Respecting human rights, and strengthening interethnic cooperation are just two of the issues that have been the focus of the 12-year commitment of the organization “Active”. With the opening of offices in Prishtina and Belgrade, the organization is not only focused on the northern part of Mitrovica and around the Serb community, but is also involved in regional projects and cooperation.
Miodrag Milic, executive director of this organization, said that “Aktiv” has expanded, and that the purpose of this organization is to deepen interethnic cooperation with the Albanian majority community, including other minority communities living in Kosovo.
“‘Aktiv’ has in fact expanded and has expanded its range of work in Prishtina, where we have recently opened a small sub-office. During this year we have opened a small sub-office in Belgrade. And what is just as important, is the fact that we actually try to reach the highest institutions, at the central level, both in Prishtina and in Belgrade, but without forgetting why we actually started our work. First of all, this is in the interest of the Serb community in Kosovo, and I would say that this is an additional effort that we are making and not only us, but we are now speaking from the point of view of our organization, which is in fact the deepening of interethnic cooperation with the Albanian majority community, including, of course, other minority communities living in Kosovo today”, said Miodrag Milic for KosovaPress.
Milic says there is a need to work hard to break the stereotypes that exist between communities in Kosovo. He mentions the lack of continuity of cooperation with institutions in Prisntina and Belgrade.
“First of all, there was a great need to intervene at that level when it comes to communities, and from this point of view, I must admit that it is not easy to break these stereotypes and just start a wider kind of cooperation with the majority Albanian community. Of course, it is a challenge not only for the Kosovar society, but for all multiethnic societies, but what worries us is the lack of continuous and consistent cooperation with the central institutions in Prishtina, but I must accept it, also in Belgrade”, said Milic.
Milic links the lack of this cooperation to the fact of frequent change of governments in Kosovo after independence.
“It is not just a question of the language rights of a community, but it is basically a much deeper problem, which has an impact on all segments of the Serb community within Kosovo. On the other hand, it is important to mention the same political instability that is in Kosovo for about ten years, and here it is absolutely impossible to achieve such a consistent cooperation with institutions at the central level, precisely because of this rapid rotation, caused by political instability, with key factors at the central level. The end of all this is the constant establishment of new contacts and endless clarifications for some key policy makers at the central level where intervention is necessary, although it is important for what it produces in the long run in the form of positive effects for Kosovo society”, emphasizes Miliq.
According to him, two irresponsible statements from Kosovo and Serbia destroy all the work overnight.
“Another equally important element is the sharpened rhetoric of the so-called inciting rhetoric that comes from the political environment in both Kosovo and Serbia, and on the other hand whatever they do and whatever result they achieve on the ground, somehow two irresponsible statements can destroy the whole thing overnight, or in some way to remain somewhere in the background compared to those statements. Why I am mentioning this? This is a very important segment of our lives in general, regardless of ethnicity and religion, this is the motivating rhetoric which strongly influences the deep division within Kosovar society along ethnic lines. This is something that needs to be overcome in what we as an organization for many years are trying to show at the core of the problem, which in practice leads to a deep division of strong stereotypes that both communities have with each other”, said Milic, referring to the previous answer.
The NGO “Aktiv” is currently working on a project related to the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, namely projects related to reconciling communities with full respect for human rights, which are their absolute priority.
With the opening of the mentioned offices, the goal of “Aktiva” is first of all the consolidation within the organizations and reaching the highest levels of government and policy makers with only one goal, that issues which are of particular importance to the Serb community and other non-majority communities, to be channeled through official communication channels, channels of central and local institutions in both Prishtina and Belgrade, where the international community is a necessary factor.