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NSI in Media

Fields of work

Normalization of relations/dialogue

NSI contributes to normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina

Beograd – Pristina; Photo: EPA / Valdrin Xhemaj

NSI facilitates open exchange on the Brussels dialogue and normalization process among opinion-makers from civil society from Kosovo and Serbia. Moreover, NSI provides evidence-based independent analyses and recommendations for decision-makers involved in the process.

Key Assumptions:

–   There is a need for fostering a regular in-depth dialogue between civil society actors engaged in the normalization of relations from both sides, so to be able to propose improvements to the Track I dialogue among the officials based on an in-depth understanding of internal political dynamics and sentiments on both sides and NSI is well-positioned to facilitate such dialogue.

–    NSI will represent and include diverse representatives of the Kosovo Serbs community in the dialogue between civil society actors from different sides, which will add important voices and perspectives to the process.

–   NSI is capable of delivering high quality analysis using the evidence collected through qualitative and quantitative research, and producing recommendations for which NSI is able to advocate with decision makers.

To see the projects we are implementing or have implemented in the area of Normalization of relations/Dialogue, see our Reference List.

Normalization of relations/dialogue

NSI contributes to normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina

Beograd – Pristina; Photo: EPA / Valdrin Xhemaj

NSI facilitates open exchange on the Brussels dialogue and normalization process among opinion-makers from civil society from Kosovo and Serbia. Moreover, NSI provides evidence-based independent analyses and recommendations for decision-makers involved in the process.

Key Assumptions:

–   There is a need for fostering a regular in-depth dialogue between civil society actors engaged in the normalization of relations from both sides, so to be able to propose improvements to the Track I dialogue among the officials based on an in-depth understanding of internal political dynamics and sentiments on both sides and NSI is well-positioned to facilitate such dialogue.

–    NSI will represent and include diverse representatives of the Kosovo Serbs community in the dialogue between civil society actors from different sides, which will add important voices and perspectives to the process.

–   NSI is capable of delivering high quality analysis using the evidence collected through qualitative and quantitative research, and producing recommendations for which NSI is able to advocate with decision makers.

To see the projects we are implementing or have implemented in the area of Normalization of relations/Dialogue, see our Reference List.

Trustbuilding and Dealing with the Past

New Social Initiative supports different approaches to Trustbuilding and Dealing with the Past initiatives among communities

NSI intents to achieve several outcomes in order to meet this goal:

– NSI will be the channel of positive stories on inter-ethnic relations and reaching wider public by offering the innovative communication tools for visual and public affairs influencers (YouTubers, Instagramers, TikTokers, Journalists, Professionals and CSOs);

– NSI will be the convener and facilitator for structured exchange of attitudes and opinions, thus supporting trust building and collaboration among CSOs speaking on behalf of different ethnic groups in Kosovo;

– NSI will harvest and spread counter-narratives and positive stories, thus creating space for exchange and dialogue by partnering with media and digital outlets across Kosovo.

Key Assumptions:

–   New innovative solutions for trust building will resonate better with citizens, especially youth, and the positive frame of the inter-ethnic relations could disrupt diminish the strength and malign influence of the negative narratives they were socialized in;

Photo: Emerging Europej

–  “Pockets of Freedom” or forums, which remove the publicity constraints, will strengthen the bonds between CSOs from different communities, thus increasing the trust between them and allowing them to establish stronger coalitions on crucial societal topics, especially those related to the inclusion of the non-majority communities;

–  Engaging different audiences with opposite narratives on the same topic will soften the rooted stereotypes about the “other” communities and address the grievances from the past, and will fertilize the ground for trust building.

To see the projects we are implementing or have implemented in the area of DwP/trust-building, see our Reference List.

Trustbuilding and Dealing with the Past

New Social Initiative supports different approaches to Trustbuilding and Dealing with the Past initiatives among communities

Photo: Emerging Europej

NSI intents to achieve several outcomes in order to meet this goal:

– NSI will be the channel of positive stories on inter-ethnic relations and reaching wider public by offering the innovative communication tools for visual and public affairs influencers (YouTubers, Instagramers, TikTokers, Journalists, Professionals and CSOs);

– NSI will be the convener and facilitator for structured exchange of attitudes and opinions, thus supporting trust building and collaboration among CSOs speaking on behalf of different ethnic groups in Kosovo;

– NSI will harvest and spread counter-narratives and positive stories, thus creating space for exchange and dialogue by partnering with media and digital outlets across Kosovo.

