Number 1,
Spring 1995

CCCRTE

Spring 1995

This is the first of what we hope will be a regular newsletter to keep members and others interested in the Commitee informed of activities of interest to all of us and to expand our contacts with those doing similar work elsewhere in Europe and beyond. Since its formation, the CCCRTE has been associated with a dozen different groups and peace organisations, mainly in the former Yugoslavia, some of which were initiated as a result of Committee work in Osijek. Very many members of these groups have been to or given workshops in other groups and in other countries. It is also encouraging that there is now a considerable traffic, though often not a very easy one, between Croatia and Serbia, and between former Yugoslavia and the rest of Europe. Partly because of the involvement of the Committee, there are now many more people in Yugoslavia capable of coping constructively with situations of violence and anarchy, and of helping others to do so. We have also helped define and to disseminate beyond the former Yugoslavia some appropriate methods of training for this work. Several members have given workshops in the North Caucasus and, in recent weeks, the Committee agreed to support Roswitha Jarman's ongoing work in the region.

However, we cannot be complacent when so much work remains to be done. The whole area of Bosnia, where an enormous need has now grown, is virtually untouched. The conflict could well spread to Kosovo, Macedonia, and beyond to other areas of the Balkans. There is the simmering conflict, apart from the incandescent Chechnya, in the North Caucasus, and of course in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Clearly, there is an urgent, continuing need for conflict resolution training and communication of developments in that training among those providing and receiving it. We hope this newsletter will make some contribution to keeping those lines of communication open.

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