Here are my journal entries for the class thus far. The journal entries are basically a very short and brief outline of each meeting that we have attended. The information is limited in the journal entry- but it will give you some sort of an idea of what I am learning about. Also, I'm sure that they are full of grammatical errors, but are only rough drafts, so I'm sorry for that.
May 16, 2011
Foreign Policy Priorities of Serbia
First, we listened to a lecture by the Ambassador Mr. Mirko Stefanovic. He is the State Secretary for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His lecture focused on the Foreign Policy priorities of Serbia. A group of Diplomatic grad students from a school in Vienna also joined us. The lecture was very informative and I learned a lot about my topic (Kosovo’s Independence). Obviously, Serbia does not support Kosovo declaring its independence and does not recognize it as an independent sovereign state. Also, I asked the Ambassador if the United States recognition of Kosovo affected U.S – Serbian relations and he responded by saying that the U.S and Serbia agree to disagree on Kosovo and agree on everything else. It was interesting to listen to someone from the Serbian government discuss their position on Serbia. He also focused on Serbia’s position on joining the EU. Even though they know that the process is lengthy and it can cause many problems in the short-run, it is for the betterment of the country in the long run. Ambassador Stefanovic really put Serbian Foreign Policy priorities into perspective for me.
Ambassador of the Head of the department of Slavic countries
Next, we listened to the ambassador of the Head of the department of Slavic countries. I have to admit, this presentation was a tad bit hard for me to follow because the Ambassadors English was not perfect. In spite of that, I still got a lot from this meeting. He basically summed up Serbia’s relations with the surrounding countries. It was really helpful to hear what Serbians position is with the countries that boarder it. In relation to my topic (Kosovo) the Ambassador said that the two countries need to establish dialogue. This is basically the same thing that the State Secretary for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated. It is good that I now have a basic summary of Serbia’s position with each of its surrounding countries as summed up by a member of the Serbian government.
The Helsinki Group
The next meeting we had was with Sonja Biserko- she was the director for the Helsinki Group for human rights. This meeting was a lot less formal and much more of a one on one discussion. Also, three of the students from Vienna attended this meeting. Sonja was a very interesting person and this meeting was particularly interesting because for the first time we were able to hear the viewpoints of a person outside the government- from a NGO. She was not afraid to oppose the government on many issues, although she does support Serbia becoming a member of the EU. It seems that most Serbians believe that this is for the betterment of the country as a whole in the long-run (or at least most of the Serbians that we talked to believe this).
May 17, 2011
Director of Latin America/ Canada/ and U.S
We met with the director of Latin America and North American in the Foreign Ministry. This time, the room that we met in was facing a busy road and the Ambassador had a very strong accent, so unfortunately it was very hard to understand him. It did not help that I had to present on this meeting, but in the end everything turned out okay.
The ambassador presented mostly facts and did not elaborate on his opinion much. He stated that this was about the 130rd year of bilateral relations with the U.S. He also talked about the different meetings that have occurred between Serbia and the U.S. This includes the Biden meeting in 2009 and the Clinton meeting in 2010. He made it seem like the U.S and Serbia agree on everything besides Kosovo and that they will “agree to disagree”. He also stated that all dialogue between the two depicted cooperation. He went on to talk about other things like cooperation involving military, the economy, culture, and education. Overall, this meeting was not extremely helpful, most of the information discussed could have easily been found on the internet.
Serbia and the EU
This lecture was one of our most lengthy ones, as well as one of the most interesting ones. We spoke with the Deputy Assistant for EU integration at this meeting. He explained that the Serbian drive for the EU began in 2000 after Milo. went out of power. He also explained that Serbia’s initial drive to be a part of the EU began in 1961. He said that the Milo. Dictatorship destroyed much of the progress towards becoming a member of the EU that was gained in the past. I wanted to ask the question “Can you please expand upon how the Kosovo incident hindered Serbia’s progress in being admitted into the EU?” but we did not have time.