Key Assumptions:

–   New innovative solutions for trust building will resonate better with citizens, especially youth, and the positive frame of the inter-ethnic relations could disrupt diminish the strength and malign influence of the negative narratives they were socialized in;

–  “Pockets of Freedom” or forums, which remove the publicity constraints, will strengthen the bonds between CSOs from different communities, thus increasing the trust between them and allowing them to establish stronger coalitions on crucial societal topics, especially those related to the inclusion of the non-majority communities;

–  Engaging different audiences with opposite narratives on the same topic will soften the rooted stereotypes about the “other” communities and address the grievances from the past, and will fertilize the ground for trust building.

To see the projects we are implementing or have implemented in the area of DwP/trust-building, see our Reference List.

Citizen participation

NSI is working on increasing non-majority participation in decision making processes for the purpose of getting better services and making institutions more accountable

Source: NSI photo archive

NSI works to achieve this goal on both supply and demand side of the citizen participation: 1) on the demand side, the outcomes of our engagement are the benefits that citizens have by utilizing the mechanisms of citizens’ participation, and 2) the creation of low profile community spaces which will support resonant voices; 3) on the supply side, the outcomes of our activities will be established and improved participation mechanisms in the institutions (in mostly Kosovo Serb majority municipalities).

Key Assumptions:

–    The increased demand for the better services will boost the efficiency of the institutions and increase their accountability;

–    Resonant voices are reluctant to speak out because of the non-pluralistic nature of the political arena of the Kosovo Serb community, but their participation in closed group discussions will encourage them to speak up in the future and preserve social capital required for any collective action;

–   Kosovo Serb majority municipalities will be open for cooperation on non-controversial issues, and will accept the citizen participation mechanisms.

To see the projects we are implementing or have implemented in the area of Citizen Participation, see our Reference List.

Citizen participation

NSI is working on increasing non-majority participation in decision making processes for the purpose of getting better services and making institutions more accountable

Source: NSI photo archive

NSI works to achieve this goal on both supply and demand side of the citizen participation: 1) on the demand side, the outcomes of our engagement are the benefits that citizens have by utilizing the mechanisms of citizens’ participation, and 2) the creation of low profile community spaces which will support resonant voices; 3) on the supply side, the outcomes of our activities will be established and improved participation mechanisms in the institutions (in mostly Kosovo Serb majority municipalities).

Key Assumptions:

–    The increased demand for the better services will boost the efficiency of the institutions and increase their accountability;

–    Resonant voices are reluctant to speak out because of the non-pluralistic nature of the political arena of the Kosovo Serb community, but their participation in closed group discussions will encourage them to speak up in the future and preserve social capital required for any collective action;

–   Kosovo Serb majority municipalities will be open for cooperation on non-controversial issues, and will accept the citizen participation mechanisms.

To see the projects we are implementing or have implemented in the area of Citizen Participation, see our Reference List.

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Publications
03/04/2023

New Social Initiative (NSI) held a discussion on March 10, 2023, which brought together Kosovo Albanian and Serb CSO activists, analysts, and researchers in Brezovicë/Brezovica. The main focus of the discussion was on the February 27 meeting in Brussels, the topics discussed during the meeting, and whether a path forward exists for the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities. The discussion provided a platform for all participants to express their viewpoints and opinions on the matter, as well as the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue in general.

Shpetim Gashi summarized the conclusions that arose from the discussion, and the document can be downloaded here. The publication is available only in English.

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Uncategorized
20/02/2023

The ongoing political issues and unsolved tensions between communities as a result of the war in Kosovo in 1999 continue to present obstacles for the advancement of interethnic relations in the country. Inter ethnic cooperation in Kosovo, particularly between Kosovo Albanians and Kosovo Serbs, is still hampered by the inadequate treatment of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of human rights.

To date, efforts to break the impasse in inter-ethnic relations have primarily been made in the margins of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, which began in 2011, thus overshadowing a potential process of societal reconciliation and cooperation. As a result, rather than a societal debate that strives to discover commonality and minimize disparities, the perspective of the Serbian and Albanian population in Kosovo regarding the state of their relations and mutual cooperation has remained somewhat hazy and prone to political processes.

Therefore, this report aims to reflect the viewpoint of these two communities on the status of interethnic relations and cooperation in Kosovo based on the findings of the survey conducted as part of the “FIERC – Fostering Inter-ethnic Cooperation and Reconciliation” project, which was launched by the Kosovar Center for Security Studies (KCSS) and New Social Initiative (NSI) at the end of October and  beginning of November 2022.

The report consists of four key chapters. The first chapter summarizes the citizen perceptions on the state of inter-ethnic relations in Kosovo, while it is followed by the second chapter focusing on the viewpoints of the citizens on inter-ethnic cooperation. On the other hand, chapters three and four provide a summary of the findings of the survey in relation to the perceived representation of the Albanian and Serbian community in municipal and central level institutions, and acceptance of other ethnic groups in their respective communities.

