On 2 November 2022, the Parliament of North Macedonia in Skopje adopted through an urgent procedure the amendments to the Law on Associations and Foundations (LAF) proposed by the opposition. This kind of synergy between the ruling party and the opposition is rarely seen. This would have been a shining example of putting the public interest on top of the […]

“Unfortunately, Mitrovica is still a city divided, in the human aspect,” is one of the most widely heard phrases since after the war. Not only Mitrovica, but wherever Albanians and Serbs live, the place is divided. However, not too far from the capital city, in the centre of Graçanicë/Gračanica, a Serb majority locality, there is a spot that brings both […]

“Classical music eases tensions and political disagreements,” says Sihana Badiviku, a violinist. Her professional and personal life runs between Kosovo and North Macedonia. With her concerts, she breaks the Balkan borders by performing all around Europe. Since 1999, as the Founder and Artistic Director of “Kosova Kamerfest” her work has brought artists from post-conflict countries to perform together. “The festival […]

Already some time ago, I had the oppotrunity to stay in Sarajevo for a week as a part of the Western Balkans Youth Team and participate in Sarajevo Film Festival’s „Dealing with the Past“ programme. When I saw the opportunity to apply I was instantly drawn in – building intercultural dialogue face to face with people from various backgrounds is […]

Vjeran Pavlaković is a sociologist who edited the first book about culture of remembrance in the region. Born in Zagreb, he moved to USA when he was four years old. In the period from 1992 to 1996 he studied at the University of Arizona, where he graduated with a degree in history. In 1997 he moved to Seattle for his […]

The former German Minister of Agriculture, Christian Schmidt, has held the position of the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina since August 2021. In this capacity, he supervises the compliance with the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the war in 1995. We asked him about his opinion on the current situation in the country. Mr Schmidt, what is the current […]

The interview was conducted by Hannah Sanders, forumZFD How does war, peace and reconstruction look like through the eyes of women? This question is at the heart of the exhibition “Peace with Women’s Face”, which is now shown in Germany for the first time. The exhibition portrays 20 women from all parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share their personal […]

The post-war generation writing… I set foot in a mystery, in an unfamiliar place, without any information. My expectations were a little different, but I’m glad they weren’t met. We don’t always get what we crave. I didn’t, nor did the people whose names are written [in stone] all over this area. Coming here, I was only aware of the […]

Hate speech has been known to stigmatize, marginalize, enable discrimination as well as incite hate crimes and large-scale violence. Genocide and Holocaust denial is often tied to hate speech, specifically when the aim is to target individuals or groups based on specific identity factors. The most serious cases of genocide and Holocaust denial can constitute incitement to discrimination, hostility, or […]

Will you host us? Traiskirchen ⇾ Eggendorf ⇾ Rohrbach bei Mattersburg ⇾ Oberpullendorf ⇾ Rechnitz ⇾ Kohfidisch ⇾ Neustift bei Güssing ⇾ Felsőszölnök ⇾ Krašči ⇾ Spodnji Ivanjci ⇾ Ptuj ⇾ Gornji Macelj ⇾ Krapinske Toplice ⇾ Draše ⇾ Zaprešić ⇾ ZAGREB ⇾ Rugvica ⇾ Ivanić- Grad ⇾ Popovača ⇾ Kutina ⇾ Novska ⇾ Gornji Bogićevci ⇾ Nova Gradiška ⇾ […]

BY DAMIR ŠAGOLJ Had Ron Haviv, by some strange miracle, with the same hat and shawl, and with his camera, been in Eastern Bosnia in 1941-43, the pages of history books would not have been so bloody empty. And what happens when pages of history books remain empty? You can find the answers in mass graves which were relentlessly filled […]