Leo van Doesburg

This morning we went to the International Church. They meet once in the two weeks and sometimes three times a month. Their church services are held in a hotel not far the center of Belgrade. Samuilo led the sermon and had a message to the people. In the afternoon we had an interesting meeting with him and with a representative of the IFES (EUS). Later on a professor from the political faculty with a young but very intelligent student were joining too. We discussed about possible projects focused on reconciliation and vision building with students and participants from all countries and areas of former Yugoslavia. After this I was running for another meeting with the representati ves of the Serbian Christian Democratic Movement and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. We discussed about collaboration for trainings of the members of the SCDM and about other activities we develop in the region. I was invited to share my experiences about the development of Christian Democracy in East Europe du...

This morning we had a breakfast with some friends from the Economic Diplomacy Seminar/ROM and the Boris Trajkovski Foundation. We made the conclusions of our visit and we talked about the Youth Leadership Forum next week. Auke and me hope to be present there (what will be a kind of Balkan trip epilogue). After this we went to pack our stuff and to have our last stop in Belgrade (Serbia) before we would leave back home in Timişoara. The 17 days trip to the Balkans is almost finished but went smooth. Interesting thing in Macedonia is that there are a lot of toll roads where you have to pay amounts between the €0,50 and €1,-. It is quite cheap but you have to stop many times. I was tired so I slept through the border with Serbia and easily we reached Belgrade. The circle of our round trip was now closed. In Belgrade we had to search a bit but we found the hotel quite easily. Tomorrow will be the last day of our trip with the drive back to Timişoara.

In the late morning we were picked up by our friends from the Boris Trajkovski International Foundation. We were brought to the center where we would discuss a bit about the developments and the program during a brunch. When we walked through the center, I was surprised by all the new construction works since I have been here for the last time during the summer.According to one of our friends, they are constructing a kind of triumph arc, an enormous fountain where a big statue of Alexander the Great would be placed. Also a big museum is constructed in the form of a church on the remains of an ancient church found on that place. The construction of the museum caused some tensions because it is taken place within the walls of the old fortress. A group of activists came in the night to destroy the metal framework. Now the fortress is guarded by police to keep the protesters away. After the brunch we had a great meeting with the local and regional representative of the Bible Society. We di...

Today it was a special day for many, because three years ago, Kosovo declared itself independent with a 'declaration for independence'. Therefore the city was full with different flags: even with American and German flags and also concerts were organized in the cities. This morning I had together with Jetmir an appointment with a representative of the UNDP in Mitrovica to discuss about a project that we want to develop in Kosovo. The representative of the UNDP was interested in our project and gave a good feedback and ideas concerning the project proposal and was willing to be involved and to help to put this project on it's feet. Jetmir gave good and professional information. For him it was also a good experience on how you discuss and negotiate with representatives of international institutions. When th e meeting was finished we were picked up again and I found out that Auke and Annechien also spend their time well with a friend of Ruzhdi (who drove us around) who got a f...

Today I wanted to learn more about Pristina and it's surroundings. During my visit in December I learned a lot about the political, social and economic situation of Kosovo by the meetings with politicians, youth leaders and representatives of international institutions. Now I wanted to learn more about Pristina and its surroundings. Ruzhdi and his friend Jetmir from Macedonia showed us the most beautiful places in Pristina. They t old more about the places and their opinion about the sights. Although Pristina is a nice city also you could see the consequences of the war. There are a lot of people still missing. They were taken away from their homes. They were transported to unknown places and no-one heard from then since then. The many pictures of the persons that were missed were put on a fence close to there assembly building. At the other side from the road and further on you find interesting places like the old mosque, the central library and the new cathedral that is being bu...

A few hours later than expected but still early enough the car was fixed and as new (in any case from the inside because from the outside it still had tons of sand and dust, imported from all the countries we were traveling to). Ready to go! Arber escorted us through the city to the road that would lead in the direction of Kosovo. The trip went smoothly. The big tunnel and the highway made it pleasant to travel to the border and due to the new start motor the car was like flying on the street. At the border, a friendly member of the Dutch police working for the EULEX was greeting us in our own language (i.e. Dutch) and helped Auke who tried to find the right way to pay a special car insurance for Kosovo (for some reason the green card is not valid in the northern part of Cyprus, Iran and Kosovo). The border procedures went smoothly. It was interesting to see police agents from different countries checking the functioning off the customs. On their costumes by a small flag you could fin...

In the late morning we discussed the program of the day with Shaban. First we would have a walk in Tirana to show Auke and Annechien. After this I had a meeting with a representative of a political movement that is active to promote democrat ic values for the youth. It was very encouraging to see his professionalism and activities he is developing. Also he was very positive about th e 'Center for Dialogue and the promotion of European Values' and he also wants to be involved. After this we had a short meeting with the Albanian minister of foreign affairs to hear his opinion about the demonstrations that happened in January, to explain a bit about the ECPM and its involvement in Albania, the statement we made because concerning the events and the initiative for starting activities that we would like to develop in Albania. He was positive about our activities and about the work of Shaban and the development of his Center for Dialogue and promotion for European values'. Also h...