CIAO DATE: 04/04

ECMI Montenegro Negotiation and Capacity-Building Project:
EU Accession and Minority Rights in Serbia, Montenegro and Sandžak / Sandžak as Part of a Euro-Region?

Introduction

The training workshops held in Kotor (5-8 December 2002) as part of the ECMI Montenegro Negotiation and Capacity-Building Project addressed two topics. The first training event was focused on minority rights in Serbia and Montenegro, as well as in Sandzak, in the course of EU Accession. Among others things, the newly passed draft Constitutional Charter for the Future Union of Serbia and Montenegro was assessed in relation to minority policies. The participants were asked to identify obstacles to, and incentives for, fostering minority protection at the local level as well as on the national and international levels.

The second training event addressed the issue of Sandzak as a Euroregion in the light of comparable existing models of Euroregions (e.g., Alto Adige). Within this context, impediments to, and potentials for, regional crossborder cooperation were discussed, such as the necessity of a simultaneous process of decentralization of government structures in Serbia and Montenegro.

The two training workshops followed five workshops held between November 2001 and June 2002. These five workshops constituted the main activities of ECMI's Negotiation and Capacity-Building Project in Montenegro, carried out with the support of the United States Institute of Peace. The training workshops which constitute the subject of this report were funded by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.

The participants of the two training workshops included some 25 representatives from NGOs working on minority issues and interethnic relations from Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo. Particular emphasis was placed on the participation of local government officials from Sandzak. While there was some overlap between the two trainings, not all participants attended both two-day workshops. A number of participants had also participated in the earlier workshops organized by ECMI.

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