Mission to Serbia promotes war veterans as peace builders

The OSCE Mission to Serbia is working with the Centre for War Trauma in Novi Sad on a project which aims to promote war veterans as peace builders in a society that still bears the scars of conflict.

Some 15 per cent of Serbia's male population are veterans of the Balkan wars, an era which many citizens now see as a past best forgotten. Veterans experienced great trauma in battle only to be treated as outcasts and shunned when they returned home.

The public panels, financed by the Dutch Embassy and supported by the Mission, enable the veterans to share their experiences. To help start a dialogue, the panels also promote the book Gde si to bio sine moj? (Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?), written by the Centre's two founders, psychiatrists Vladan Beara and Predrag Miljanovic. The book details the findings of their work with veterans and contains various personal accounts from the veterans themselves.

Facing the past, embracing the future

Recognizing the importance of facing the past, the OSCE Mission to Serbia hopes the panels will help promote a peaceful future. The panels also encourage war veterans from other Balkan areas to participate.

"By meeting with veterans who used to be our enemies - from Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo - I realized that they shared the same burden of being outcast by their own society," says Miodrag Tosic, a veteran from Serbia.

"Because of our shared experience, during and after the war, it is much easier to find a common language with them than with individuals from our own societies."

Gordan Bodog, a Croatian veteran says, "We who were at war understand, for others it is not so easy... Our reconciliation through open dialogue should serve as a foundation for a wider reconciliation movement. Communication is the key."

Multi-dimensional approach

The OSCE Mission has various public outreach activities with the goal of fostering reconciliation. This project, however, has been particularly successful due to its multi-dimensional approach.

On the individual level, the panels serve as rehabilitation opportunities for the veterans themselves. They also present broader opportunities for societal reconciliation and peace building by altering the public perception of war, war crimes and veterans. Co-operation among veterans provides a foundation for future regional reconciliation and open dialogue.

"Public outreach is essential in fostering support for reconciliation and domestic prosecution. Therefore, the Mission supports projects like this which have the capacity to affect public perception on many different levels," says Ivan Jovanovic, National Legal Advisor in the OSCE Mission's Rule of Law Department.

Helping the healing process

"Helping war veterans includes helping their families, friends, and wider society heal collectively in order to move on," says Jovanovic. Thanks to OSCE sponsorship, the Centre for War Trauma is planning to continue holding public panels in central Serbia throughout the year.

The OSCE and the Centre will also produce information manuals on war crimes, which are intended to ease veterans' fear of persecution and promote co-operation and support for domestic war trials.

"The OSCE's active participation in organizing these public panels has shown the citizens of Serbia that international organizations recognize and support Serbia's potential for social development," says Milos Antic, executive director of the Centre for War Trauma.

"We will continue to rely on the OSCE's expertise and capacity in future in order to raise public awareness about the necessity and potential of including war veterans in the greater reconciliation process," he adds.