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Uncategorized
02/02/2023

Time for Smart Integration at Community Level: Challenges and opportunities for improved interethnic relations in Kosovo from local and international perspectives

This report provides an analysis of the local and international perceptions on the state of interethnic relations and cooperation in Kosovo. The report draws from the discussions of a focus-group with young Kosovars, as well as personal semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders from civil society as well as the public sector. The goal of this report is to help better understand what are some of the challenges are for the betterment of interethnic relations in Kosovo, as well as opportunities to advance interethnic cooperation. 


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Uncategorized
15/11/2022

This analysis aims to map and explain the main obstacles in the previous four years to the return of displaced persons to Kosovo after the armed conflict in Kosovo in 1998-1999, as well as after the wave of ethnically motivated violence in March 2004. The main focus of the analysis is on the security problems of returnees, as well as unresolved property and legal relations. The analysis consists of chapters on the basic problems faced by internally displaced persons in the Republic of Serbia as a result of poor integration, the legal framework for the return of displaced persons to Kosovo, as well as an overview of obstacles in terms of security issues and difficult restitution.

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Publications, Research, Propose, Engage to Influence the EU facilitated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina
21/09/2022

Kosovo-Serbia by 2027: Four Most Likely Scenarios

Kosovo-Serbia by 2027: Four Most Likely Scenarios is a result of several brainstorming exercises by 13 policy experts and civil society activists from
Kosovo and Serbia. These scenarios were drafted without prejudice by participants from Serbia and Kosovo – Kosovo Albanians and Kosovo Serbs and serve as a document on how they view the current state of affairs. Their purpose is to predict a potential future of Kosovo-Serbia relations and
thus provoke a debate on the key assumptions necessary to bring those relations to the best possible place and warn of those that would lead them
in the opposite direction.

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Dialogue on the Normalization of Relations between Belgrade and Pristina, Open Initiative, Publications
17/07/2022

In the analysis The Game of Numbers: Resolving the issue of the missing, 20 years on, an insight is gained into how much progress has been made in solving the issue of missing persons in Kosovo, what failures have been made in solving this issue in the previous two decades and how official the inclusion of this topic in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina can contribute to its solution, with an emphasis on the experiences of the family members of the disappeared from the Serbian community in Kosovo. The research was conducted by the New Social Initiative.

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Dialogue on the Normalization of Relations between Belgrade and Pristina, Open Initiative, Publications
17/07/2022

In the analysis of public policy options New apple of discord: SOC in the dialogue on normalization, the probability of including the issue of the status of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the dialogue on the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina and the acceptability of different models of the possible participation of church representatives in the negotiations for the communities of Kosovo Serbs and Kosovo Albanians are examined. The research was conducted by the New Social Initiative.

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Publications
13/05/2022

Civil Society Report on Human Rights in Kosovo in 2021

This document presents the third annual CSO report on the human rights situation in Kosovo for the year 2021. The report is produced jointly by civil society organizations (CSOs) working in a diverse number of areas relevant to human rights. This report aims to serve as an independent tool to assess the overall human rights situation in Kosovo, thus lling in an existing gap in joint reporting on human rights in Kosovo at the local and international levels, in addition to enhancing cooperation and coordination between CSOs.

The following 37 CSOs contributed to this report:

Activism Roots, Advancing Together (AT),Artpolis, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), Balkan Sun‑owers Kosova (BSFK), Center for Armative Social Action (CASA), Centre for Equality and Liberty (CEL), Civil Rights Program Kosovo (CRP/K), CiviKos Platform, Democracy Plus (D+), EcoZ, FOL Movement, Forum for Civic Initiative (FIQ), Gracanica Innovation Center (GIC), Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS), HANDIKOS, Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo (HLCK), Coalition of Non- governmental Organizations (NGOs) for Child Protection (KOMF), K10 Coalition with the leading NGO Action for Mothers and Children (AMC), Kosova Education Center (KEC), Kosova Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims (KRCT), Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS), Kosovar Civil Society Foundation (KCSF), Kosovo Law Institute (KLI), Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), Kosova Young Lawyers (KYL), Local Initiative LINK, Medica Gjakova, Missing Persons Resource Center (MPRC), Network of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian Women’s Organizations of Kosovo (RROGRAEK), New Social Initiative (NSI), NGO AKTIV, NGO THY, Roma in Action (RIA), Roma Versitas Kosovo (RVK), Syri i Vizionit, Terre des Hommes Kosovo, Youth Initiative for Human Rights – Kosovo (YIHR KS), and YMCA in Kosovo.

