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ISLAM, THE BALKANS AND THE EUROPEAN

‘NEIGHBOURHOOD’ PROJECT

International Policy Fellowships 2005–2006

Workgroup “The Challenge of Wider Europe”

 
INTERIM ACTIVITY REPORT

Grant Period April – August 2005

 

The work within the Project Islam the Balkans and the European Neighbourhood Project during the first grant period April–August 2005 allowed us to accomplish our preliminary research tasks and to realize the objectives for this first stage consistent with the initial project proposal and timetable. All important changes of initial elements of the project, including the modification of the title (initially Islam as a Factor in the Design of a European Neighbourhood Policy in the Balkans) and the substitution of the visit to the Netherlands with regional travel, were introduced after their approval by the IPF Program as a result of consultations with my group and individual advisers.

 

According to the initial work plan the following project’s research and publication activities were carried out in Bulgaria and the European Union during the first grant period:

• Studying documents, identifying and collecting relevant materials at the libraries and the archives in Sofia.
• Participation in the 1^st Fellows Seminar in Budapest, April 3–8, 2005.
• Preparation of the questionnaire for the non-standardized interviews and of the expert questionnaire for in-depth interviews in cooperation with two relevant experts – one expert in Sociology of Religion and one in Intercultural Communication.
• Consultations and interviews with academics, officials and policymakers from relevant governmental agencies in Bulgaria, particularly the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Directorate of Religious Affairs at the Ministry Council.
• Meetings and expert interviews with representatives of the Islamic leadership, including the Grand Mufti, academics from the Higher Islamic Institute and other Muslim stakeholders.
• Study trip to Belgium (coinciding with a workgroup meeting). The presentation of the project progress at the Brussels workgroup meeting held at the Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) and the discussion with the CEPS fellows were very useful for the further focus and progress of the project.
• Participation in the conference “Democracy and the Rule of Law–American and European Strategies and Instruments” organized by CEPS and Stanford University, Brussels, 20–21 June 2005.
• Apart from the meetings and consultations in Brussels (with members of the European Parliament and officials from the European Commission, the Director of OSI-Brussels and researchers from other policy relevant institutes as the East West Institute) I visited the universities of Leuven and Gent where I was invited for discussions by the outstanding Islamicist and expert in the Middle East Prof. Urbain Vermeulen.
• Research trip to Germany: library work, meetings and consultations with leading academics and experts in Islam and the Middle East such as Prof. Tilman Nagel (Göttingen), Prof. Günter Meyer (Mainz) and Georges Khalil (WIKO, Berlin). Their positive feedback on the project was encouraging and very helpful for the further work.
• Identifying of books and materials to be ordered for the purposes of the research.
• Survey in the South of Bulgaria – field research in the Rodopi region
• Starting the technical processing of the data and the materials collected during the surveys and the study trips.
• As a result of the abovementioned activities the draft outlines of the rough policy research paper and, respectively, the 20-page policy study were prepared in consultation with the group and individual advisers.
• Preparation and submitting of the activity report.

 

Apart from these activities consistent with my specific initial IPF proposal and work plan, the following project relevant activities enriched my experience as an IPF Fellow, because I had the opportunity to share my ideas within the broader expert and public policy community:

• An article entitled Islam as a Public Force: Towards Re-Focusing of the Debate from a South East European Perspective has been accepted for publication by Policy Perspectives at the Open Society Institute and the Central European University in Budapest.
• An article entitled Islam and Public Policy in the Balkans has been accepted for publication in the forthcoming issue of Columbia Rights News at Columbia University, New York.
• I acted as coordinator of and participated in the international academic conference The Arab World and Islam: Identities and Intercultural Interactions held at the St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, May 10–14, 2005. The papers will be published by Sofia University Press.
• I organized and participated in an international workshop on religion and education held in Sofia on April 18, 2005 with the participation of stakeholders, clergy, Islamic leaders and academics from the University of Sofia and Columbia University in New York.
• The IPF grant challenged me and gave me the opportunity to improve some of my teaching courses at the University of Sofia, particularly the MA course Political and Religious Movements in the Arab World developed with the support of the Curriculum Recourse Center at the Central European University in Budapest.
• My expert involvement in the program of the Sofia-based Center for Intercultural Studies and Partnership (CISP) has also served as a source of inspiration and experience in the policy debates and issues relevant to my IPF Project. Particularly, these projects are: Islam and the Public Sphere: Global and Regional Dimensions (within which I was the organizer of an international workshop in Sofia, the materials of which will be published soon and I am the editor of the collection), Religion and Education: Enhancing Christian-Muslim Understanding in Bulgaria (funded by the US Institute of Peace), Islam and the Media: Unveiling Prejudices and Overcoming Stereotypes (funded by the Dutch MATRA Program), and The Muslim Community in Bulgaria: Facing the Global Challenges. Within these projects I have been also invited as trainer, lecturer and moderator of seminars, which improved my experience in dealing with policy relevant issues.
• Besides, some of my IPF ideas were tested during my interviews for print and electronic media in Bulgaria during this grant period, and this will be especially helpful in the advocacy stage of this project next year.

 

The further steps within the Project are planned to be consistent with the timetable posted on my individual web site.