EUROPEANIZATION: ATTAINMENTS AND LIMITATIONS

The sixth public debate within the project "Helsinki Charter: Promoting Serbia's Europeanization" realized with the assistance of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights

Novi Pazar, December 17, 2010

The panel mostly assembling a number of human rights activists and students of the "Gasi Isa Beg" Madressa addressed not only the topics dissected in the Helsinki Charter, the bimonthly magazine of the Helsinki Committee, but also the serious problems plaguing the region of Sandzak for a rather long period of time.

The magazine's editor-in-chief, Seska Stanojlovic, presented the Helsinki Charter, its editorial policy and orientation. Referring to the region's Europeanization and normalization she stressed the need for precise identification of its democratic potentials and problems at the same time. Economic indicators, said Stanojlovic, speak about a devastated economy, minimal investment and extremely high unemployment rate (22,000 citizens of the town with the population of 125,000 are unemployed). The conflict between two biggest Bosniak parties, led by Rasim Ljajic and Sulejman Uglanjin, also divided citizens "along partisan lines," all of which further aggravated the situation marked by the escalation of conflict between two currents within the Islamic Community. Instead of alternative solutions citizens are given "cheap political rhetoric," whereas their expectations from European integrations are overshadowed by the growing tension arising from the elections for the Bosniak National Council. This latest conflict and tensions only mirror the state's policy for Sandzak, said Stanojlovic.

Ivan Kuzminovic of the Helsinki Committee focused his key note address on the elections for the Bosniak National Council. He emphasized not only the Serbian government's limited capability for channeling the country's speedier movement towards European integration but also strongly criticized the actions by the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights.

Marija Radoman, also of the Helsinki Committee, raised the questions and then moderated the ensuing discussion with representatives of the Merhamet Humanitarian Organization. Speaking about the problems they were facing, the later said the biggest of all was non-existent safe house for women victims of violence. A safe house would make all the difference to the organization concerned with prevention of family violence and education against drug addiction, they said. Activists of the Damad Cultural Center, non-governmental organization also focused on the protection of women's rights, said they were challenged with the same problem - there is no institution of the type in the entire region of Sandzak despite the fact that family violence has been spiraling in the past years. Family violence is only one of the indicators of the bad situation of the region: what generates it is not only "the environment" that is the most underdeveloped in Serbia but also "promotion of traditional values in the treatment of women." Inefficient courts of law, non-implementation of the existing legislation, non-existence of legal aid for the most pressing cases at least, as well as overall poverty additionally hamper resolution of other crucial issues.