Tolerance as a Political Program

The following article, written by academician Sima Cirkovic, forms part of a major project conducted by the Belgrade Circle of Independent Intellectuals, entitled "Human Rights-Kosovo". The project is aimed at defining the processes which instigate ethnic intolerance, hostility and segregation among the Serbs and Albanians from Kosovo.

The legacy of recent or remote history is such that a rigid territorial division between different ethnic groups by ethnic criterium is not possible, nor is it possible to give all authority to only one ethnic group. As in some other parts of the Balkans the population is mixed in unequal proportions throughout the territory they live on. The problem of jurisdiction is one of the most complex: Albanians may be in majority in a village, Serbs in a county, Albanians in the province of Kosovo, and Serbs in the whole republic. Since neither can be assured of security by territorial divisions of authority, one should consider a solution which would provide both nations with what is essential for their ethnic identity. Free use of mother tongue, free media, free cultural exchange, autonomy in education, culture and science must be guaranteed to everyone and protected from monopoly at all levels.

Each ethnic community, however, tends to define its territory in a way which could give it the possibility of being the majority and making the rules. This, of course, leads to conflicts over borderlines, the creation of small units of political interest, dangerous aspirations for "sovereignty", which only multiply the problems, causing a series of pretexts for new conflicts and instigating intolerance.

The policy of tolerance we are advocating here is not some kind of humanistic ideal, a noble utopia, but a real and practical task imposed upon us all by time. Tolerance ensures openness and makes communication with the outside world possible, which is of extreme importance for those who still have to compensate for their lagging behind. Lastly, followers of such policy are highly respected everywhere.