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Overcoming the legacy of the past

Ethnic and conflicting interpretations of the past continue to burden economic, social and political development in the Western Balkans. While efforts by a wide number of national and international actors to promote reconciliation have resulted in some comfort for victims, divisive narratives continue to hamper the ability of societies to overcome the legacies of their violent past. Authorities in the region have undertaken a host of measures from the transitional justice toolbox. The overall results remain incomplete and obstacles to genuine reconciliations hamper the future. There are unfinished war crime trials, cooperation protocols among the war crimes prosecutors, unutilized, national strategies for war crimes only partially implemented. Political commitments are still to prove their value in the case of solving once and for all the remaining cases of missing persons.

Henceforth the EU has put good neighbourly relations and reconciliation at the heart of its continued engagement in the Western Balkans. With the flagship initiatives launched in its Strategy for the Western Balkans, the EU offered specific tools to support the region to change the way it cooperates and addresses its European perspective. The preparatory ministerial meeting held in Warsaw in April this year built on the discussions undertaken under the Berlin Process format.  It underlined the commitment to reconciliation putting forward proposals for overcoming the legacy of the past by the governments with the involvement of civil society specifically calling on participants to further explore options to foster reconciliation through such initiatives as the Regional Commission for Establishing the Facts about Serious Human Rights Violations Committed on the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia, RECOM

Objectives of the session

  • Deepen the understanding on regional relations including; historical trends, patterns, and reconciliation efforts,
  • Define obstacles to reconciliation (divisive narratives, etc…)
  • Identify good reconciliation practices and programmes,
  • Identify opportunities and emerging challenges,
  • Identify links with youth and educational programmes.

Moderator: Thomas Osorio

Time frame and format: Moderated 60-75 minutes panel discussion with 15-45 minutes Q&A

 

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