by Petruska Shustrova

Since I am not a representative of any non-governmental organization, my experience with the Centers for Pluralism meetings is probably slightly different from that of the majority of the other participants. But as a journalist, I am able to offer a "view from the outside."

Such meetings are important for my work as well as for my personal experience. Meeting with people who are committed to the non-governmental sphere in post-communist states allow one to acquire a far more thorough and deep understanding of the conditions and life in our post-communist region than the picture that news agencies or the media are able to provide.  Moreover, these meetings emphasize something that should not taken for granted: the destinies of countries in this region were to a certain extent virtually identical under communism, and our roads away from communism are variations on the same theme. We confront the same problems, although not necessarily at the same time, and we are faced with the same or analogous tumbling blocks. Today, participants in the CfP meetings are already "citizens" of a larger, supra-national and supra-state entity whose citizens are anxious to disentangle themselves from the communist heritage.  There can be no doubt that exchanging experience is extremely important in this respect and provides a way out of many a blind alley.

The 14th meeting of the Centers for Pluralism, held in Brasov, Romania on September 24 to 26, lived up to this tradition. The very name of the meeting, Building Bridges, gives a true picture of the objective pursued by the representatives of the CfP Network: to look at all that they have in common, and to establish connections and cooperation. Since the meeting took place in Romania, organizations from other regions had the opportunity to meet with a variety of Romanian non-governmental organizations

The Centers for Pluralism Network had created long-lasting contacts and cooperation, and many new joint initiatives were created in Brasov. Discussions frequently turned into private debates and went long into the night, though were by no means confined to the subject of Romania. People also discussed the situation in the Balkans, Chechnya and Cuba, as well as the role and position of the intelligentsia in post-communist societies, difficulties encountered in the course of democratic elections, and the role of non-governmental institutions in politics. All these are questions which in many of our countries are of interest to the media and the public and the solution of which go a large degree determine the shape of our future.