IS GACKO POSITIVE EXAMPLE IN BIH IN BUILDING MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING AND TRUST?

The round table “Is Gacko the Positive Example in BiH in Building Mutual Understanding and Trust?” was held in Gacko on June 12, 2009. The round table was organised by the Forum of Tuzla Citizens and the Centre for Development Initiatives from Gacko, and it was supported by the Dutch organisation IKV Pax Christi.

The conclusion of this round table is that Gacko is the city that is the true example of the open city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the place that everyone can look upon to regarding the building of the mutual trust and understanding.

Reviewing the situation in Gacko, one of the speakers, Milenko Adzic, the vice president of the Assembly of the Municipality Gacko, pointed out that the number of returnees in Gacko is low, as well the interest for the return in Gacko. In addition, the concerning fact is that the number of inhabitants is in decrease, which is the reflection of the great economic instability. Speaking about the efforts of the local authorities to increase the living level of the returnee population, Adzic emphasised: “Speaking about the return of the property, I’ve got the information that the property is returned, except the property that is in the process at the court. It means that 100% of the work is already done. Regarding the co-operation of the local authorities with the returnees, in our opinion, it is on very high level, there are no complaints, except individual ones, but such complaints are submitted from the local population as well…”

The second speaker, Pejo Gasparevic, the journalist of HINA, hired by the Forum f Tuzla Citizens, emphasised that re-gaining of trust and understanding, and practicing of tolerance are the most important for qualitative life. In his opinion, economic development cannot substitute the lack of these categories. “Trust in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not in a good condition. That is something that is much needed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it has to be produced as soon as possible… When I was preparing for this event, I tried to think about the main factors that should produce building of understanding and trust, i.e. to produce practicing of tolerance. I focused on the three addresses as potential factories of tolerance, understanding, and trust. As our host said, these are for sure the institutions of authorities, i.e. the state, in this case the institutions of the local authorities. They are the ones who should produce this that we are talking about today. But not only them. I am not satisfied with that diagnosis that everything should be done by the authorities. In production of understanding and tolerance, the role of the civil society is great. When I say civil society, I mean the whole spectrum of the non-governmental sector, which is very jumbled in Bosnia and Herzegovina, not very well organised and does not function as powerful system, but more as individual organisations or persons. The spectrum of the non-governmental organisations which covers the domain of religious communities, cultural organisations, sports associations, these are the cells from which good things can grow, therefore, understanding, tolerance, and trust can grow. In my opinion, there are two significant constitutive elements of creation, i.e. re-gaining of trust especially in post war periods, such as this one we live in: to acknowledge your own mistake – one constitutive element, and to forgive. The order of mention is not important, in my opinion, these two constitutive elements have the same importance.

The returnee Dzevad Memic said that there were negative examples, but that they are rare and emphasised the positive example of the local authorities who put great effort to solve the problems of returnees in a positive way. His opinion is that in some future time there will be increase in number of returnees since the economic crisis will make people go back from the cities to their land. In that matter, the assistance is needed, especially in regard to placing of the products on the market.

Srdjan Milovic, the Movement for Gacko, believes that without institutional support and economic development of this area there will be no survival. He emphasised that the returnees do not have interest to return to Gacko, and that inhabitants of Gacko have only one interest and that is to leave this passive area. According to him, ordinary people do not have problem with understanding and tolerance, such problem does not exist for them. It can be seen only at the TV and heard in the statements of out politicians, who need rising of tensions and their own rating.

Besides representatives of the local authorities from Gacko and Nevisinje, representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Islamic Religious Community, non-governmental organisation, political parties and public institutions from Gacko also participated.