CONFERENCE ON VUKOVAR-BASED PEACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE ENDS TODAY

VUKOVAR, May 14 (Hina) - A conference which the Vukovar Institute for Peace Research and Education (VIMIO) began yesterday under the patronage of the Council of Europe in the eastern-most Croatian town, closed on Sunday with a plenary session which discussed VIMIO's national and international significance. The conference featured a series of workshops on VIMIO's tasks and future programmes. The event drew Croatian government officials, Council of Europe and OSCE representatives and a large number of Croatian and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs). VIMIO - the Vukovar Institute for Peace Research and Education - became operative last week on the occasion of Europe Day with the intention to contribute to the long-standing process of reconciliation, trust restoration and promotion of inter-ethnic tolerance in Croatia. The two-day conference's participants considered a role and place of VIMIO in the process of reconciliation and inter-ethnic tolerance. Most of them assessed that this Institute should become a link between NGOs and government-supported organisations in the future. They stressed that only peace and tolerance could ensure a better future in the war-stricken areas of Croatia and Bosnia- Herzegovina where deep divisions were still felt although there were armed conflicts no longer. There were proposals for the set-up of psycho-social counselling centres within VIMIO and emphasis was given on necessity to work with children in this field. Participants who came from Yugoslavia (Serbia/Montenegro) and Bosnia expressed wish that this Institute expand its activities into their countries as well. The VIMIO project is backed by the European Union and the governments of Croatia and Austria, whose representatives take part in its work, alongside representatives of domestic and international NGOs, and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). VIMIO chairwoman Biljana Kondic said that according to assessments of the conference's participants, the Institute seemed to be on the right track in the efforts to achieve its objectives. (hina) ms