‘Time for Serbia and Kosovo to reconcile,’ says Mancham |23 October 2012

“We must dry up the water of hate which floats between these two entities. Instead, we must bring about an atmosphere of fraternal, happy and fruitful co-existence,” Mr Mancham said.

The former president was speaking at the opening ceremony of the ECPD (European Centre for Peace and Development) Eighth International Conference on Reconciliation, Tolerance and Human Security in the Balkans at the Belgrade City Hall on Saturday.

Mr Mancham had the same words for Radio Television of Serbia, when he gave an exclusive interview to Danijela Cvetkovic, from the foreign-desk of Serbia national TV network, on the sideline of the conference, which had gathered some 200 leading academicians and professors associated with ECPD to discuss the theme ‘New Balkans in a changing world – with a changing Europe’.

The ECPD is, of course, closely associated with the United Nations University of Peace and John Maresca, Rector of the UN University of Peace, was among those invited to take the rostrum at the opening ceremony, which was chaired by Prof. Takehiro Togo, President of the ECPD Academic Council, of which Mr Mancham is a member.

Former UN secretary general Boutros Boutros Ghali, who is president of the ECPD Honorary Council, sent a special message which was read at the conference.

The government of the Serbia was presented by Zoran Vujić, the assistant minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia.

Following the ECPD conference in Belgrade, Mr Mancham will be in Berlin this week, for a conference on Africa, hosted by the Institute of Cultural Diplomacy.

Mr Mancham is patron of the African chapter of the institute, which promotes soft power as opposed to hard power – peace through cultural diplomacy, rather than through violence and war.