Students envision European future for Serbia at OSCE-led debates

"Our future is in the European Union - not because of higher living standards, but because of rules, norms and values that are essential to prosperity."

These words - written by Dejan Vujanic from the town of Indjija - echo a distinctly European vision of Serbia's future, as seen by students and youth leaders who participated in a series of public debates co-organized by the OSCE Mission to Serbia about the country's past and future.

The series of discussion panels, under the title Facing the Future, were organized by the OSCE Mission together with the European Movement of Serbia and the Serbian Students' Union, and took place from November 2005 to April 2006.

They gave students and prominent youth leaders in six Serbian university towns (Belgrade, Novi Pazar, Nis, Novi Sad, Kragujevac and Subotica) the opportunity to exchange views on Serbia's recent past, and to envision paths towards the future.

In preparation for these public debates, an essay competition was also organized, where the students were challenged to write on the themes of "Guilt, truth, and change in Serbia" and "Inter-faith dialogue as a means of reconciliation".

Aim of the project

"This project was designed to encourage public debate at Serbian universities on issues that continue to hamper Serbia's progress towards a European future," says Zorica Mrsevic, the Mission's National Democratization Officer.

"The thoughts and hopes expressed by the students reflect values and norms that are strikingly European. These debates show that education, inter-religious dialogue, and facing up to political and social responsibility are among the issues that must be addressed as part of the transformation of Serbian society."

The students, however, went beyond mere acknowledgement of legal, political and moral responsibility as a precondition for Serbia's integration into a union of democratic European countries, proposing a number of practical steps that need to be taken.

The role of education

On the issues of truth, reconciliation and tolerance, they underlined the central role that should be played by education as a precondition for social transformation, and the only means of instilling democratic values into a society that is still struggling to redefine itself.

Along with education, the students also emphasised the importance of independent research as the only viable alternative to "blind patriotism and trust" in pre-fabricated representations of a national identity that remains in conflict with the democratic values of 21st-century Europe.

Reinventing tolerance

The students also examined the role of religion in Serbian society, and how to reinvent tolerance so as to embrace both civic values and religious sentiments. They identified inter-religious dialogue as a means to this end, noting that intolerance is to a large extent the consequence of poor education and stressing the need for a more objective approach in religious education in the state education system.

The political and social responsibility of religious communities and their leaders was a central problem repeatedly addressed by the students. As one 19-year old from Zrenjanin noted: "Clerics ... are able to develop and influence social consciousness on the meaning of religious and cultural pluralism. They have an obligation to embrace the responsibilities they face at the present moment."

Prize-winning essay

The first prize winner in the essay competition was a senior at Belgrade University, Srdjan Milosevic from the village of Biljman near the Serbian town of Cacak, who received two Inter Rail tickets for Europe. Ten other authors were awarded book vouchers for their efforts.

In his prize-winning essay, Milosevic wrote: "The moral and material costs of the past decade will have to be paid by the generation to which I belong. This obligation, however, also confers a right, namely the right to ask questions and demand responsibility.

"The need to describe the present situation and to point out those responsible for the moral and material bankruptcy of Serbia is the precondition for maintaining our individual dignity. The task of social change necessarily starts by investigating causes and facing our reality. This is the first step, one that Serbia has not yet taken."