Helsinki CHRS: Roundtable in Novi Sad

Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia organized a roundtable on the topic “(In)tolerance in Vojvodina” in the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. President of the Committee on European Integration and International Cooperation of the Assembly of Vojvodina Maja Sedlarevic and President of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia Sonja Biserko greeted the participants of the roundtable.

Journalist Boris Varga spoke about the link between extremism and nationalism. He said that deep economic crisis, deficit of the civil society and a general decline of social values coincide with the rise of extremism. Nedim Sejdinovic of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina analyzed the current media situation, putting a special focus on hate speech in the media. He said that the media should be significantly more active in the deconstruction of stereotypes and resolving war legacy. Miroslav Kevezdi of the Centre for Development of Civil Society talked about politicization of religion, church and extremism. He pointed out that a strong bond exists between extremist organizations from Serbia and Russia.

Participants discussed the deconstruction of stereotypes, state reaction to intolerant behavior, consequences of the social situation on youth, etc.

Representatives of civil society organizations from Vojvodina, journalists, professors and youth participated in this roundtable. Participants were also presented with a network for the regular monitoring of all manifestations of extremism, whose purpose is to prevent them from spreading their influence in public and to alarm institutions. CSO representatives and other interested individuals who want to curb today’s extremist ideologies are invited to join this network.

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