He also talked about how just because a country receives candidacy to the EU does not mean that they will be granted it. For example, Turkey has been a candidate for the EU for 30 years. He stated that Serbia approves of Greece becoming a member of the EU because they are basically in line before them and once Greece becomes a member; Serbia will have a better chance of being considered next.
A memorable quote from him is that “candidacy does not mean anything unless you start negotiations” (in relation to EU membership). He also said that only ¼ of the population works, and ¾ does not. This defiantly made an impression on me. In relation to this, he feels that membership into the EU means that Serbia will be safe for investors and he feels that Serbia will be a member of the EU by 2017. For them to become a member of the EU regional cooperation is essential.
Head of the Department of POSC
When we talked to the head of the POSC department, the discussion involved the current situation in Serbia. He said that many things have changed (now some 11 yrs. After milo.). Many thought things would be better, but Serbians are not so high on the market economy and democracy. After Milo. there were naive hopes that Serbia was on its way to NATO and the EU. Now, people are seeing that things are not that easy. People hoped that privatization would happen overnight. I also learned what the “Colombian Syndrome” is. It is stated that, if you are poor and bordering another country, but are denied access then you would target that exact market.
The professor thinks that in 15yrs. All of Serbia will be in Belgrade. The reason for this is that the country side of Serbia has nothing to offer the younger generation of Serbia.
May 18, 2011
Leader of the Social Dem. Party of Serbia
He is also a psychology teacher. We learned that psychology is a popular topic in Serbia (with 80% of psychology majors being female). He explained that Yugoslovia was an odd sort of communist state. The people could freely travel. It was more of an “open communism”. He said that today Serbia would be considered as “very liberal”.
An interesting fact is that the total land area of Yugoslavia was only about the size of Wyoming. Also, he said that U.S has the only constitution in the world where man has the right to happiness.
One of the problems that Serbia faces today is Kosovo and also that Serbia is still in Democratic transition.
May 20, 2011
European Movement
We met with two representatives from the European Movement. They first started out by discussing what the NGO’s functions are and how they go about fulfilling these functions and goals. One of the main goals of the EM is advocating for a Democratic Serbia. Another goal or mission of the EM is to modernize Serbia. They also explained that the EM is a “project based “organization and that they do not receive any money from the government of Serbia (one of the EM’s main projects in working with the youth of Serbia).
After the 1990s, the EM started to invest in the youth. They are very interested in fighting extreme nationalism in Serbia. A lot of young people below 18 have the feelings of extreme nationalism, most likely because they were raised in the 1990s and in the 1990s they received a poor quality of education.
In relation to Kosovo, they explained that dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo started about 3 months ago. They said that no one knows what to expect from this dialogue with Kosovo, but everyone is happy that it is happening.
Another interesting issue that they mentioned was that the citizens of Serbia do not know much about business or the business plan. He explained that they do not know how to set up a business at all.
Youth Initiative for Human Rights
On May 20, 2011 we met with the youth initiative for human rights- this experience was extremely different from most of our other meetings. Even though we have met with other organizations that advocated human rights- this group seemed to be by far the most liberal of them all.
They were strictly focused on human rights and spoke out against “hate speeches” which are basically hateful and discriminatory words or speeches. One interesting fact that I learned from this is that hate speeches are not a criminal act but are fined, not punished.
The group also spoke out against the Serbian Orthodox Church and the government of Serbia. I thought that many of their points were valid and it was nice to get the view of the opposition, but the group was extremely liberal and I cannot help but wonder if they were somewhat biased in their own right as well.
So, the semester is coming to an end. As I sit in the library studying, I can't help but feel a bit sad. These past few months have been the best of my life (HONESTLY). The friendships I have made and the experiences that I have had were so meaningful and deep. I was YOUNG and WILD and FREE these past months. I got to take advantage of my youth and just let loose and have fun. I will forever be grateful for this time...and when I'm old I'll look back on it and smile. 
Its the end of one era of my life and the start of a new one. Even though I'm filled with sadness...light shines through my heart at the same time. I have so much to look forward to. Europe this summer. An AMAZING internship in Budapest and hopefully the Peace Corps after I graduate from college. Life is Good.