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Uncategorized
22/04/2022

Kosovo-Serbia dialogue: Consequences of the status-quo

The lack of normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia is considered to be one of the main threats to regional stability in the Western Balkans. The European Union has been facilitating a dialogue for normalization of relations between the two parties since 2011, and marked a significant success in 2013 when “The First Agreement of Principles Governing the Normalization of Relations”1 was initialed between the Prime Ministers of Kosovo and Serbia, which included the establishment of an Association/Community of Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo (A/CSM); integrating security related structures in the northern municipalities into the Kosovo Police force, integrating judicial authorities into the Kosovo legal framework, and organizing the municipal elections in four northern municipalities, etc. 

The elements concerning the establishment of the A/CSM were further detailed in the 2015 “Agreement on the General Principles/Main Elements of ASM/CSM”. Since 2011, Kosovo and Serbia reached around 38 agreements, and a good number of them have been successfully implemented.2 A major point of contention in the dialogue has been the establishment Association/Community of Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo. Over a decade since the normalization of relations dialogue started in 2011, the hopes for the process to conclude with a comprehensive and legally binding agreement anytime soon are dim. The meetings and agreements have become uncommon, while both parties have increased public accusations against each other. The least integration efforts were finalized in October 2017 when the Basic Court and Prosecution of Mitrovica became fully functional. 

Despite challenges, the Brussels Dialogue managed to facilitate a temporary solution in 2021 to the dispute between Kosovo and Serbia on vehicle license plates that ended heightened tensions between the two parties. However, this was rather the exception than the rule for the perception that the dialogue is in a limbo, largely since 2016. In early 2022, the Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS) and New Social Initiative (NSI), supported by the Embassy of Canada to Croatia and Kosovo, convened a group of civil society activists, experts, academics, journalists, and opinion makers to discuss the prospects for a breakthrough in the current status-quo between Kosovo and Serbia. To understand the perspectives of Kosovo Albanians, Kosovo Serbs and Serbians, the  discussion was structured along three thematic clusters: the political, social, and economic consequences of the status-quo between Kosovo and Serbia.

 The Chatham house discussion, aimed to understand the underlying perspectives that drive public opinion in Kosovo and Serbia on the dialogue and the consequences on the relations between Kosovo and Serbia. In addition to the forum discussion, KCSS and NSI jointly hosted a high-level conference on march 29, on the consequences of the status-quo of the process for normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, which included senior political representatives from the main political parties in Kosovo, including opposition. The discussion provided an important window into the thinking of the political leaders on the challenges and way forward for the Brussels dialogue.

 The aim of this report is to provide an overview of the main arguments that have been developed in the discussions of these events and add nuance to the debate on the future trajectories of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. The report is structured in three main parts. First, it examines the political consequences that have surfaced because of the status-quo and examines the effects the Russian invasion of Ukraine has had on the prospects for the European Integration of the Western Balkans (most notably, Kosovo and Serbia). Secondly, it addresses the social consequences through an overview of the diverging perspectives on the Association of Serb Municipalities (ASM). Lastly, it examines the effects the status-quo has had on cross-border economic cooperation and integration in the Western Balkans.

Opinions expressed in this report are of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions and opinions of the Embassy of Canada to Croatia and Kosovo

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Kosovo Collective – Forging Constructive Inter-ethnic dialogue, Publications
14/12/2021

Kosovo Collective Report – Fostering societal peace through inter-ethnic dialogue in Kosovo

In 2021, New Social Initiative (NSI) and Peacebuilding Group, supported by the Balkan Trust for Democracy (BTD), have brought together a group of people from Kosovo and Serbia in what has been called the “Kosovo Collective” to discuss prospects and challenges for achieving more sustainable peace in Kosovo. Those involved in these conversations were civil society activists, policymakers, experts, scholars, and journalists. To unearth and have a deeper understanding of structural and situational blockages that undermine the potential for durable societal peace in Kosovo, in their discussion, the Kosovo Collective has tackled different thematic clusters, such as: how political developments affect the inter-ethnic consensus between Kosovo Serbs and Kosovo Albanians on issues such as the dialogue on normalization, political representation, and central authority; elections and democratic participation; potential for multi-ethnic and active citizenry; contentious issues surrounding cultural heritage, and the rise of populism and nationalism.

The purpose of this report is to provide a summary of the discussions of the Kosovo Collective in their five meetings during 2021. The Kosovo Collective discussions were structured as semi-formal, Chatham house meetings to facilitate an open discussion on topics that seem to divide Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo. What makes the Kosovo Collective discussions extraordinary is that they tackled issues that are considered as sensitive (i.e., the lawsuit for genocide against Serbia from Kosovo), but these meetings were inspired, organized, and facilitated entirely locally, and none of the meetings had anyone externally (i.e., “someone from EU”) to help create an enabling environment for discussion. What this shows is the strong agency of the civil society in Kosovo, and the potential to play a more constructive and enabling role in the overall process of normalization of relations.