Is genuine truth seeking still possible in post-Yugoslav states?
How to move from piecemeal to coherent and constructive peacebuilding.
|2018.09.28
|
Interviews with high school students from severely war-affected regions show, for instance, a higher propensity of sympathy toward all victims than regions more spared by the war, regardless of their ethnicity.
Each time, these showed how crucial transparency, local ownership and public support are for such processes to go beyond mere establishment.
Addressing root causes of conflict, such as antagonistic and revisionist narratives about the past, is the only way out of the current frozen status quo in the Western Balkans.
One should seek to build on existing initiatives and their different forms and methodologies.
Lorraine Degruson
Lorraine Degruson was born and grew up in France. Lorraine completed a Master’s in international peace and security at King’s College London, and in French law at La Sorbonne, during which she focused her academic research on transitional justice. She has previously worked at the Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo — where she is still engaged in ad hoc work — and is currently leading coordinator of the international youth-led NGO United Network of Young Peacebuilders.
DISCLAIMERThe views of the writer do not necessarily reflect the views of Kosovo 2.0.
This story was originally written in English.