wfn.org | Churches could help resolve conflict over Kosovo

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

June 1, 1999 News media contact: Linda Bloom*(212) 870-3803*New York
10-21-71BP{307}

NOTE: This report is accompanied by a sidebar, UMNS story #308. A file
photograph of the Rev. Bruce Robbins is available.

By United Methodist News Service

The religious community could help bring about a resolution to the Balkan
war, according to a United Methodist participant at a Budapest meeting on
the situation.

"The churches have a unique opportunity to break through the propaganda,
find a common language, listen to the stories of pain and death, and try to
influence our governments to stop the war," said the Rev. Bruce Robbins of
New York.

Robbins, chief executive of the United Methodist Commission on Christian
Unity and Interreligious Concerns, was among more than 40 people attending
the May 26-27 consultation in Hungary. Other Methodist participants were the
Rev. Wilfried Nausner of Austria, representing the United Methodists in
central and southern Europe; Superintendent Martin Hovan of Yugoslavia; and
Jennifer Potter, a staff member of the British Methodist Church.

The World Council of Churches and Conference of European Churches organized
the event, in cooperation with the Lutheran World Federation and the World
Alliance of Reformed Churches.

Robbins is convinced "that a pause in the bombing is absolutely necessary"
to help resolve the conflict over Kosovo. 

NATO has been bombing Serbian military forces and infrastructure since
March, following a breakdown in negotiations over the status of Kosovo and
its largely ethnic Albanian population. The bombing is aimed at halting
ethnic cleansing in the Yugoslavian province and forcing the Serbs to accept
terms for a settlement.

Robbins noted that while each side in the conflict believes the other has a
false and distorted view of what is actually happening, "both sides can
agree easily on the language of equal rights of all nationalities to
co-exist in the same territory."

Different viewpoints were expressed during the consultation about the
reasons behind the NATO attacks on Yugoslavia. "For the vast majority of
Serbs, it seems to me, there's a level of incomprehension" about the
continued bombing, he said.

During informal conversations with Serbians, Robbins heard not only how the
bombing has totally impacted the Serbian people, but also how concerned many
are about the actions of their own government. "There is deep distress and
pain among many Serbians about the government action toward the Albanian
Kosovars," he explained.

He was moved by the testimony of Methodists from Yugoslavia. "Our church
needs to struggle mightily about what it says (about the conflict),
remembering that we're fighting on both sides," he said. "Other United
Methodists should listen to appeals from Superintendent Hovan for NATO to
stop the bombing."

At the end of the consultation, church representatives affirmed these
principles:

*	to recognize the fundamental and urgent priority of negotiations "as
the only basis for a durable solution to the crisis" and urge the parties to
end hostilities;
*	to support initiatives that foster a peaceful and lasting resolution
of the conflict and recognize the equal rights of all national and ethnic
groups to co-exist within the same territory;
*	to promote the guaranteed right of return and security of all those
displaced by the conflict;
*	to recognize and promote the central role of the United Nations and
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in any negotiated
solution to the crisis;
*	to contribute to the process of reconciliation and rehabilitation of
communities;
*	to support efforts to render justice to all victims; and 
*	to continue responding to humanitarian needs of all affected by the
crisis through Action By Churches Together and local churches and partners.

For future actions, the consultation recognized that the Orthodox tradition
must be acknowledged as an integral part of the European heritage and
suggested the Conference of European Churches, in cooperation with Roman
Catholic partners, take a lead in responding to regional challenges.
Cooperation among churches and ecumenical organizations in North America
also should be reinforced.

"The creation of new instruments for a Christian response at the
Southeastern Europe level should be seriously considered in order to
generate and nurture a future-oriented approach, emphasizing preventive
action, inter-religious dialogue and building on existing and new networks
within civil society," the consultation concluded.

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