Banja Luka, March 23, 2000 (IKA) — Today, March 23, marked the conclusion of a two-day conference entitled “Religious Communities during Democratization in Bosnia-Herzegovina at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century,” organized in Banja Luka by the World Conference of Religions for Peace and the Friedrich Neumann Foundation. This conference was conceived as a unique opportunity for representatives of the government, civil society and religious communities to meet and directly exchange experiences and ideas on the position of the religions and religious communities in the democratization of the society of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The participants at the conference included representatives of the religious communities, government authorities, nongovernment organizations, representatives of the international community and other civilian administrative organizations in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In the introductory plenary portion of the conference, which began on March 22, the speakers were the prime minister of the Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik; the special envoy of the general secretary of the UN, Jacques Klein; Mufti Edhem Čamčić of Banja Luka, Prof. Niko Ikić of the Vrhbosna School of Theology, Serbian Orthodox Bishop Hrizostom of Bihać-Petrovac, and a professor of the sociology of religion, Dr. Esad Čimić. After the plenary portion, groups met on the following topics: The Relation between Religious Communities and the State, Religion and Education, Religion and the Media, and Religion and Basic Democratic Principles. The conference participants approved a report from each of the discussion groups. At the conclusion of the conference, a press conference was held by a representative of the World Conference of Religions for Peace, James Cairns; a representative of the Friedrich Neumann Foundation, Zoran Matija Kulundžić; and the moderators of the individual discussion groups. They pointed out that this conference is only one of the initial steps and that everything discussed will require long-term dialogue and cooperation. They urged all the authorities throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina to consider the conclusions and recommendations proposed by this conference.