Belgrade, Serbia
On 23-26 October, I traveled to Belgrade for the 10th ECPD International
Conference on National Reconciliation, Religious Tolerance and Human
Security in the Balkans (see below). As for
the two previous years, the conference was held in the beautiful Belgrade
City Hall, across from the Parliament building, and we stayed in the
Majestic Hotel, a landmark since 1938. In addition to a reception at the
City Hall with a Renaissance music ensemble, we had a dinner in the old arts
district and at a modern restaurant, and a lunch Sunday at a nice restaurant
in Belgrade Fortress, after which I had a chance to visit the fortress. All
in all, we ate too much.
Belgrade and its fortress
For more photos of Belgrade, see the 2012
and 2013 ECPD
conferences.
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The National Parliament across Pionirski Park from the City Hall;
Republike Square and fountains
A main shopping street, Knez Mihailova
Belgrade Fortress
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Belgrade fortress at the confluence of the Danube and the Sava
Rivers, with walls and towers surrounded by gardens
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The fortifications, and the entrance to the restaurant where we had
lunch
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Gates, walls and towers in the fortress
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Views of the Danube and Sava rivers from the fortress ramparts
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The Sava River, and new Belgrade from the fortress, with the Statue
of the Victor (right)
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Fortifications, and a traditional house on the grounds
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The military museum in the fortress
ECPD Conference
The 10th ECPD International Conference on National Reconciliation, Religious
Tolerance and Human Security in the Balkans, had the theme "The New Balkans
and European Union: Peace, Development, Integration". This was the seventh
conference of the European Center for Peace and Development, affiliated with
the UN-chartered University for Peace, in which I have participated. See the
previous conferences in Belgrade 2013
and 2012, Montenegro
2011, Croatia 2010
and 2009, and Montenegro
2008.
The conference opened with messages from former UN Secretary-General and
President of the ECPD Honorary Council, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and from
former Director-General of UNESCO, Federico Mayor, which can be viewed at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-OKwAhAKfyPNjJFUUpXN1E3bWc/view?usp=sharing.
The keynote speaker was Erhard Busek, former Vice-Chancellor of Austria and
Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. There
were three plenary sessions on the New Balkans in the contemporary world
realities, East-West relations impact on the development of the Balkans, and
New Balkans: reconciliation, tolerance and human security, with 40 papers by
distinguished academics, diplomats and former political leaders from all the
Balkan countries, Western Europe, Russia, Kazakhstan, U.S.A., Japan and
beyond. A special session commemorated fifty years of the G77. The
conference was followed by the Second ECPD Youth Forum, where I chaired a
session and presented a paper on "Hope
for Balkan Youth in the Contemporary World Reality".
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The conference opening was covered by the press, and I later had an
interview with Serbian television
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Conference participants
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The conference reception in the City Hall; a Renaissance ensemble
performed; we tended to eat too much