crime, illegal immigration and human trafficking. Accordingly, connections between states contribute to political stability and economic prosperity of the region. Those are the steps that should be followed in order to reach common goal and create a sustainable platform of support, mutual understanding and help.
Despite the positive things that the regional approach used by the officials and institutions bring, I oppose abandoning the individual approach when it comes to good relations among states that should be also achieved at the level of citizens. Therefore, it is our duty, as young leaders of the region, to influence the process as much as we are able to. In the situation when there are more and more right winged extremists in the Balkans, youth cooperation represents a necessity. We have to have a team, which would address the youth and explain values of EU, democracy and human rights to them. One should never become immune to violence, there is no tolerance towards violence. We have to be connected and protect peace in Europe.
Programs which promote dialogue on wars should be promoted not only on the level of civil society but also within the contexts of government and education. Education, both formal and informal, is key to overcoming these problems. Programs that give the young participants the opportunity to gather together are of great help for us, young people that have the same wish to influence and change society we are part of. In such environment, we feel encouraged, supported and motivated. Value of staying connected is to learn from experiences and figure out the world is bigger than your own country, the problems you face are faced by the others as well.
Therefore, our role, as young leaders, representatives of the region, goodwill ambassadors of peace and open-mindedness is to fight against wrong ideological aspects inherent in traditional thought. With the concept of otherness being still largely present, existing situation in the Western Balkans is founded on paradoxes on every level. For instance: we do speak the same language, but we do not understand each other; we do have different religion, but we have the same customs and mentality; we do share the same history, but we have different perceptions regarding the causes and consequences of the wars in the recent past; we do have the same goal of joining the EU in the future, but we block each other on this way.
Nowadays, one of the most remarkable facts that describes the population of young people is assumption: lack of critical insights. Instead of being pragmatic, young people’s observation is very dogmatic- they do take for granted a lot of information they are being served, Personally, I would like to fight against these phenomena of abandoning everything that we are not familiar with, because social networks and media influence our attitudes and perception of the surrounding world and circumstances. In my opinion, not only conformism is the huge problem, but also passivity of the young cannot be disregarded. Even if they want to be active members of the society, they are concerned as immature or not acknowledged for political functions. However, I am strongly convinced that we can together solve this problem, because there are many intelligent young people willing to begin the process of change.
The various methodology and ways of starting this process can be implemented. For instance, while fighting against ignorance and passivity, I chose the concept of so-called “waking up brightness in youth” and made young people think and discuss about the topics such as “Crime- does it have nationality? So does friendships?” Methodology that was used during lectures is „answering conclusion“ – the best way to come up with resolution of the problems or conclusion is to answer to the questions that lead towards them. Bearing in mind that lectures must be interactive in order to be productive, I motivated young people to think and consider such tough topics. Accordingly, motivating to motivate, spreading knowledge in order to spread, leading by personal example, putting all effort in order to synergize- this represents great platform for prospective reconsideration of past and building up future.
In conclusion, I would like to highlight that, apart from intensifying reforms and putting efforts towards overcoming particular interest, not only the governments of Western Balkans countries, but also citizens themselves should initiate honest and open debate about all issues that burden the region, remove all obstacles in communication and cooperation between companies, institution, remove barriers that prevent free movement of capital and people. Those are the fields that we can individually positively influence by creating formal and informal partnership and networks that will make a strong impact on mutual understanding, initiating constructive dialogue that will lead towards enabling the region to speak with one voice in the context of European integration.
Only through EU membership can the Western Balkans countries be in a position of relevant and credible actors in European politics that will ensure democratic legitimacy, efficiency of institutions and stronger European voice in the world. But before that, unified platform and promotion of youth participation in overcoming the legacy of common past and the challenges of the period of transition are more than obligatorily needed.
Bibliography
Danijela Bozovic, Marko Vujacic, Nikola Zivkovic Future of European Union Enlargement: the Case of Western Balkans (Centre For European Studies: 2010)
Gibson, James G. The Contributions of Truth to Reconciliation-Lessons from South Africa (Centre for Comparative and International Politics in Stellenbosch University, South Africa)
Gumplowicz, Ludwig G. Outlines of Sociology (American Academy of Political and Social Science, Batoche Books: 1999)
Kmezic M, Stöckl E, Marko J. Elements of Successful Diversity Management in Conflict Regions (Eurac Research: 2006)
Vesnic-Alujevic, Lucia European Integrations of Western Balkans From Reconciliation to European Future (Centre For European Studies: 2012)
Volkan, Vamik V. Chosen trauma and its transgenerational transmission (2007)
