European Movement in Serbia

Address: Djure Jaksica 5/I, 11000 Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Telephone: (+381-11)630-281
Fax: (+381-11)630-281
E-mail: emins@Eunet.yu
Internet: www.emins.org
Contact: Jelica Minic

History of the Organisation

European Movement in Serbia was founded by the end of 1992, in the early beginning of war on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. Just before the war started, an attempt was made to establish the European Movement in Yugoslavia, but the initiative came too late. Foundation of European Movement represented the desire and inclination of a number of intellectuals and public figures that had a vision of Serbia and Yugoslavia as modern European states, approving and responsible of regulations and standards of contemporary world.

By that time, other Eastern European countries were experiencing the wave of pro-European policy, which led to opening of all sorts of channels of intensive communication and affiliation to European institutions, especially with, what was then called, European Community.

In the nineties, the establishment of national councils of the European Movement, an international non-governmental organisation who had a leading role in integration of Western European countries, up until the World War 2 - was a reflection of main stream public opinion in the eastern part of the continent. Unfortunately, Serbia was, and still is, an exception - being constantly offered - by its official authorities and propaganda - an archaic project of unopened society, surrounded with many enemies, with no place in Europe.

Since December 1993, European Movement in Serbia is a full member of the International European Movement.

Aims

The aim of the European Movement in Serbia is full membership in European institutions and organisations. Its key mission is influencing the public in Serbia, aiming for it to become engaged in creation of a democratic and pluralistic society and in achieving equality among individuals and their communities, to promote European values and traditions, to plant European events, trends and achievements in Serbia, as a base of participation in the project of European integration.

Activities

Forum for International Relations is operating for a few years now, under the umbrella of European Movement in Serbia. It is addressing the Serbian public on regular bases, with announcements, public discussions and the publication named "Foreign Affairs Reader".

Some of events in close past were discussions like "The Role of International Financial Institutions (IFI) in SE European Economies Reconstruction" in April and "The Young at Elections" in March 2000.

European Economic Forum has launched the "Zrenjanin initiative" - the project targeted to the business people, authentic representatives of private small and medium businesses, especially those who are acting in local communities.

The Group for Women's Rights is being very agile in the area of Human Rights. It has conducted several valuable researches: "Women, Violence and the War", "Violence During Civic Protests in Serbia", "The Position of Female In-mates in Correctional Centres in Serbia", "Violence in the Family" etc. The Group is publishing the "Temida" magazine, which has raised an immense interest of experts and similar international organizations.

Together with Belgrade Open School, the European Movement is organising courses - "European Studies in Serbia", with lecturers being domestic and foreign experts and diplomats. A number of seminars are being organised in cooperation with the European University Institute from Florence. School management, together with European Movement is running this program.

The European Movement in cooperation with the Council of Europe has initiated a program for promotion of regional cooperation. This program is including a great number of respectable individuals from the local communities from all over Serbia and Montenegro who give the full contribution to the articulation of the future "architecture" of the region in the fields of - education, media, business, cross-border projects in infrastructure and the "third", NGO sector.

The Newsletter of the European Movement in Serbia - "Europe Plus" - is being issued monthly, as a supplement for local media, using the Local Press network of independent newspapers. Young journalists and experts are preparing information on European integration, on activities of the European Movement, on European tradition in Serbia, on market economy, modern diplomacy, third sector and contemporary culture.

The European Movement is organizing the Music Fall Festival, concerts of chamber music, under the guidance of Ana Kotevska, one of the leading musicologists in Serbia.

Apart from all this, the European Movement is helping and nourishing the growth and development of NGOs, both in Belgrade and in the local communities. It is under the roof of European Movement in Serbia that Group 17, Association of Victimologists, Association for Quality of Life, Association of Women in Business was conceived, and these tendencies will be continued in the future.

Projects

Some of projects realized under European Movement are:

• Policy Forum of the European Movement in Serbia - Considering there are strong initiatives, primarily in Europe for the inclusion of the whole region of Southeastern Europe in the integration processes, Serbia and Yugoslavia, that is actors of civil society in it, should be prepared for such a perspective and develop cooperation with local partners in the country and abroad. Policy Forum of the European Movement in Serbia is a project whose goal is networking of local governments, non-governmental organizations, relevant international institutions, political parties, entrepreneurs and individuals in FRY and Southeastern Europe. The aim is to enable the creation of informal, cross-sectional networks on sustainable basis, which will provide information to interested partners (i.e. participants in the workshops), as well as to all reforms-oriented forces gathered around the European Movement in Serbia.
• Southeastern Europe 2000 - A View from Serbia - is a project aimed to answer the questions raised the events before and through NATO intervention in Yugoslavia. That questions are on consequences of those events: how will they influence the future of the whole region, whether and to what extent the current destruction and suffering would be a brake or a spur for the intrinsic turnover in political, economic and security structures and relations. More questions answered within the project are related with very important topics like: importance of the infrastructure reconstruction of the region, the cross-border cooperation among regions and local communities and the role of non-governmental sector and its cooperation within the region. Results of project are printed in study "Southeastern Europe 2000 - A View from Serbia".

Publishing Activity

Regular publications of European Movement in Serbia are:

• "Europe Plus" - the Newsletter of European Movement in Serbia
• "Foreign Affairs Reader" - the Newsletter of Forum for International Relations under EMINS
• "Temida" - Journal on Victimization, Human Rights and Gender

Apart of this, European Movement in Serbia published different books and studies like:

• "Southeastern Europe - A View from Serbia", Belgrade 1999
• "EU enlargement - Yugoslavia and the Balkans", European Movement in Serbia, Institute of Economic Sciences, Ekonomska Politika, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Belgrade 1998