UNMIK on AIR

January 6^th 2004

Apologies

(Andrea Saula)

Living in a peaceful environment one can hardly begin to imagine what it is like to live in a war; and once wars begin one cannot stop to even think that eventually the war will some day come to an end; but once the war is over who could imagine that yesterday’s enemy will be someone with whom one is going to exchange words with.

It is not that easy to change so many perspectives in such a short span of time; but life goes on and the needs for a serious social rehab, as well as maintaining peace requires some sort of reconciliation process from two sides.

Hello and welcome. This is UNMIK on Air program,

The process of reconciliation is a very complex one. In the past many parts of the world witnessed the implementation of different reconciliation processes.

All of these processes need to look at the facts from the past and face them publicly in the present. The Governments, the Judiciaries, the media outlets and entire societies find themselves bluntly facing the past, while these processes take place.

In the Balkans, with a lot of obstacles and set backs, that process has began. Many see the recent apology process between Serbia and Monte Negro and Croatia, and the apology given to Bosnia by the president of S&M as a remarkable step forward in the process of reconciliation.

After these apologetic circumstances, UNMIKs chief, Harri Holkeri suggested that a similar movement of mutual recognition in Kosovo, of recognition of past deep grievances would do much in improving the public perceptions in Kosovo and Serbia.

The first reactions to this on both sides, both official and un-official, were not very positive. Although the majority of the population is aware of the importance of such step, questions like “should it be mutual or not, is this the right time or not” are surfacing. Others like Ylber Hysa, think this should have happened earlier

Ylber Hysa: I think that something like this was supposed to happen much earlier. The apology is not just a gesture that shows regret. It is also a good sign for better future. In that sense it is always better to do something sooner then later.

And others, like Nenad Sebek from the “Center for democracy and reconciliation” based in Thessalonica, argues that it’s still too early. Even though the center for democracy and reconciliation had an important role in creating the idea of apologies, Nenad is not very optimistic when it comes to the idea of any apologies happening in the near future.

Nenad Sebek: I think that the wounds are still very, very fresh. The war between Croats and Serbs, after all, ended almost nine years ago. The war in Kosovo ended only in 1999 and then the aftermath of that war, the fighting on a lower scale, the terrorist incidents, etc; continue till this very day. So in general I don’t see any politician anywhere in S&M, whether it be Mr. Marovic or anybody else who could make a similar gesture towards Kosovo Albanians and even if such a gesture were made I don’t see anyone from the Kosovo Albanian leaders at this stage who would bee able to reciprocate in a similar manner.

On the other hand Ylber Hysa is asking why there is no willingness from Serbia in apologizing to Kosovo as they did with Bosnia. Ylber also believes these kinds of actions should come from the bottom and not from the top.

Ylber Hysa: Maybe the question of apologizing is a question of time but on the other hand there is the question whether the willingness for apologizing is coming from the political representatives or from the people. For example take a look on the negative perception in Serbia on documentaries about Srebrenica. Such acts, like apologizing, would have greater impact in the society if it were set in motion from the bottom not from the top.

Sonja Biserko a human rights activist from Belgrade is also concerned on the impact on the society. She shares the concern that still a very negative perception exists among people and adds that, indeed an apologetic gesture could help improve the relation between Albanians and Serbs.

Sonja Biserko: that would be But I have to say that the attitude towards Albanians is still very negative, still the Albanian population is considered to be terrorist, still Serbia is leading an extremist policy towards Kosovo and manipulating K-Serbs. Everything is done in order to abuse them for some political achievements that can’t be reached. It is a fact that Serbia was defeated in this war. Only by admitting the failure, maybe some other Serbia that was not pro-war, a Serbia that didn’t take participation in that war, will become the reality.

Some would argue that words are only words that follow the wind; and maybe saying “I’m sorry” is just a symbol but as Nenad Sebek says even wars in the former Yugoslavia have been based on symbolism.

Nenad Sebek: The wars in the former Yugoslavia were immediately accompanied by a lot of symbolisms, if you remember the Cetnik’s, the ustasa’s symbolisms and all that which sort appeared after 40 years of being dead and burred. In a similar way, we believe that a symbolic gesture, the likes of an apology of this kind, would help bring about general reconciliation.

And with this thought we bring you to the end of this edition of UNMIK on Air. Thanks for listening and stay tuned for more