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 About |
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Title: IKV Our Future Project
Location:
Categories: Peace & Conflict
Culture
Status:
Completed
Timeline:
Ongoing
Description:
The Our future Network is a network with youngsters from Kosovo, Serbia and the Netherlands. By organising all kinds of activities, like study visits, lectures and T4T-sessions, we try to learn from each other, about our cultures, the European Union and youth activism for example.
Objectives:
Why did we choose to work together and why on European integration?
At the moment there is, unfortunately, almost no contact between Serbian and Kosovar citizens. Distrust and hatred hinders contact between citizens from both societies and it is extremely difficult to open up contact. With this project we did not want to force a discussion about the future of Serbia and Kosovo. Whether Kosovo will become independent or not, in either case the Serb and Kosovar societies will remain neighbours. It is of utmost importance that for those citizens willing to meet each other, communication channels are developed. Through this project we sincerely hope that such a channel has been established.
'We should co-operate to build a new future. For that, we should use the knowledge and experience of the European organizations that are active in Kosovo.' (Flutra Osmani - Kosovo)
We did not want to organize seminars with artificial discussions; neither did we want to force people to speak about the hardest political questions, since there is not yet a base for such kind of communication. Instead we have been looking for common interests. It is a general opinion both in Kosovo and Serbia, as well as in the rest of the South East European region, that integration into European structures is a final goal and aim. Although views on forms and ways of this process might differ very much, willingness for European integration is shared. Integration into European structures as such might serve as common ground for overcoming gaps and distrust among two distanced and even opposed communities. Whether the citizens of Serbia and Kosovo agree or not, the road towards Europe of both societies is very much interlinked.
'On television we only saw propaganda… Thanks to Flutra and the other Albanians now I know what really happened in Kosovo; that also the Serbs committed war crimes.' (Goran Tomka - Serbia)
Integration into European structures still seems like a far-away dream and many demands need to be complied to before it will be a success. The status of Kosovo is of course the hardest topic, but there are numerous other issues (cooperation with the Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, reforming the economy etcetera). By this project we want to give young people of Serbia and Kosovo an opportunity to learn more about this and to develop their own ideas on overcoming obstacles towards European integration. And moreover, by this project we want to give participants from both societies a chance to meet and to speak about their ideas on European integration. The Dutch participants live in a country that has been member of the EU since the beginning. They can share their experiences with the Serb and Kosovar youngsters and raise ideas in the discussions. Next to that the youngsters from Holland get informed about the situation in Kosovo and Serbia by talking to the participants from the region.
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