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Dear Ms Mogherini,
Civil society organizations from Serbia and Kosovo
are urging you to make an unambiguous statement against the division
of Kosovo or the exchange of territories between Kosovo and Serbia
on an ethnic principle. More frequent mentions of the possibility of
redrawing the borders send a very dangerous message to the citizens
of Serbia and Kosovo, as well as to the entire region, that there is
a real possibility of legitimizing a dangerous propaganda of ethnic
ownership over the territory - a principle that has pushed the
region on several occasions into bloody conflicts.
Such developments would inevitably produce a chain
reaction in other Balkan states and lead to numerous requests for
changes in the borders in the Balkans, which opens the door to new
conflicts. Also, this would send a message to most Serbs in Kosovo
living south of the Ibar that they should move to "their" ethnic
state, which could lead to another exodus of the population in the
Balkans.
Civil society organizations have been trying for
decades to improve contacts and cooperation between the two
communities, primarily looking at the welfare of people living in
Serbia and Kosovo and the future of the entire region. It is
necessary to establish a lasting peace in the region and to accept
interculturality and multi-ethnicity as a prerequisite for
development. The ethnically clean countries, the outdated
19th-century model, must not be the goals of any policy, nor should
they be tolerated and supported by representatives of the
international community.
You, like other representatives of the
international community, have a special responsibility to prevent
this issue from reaching the agenda of the negotiations. All
mediators, in particular the European Union and the United States,
are obliged to abide by the rules established by the Badinter
Commission in 1991. Those rules that recognize the boundaries of the
constituent elements of the former federation and deny the ethnic
principle of division must extend to Kosovo as a special case in the
process of the dissolution of the SFRY.
Civil society organizations invite all actors,
domestic and international, to actively oppose attempts to introduce
the ethnic principle as the supreme in the building of states in the
Balkans. Any state that is based on discrimination and divides
citizens on any ground is pre-sentenced to failure. A society that
develops on values opposed to respect for basic human rights is
condemned to nationalism, isolation, and hopelessness. More and more
young people are already leaving our countries, and the territories
for which national and political elites are battling today will
struggle without the driving democratic forces.
Civil society organizations invite the
international community, but above all the authorities in Serbia and
Kosovo to devote themselves to the creation of the best possible
living conditions for all inhabitants of Kosovo (including the
freedom of movement, business and international cooperation) during
the negotiations, ensuring that the crimes from the past never
happen again (including finding the missing persons as a primary
task for both countries) and creating conditions for the development
of legal and democratic government systems in Kosovo and Serbia.
Only such negotiations are a guarantee for a safe and dignified life
for all people, regardless of national or any other differences.
Centar za praktičnu politiku
Građanske inicijative
Helsinški odbor za ljudska prava
YUCOM
Beogradski centar za ljudska prava
Fond za humanitarno pravo
Inicijativa mladih za ljudska prava
Sandžački odbor za ljudska prava
Kulturni centar Damad
Urban In
Akademska inicijativa Forum 10
Centar za nove medije Liber
Centar modernih veština
Dijalog Valjevo
Generator Vranje
Udruženje žena Peščanik
UG Za zdravu opštinu Stara Pazova
Centar za ljudska prava Niš
Centar za kulturnu dekontaminaciju
Integra Pristina
Syri i Visionit
Youth Initiative for Human Rights -
Kosovo
GAIA Kosovo
NVO Aktiv
Let's Do It Peja
CRDP
STIKK
IKS
Kosovo Association Chopin
Lumbardhi Foundation
Centre for Social Groups Development–
CSGD
CDF
Trentino con il Kossovo
Kosovo Women’s Network
Kosova Democratic Institute
X40-bunarfest
Numismatic association “Demastion”
Disability Development Centre
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