Religious Traditions and the Challenge of Pluralism in the European Integration Process of the Western Balkan

Luxembourg, from May 21 to 24, 2008

At the invitation of the organiser Amra Hadzimuhamedovic, member of Commisssion, took part in the international conference entitled “Religious Traditions and the Challenges of Pluralism in the Process of European Integration in the Western Balkans”, held in Luxembourg between 21 and 24 May 2008.  Amra Hadzimuhamedovic gave a presentation under the title “Intercultural Dialogue through the Preservation of Diversities of the Cultural Heritage in Bosnia and Herzegovina”. The conference participants came from Luxembourg, Croatia, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.

During the conference representative of Commission had meetings with the representatives of the community of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Luxembourg, with the Luxembourg Minister of Religions and Culture and non-governmental organizations interested in working in the Balkans. The Minister of Religions and Culture was particularly interested in the EU pilot project financed from the IPA funds to be implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, for which the decision had been made in the European Parliament whose member he is.

A workshop about the contents of that project was held during the conference, in which information was exchanged about the specific features of Stolac, where the project will be implemented, the ways of implementing the IPA projects, as well as the future perspectives that the project implementation offers.

The issues of possible planning of similar projects in Trebinje, where some non-governmental organizations had implemented their projects, as well as of the possible trans-border nature of the future projects, were raised in the workshop.