The Kosovo-Serbia issue remains one of the major unresolved challenges in our region. As such, this issue is holding back a multitude of regional matters that are essential and beneficial to each of us. From fragile security to unstable peace; from economic stagnation to rapid migration; from the violation of collective and individual freedoms to the degradation of resources, the environment, workers’ rights, and working conditions. Regional cooperation and socio-economic integration offer positive opportunities for addressing all these challenges. The Kosovo-Serbia issue is a key condition for the realization of this cooperation.
A different approach is needed, especially in the relations between Kosovo and Serbia. This was the common message that emerged from the conference “Kosovo-Serbia: A Different Approach,” organized today in Prishtina by the Institute for Social Policy Musine Kokalari from Prishtina and the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory from Belgrade.
This conference was held on the occasion of the publication of a collection of essays by various authors from Kosovo and Serbia. The book discusses and proposes a different, progressive conceptualization and development of dialogue, as well as parallel perspectives on urgent social, economic, ecological, and other issues, which, once addressed, highlight many common concerns for both Albanians and Serbs.
At this conference, attended by representatives from civil society and accredited embassies in Kosovo, the discussions focused especially on coexistence and the construction of the Other, migration and citizenship, as well as the economy and the environment.
The essay book will be published online on the IPS Musine Kokalari website on June 17, 2022. The conference and the essay book were made possible with the support of the Olof Palme International Center and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
Pristina, June 16, 2022