Dear Jasna,
We have never met but I hope it happens soon. I’m planning to be in Belgrade in the next few weeks.
We have had a shaky couple of weeks recently but everything has been sorted out now. However, I’ve learnt how challenging it must be for you working in Serbia to empower civil society. We must rebuild trust in society.
Do you agree with me?
When our joint application for a European grant was selected and rated with top marks I was very proud. I thought: ‘We will deliver a great project. It’s will be a model for the rest to follow’.
I didn’t really consider the challenges presented by the environment and how they could have influenced our project.
On the contrary, Ben and I focused on the partnership with Intesa Beograd – the largest bank group in the country – to scale up the project and assure its sustainability beyond the lifespan on the grant.
We were both genuinely surprised when both the European Commission Delegation and GOPA refused the bank as a new partner, i.e. more cash for the project, and provided little support to find a solution.
It was the first time I faced such a hostile attitude towards civil society from European officials.
My initial reaction was getting ready to fight the bureaucracy but I stopped as soon as I realized that our civil society partners were not on board with us either. I thought that if Serbian civil society partners don’t understand what we are doing and why we are doing it, we a have a serious problem. We are failing our mission!
At that moment I understood that the work to be done in Serbia is deeper than building the capacity of NGOs. Fortunately some Serbian ladies and good-willed Brussels-based officials volunteered to enlighten me and give me a hand.
The job is about rebuilding that invisible web which connects individuals and institutions – public and private – and guarantees a basic trust in each other. It’s the very essence of civil society. It’s the reason why we are a society and not a pack led by the principle homo homini lupus.
Coming from Italy – where that invisible web has progressively deteriorated – I feel I understand what happened in Serbia after 20 years of combined wars and conflicts. I feel I understand what you are struggling to achieve. Therefore we work together.
The recent episodes of violence have pushed me to put more effort in to our partnership. I recently read in the BBC the criminal groups are using violence to scare international partners, and stop Serbian integration in the EU. Their illegal business would be seriously challenged if Serbia joins.
This is a good reason for me to work harder and together build trust in the country and across borders – without leaving the European officials and contractors behind!
