[ALBSA-Info] Event in Washington, DC

[aalibali at law.harvard.edu]

PREVENTION AND PRACTICE: THE BALKANS FORUM
Organized jointly by the
Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs,
Georgetown University's Center for Eurasia, Russia, and East European
Studies,
and
Search for Common Ground

Session 9 

A Yugoslav Dilemma:
Kosovo Final Status 

Monday, May 21, from 4 - 6 p.m.
Georgetown University - Old North Building, Room 205 

Ambassador Milan Protic, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to
the United States 

Yugoslavia is in a complicated situation with respect to Kosovo.  If Kosovo
remains part of Serbia, Albanians will deserve treatment as political
co-equals with Serbs.  Many Serbs in the region will undoubtedly be alarmed
by this prospect.  Yet if Albanians are not given co-equal status, Serbia
will remain volatile for the indefinite future, if not marked by recurring
warfare.

The other option is for Serbia to relinquish Kosovo, and possibly the
Presevo Valley, as well.

The principal question that Ambassador Protic will address at the May
session of the Balkans Forum is, how does Serbia see its future as a
bi-national state if the following two conditions prevail:
1) Kosovo remains part of Serbia
2) The Albanian birthrate remains close to its current level for the
foreseeable future.


Ambassador Protic was appointed to the United States as ambassador of
Yugoslavia in February 2001.  Prior to his appointment, Dr. Protic was
elected Member of Parliament of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in
September 2000 and Mayor of Belgrade the following month.

Ambassador Protic earned his M.A. and his Ph.D. from the University of
California in Santa Barbara, where he was a junior lecturer at the
Department of Contemporary European History from 1982 to 1984.  Upon his
return to the country, Ambassador Protic became a Senior Fellow at the
Institute for Balkans Studies with the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 1985, and worked as a visiting professor at the California University and
the Director of the Belgrade-based Center for Serbian Studies.

The discussion will be held Monday, May 21, from 4 - 6 p.m. at Georgetown
University (Old North Building, Room 205).  This monthly event is providing
all actors in the Washington, DC policy community an opportunity to engage
in constructive cross-discipline dialogue on events and prescribed policy
for preventing the spread of conflict in southeast Europe.

The Balkans Forum brings together a diverse group of experts-academics,
activists, policy makers, and practitioners-in a sustained dialogue on US
policy in the Balkans.  Each monthly session is organized around a brief
presentation from one or two Balkan specialists followed by a roundtable
discussion.  We attach a brief description of the event and the sponsoring
organizations for your information.  

We hope you will join us for what promises to be a fascinating conversation.
Please contact Charlotte Diez at Search for Common Ground at cdiez at sfcg.org
or call (202) 777-2206 to reserve a space at the Balkans Forum.  Do not
hesitate to contact us if we can provide any additional information. 

Regards,

                                             
Ana Cutter                                      Andrew Loomis
Program Officer                         Project Manager
Carnegie Program on Conflict Prevention         Search for Common Ground in
Macedonia
170 East 64th Street                            1601 Connecticut Avenue,
N.W.  
New York, NY 10021                              Suite 200
Tel. (212) 838-4120, ext. 212                   Washington, DC 20009
Tel. (202) 265-4300, ext. 203