reconciliation for the perpetrators, and victims must not be put under pressure to reconcile. Therefore it is important to analyse who asks for reconciliation and why! In South-Eastern Europe, each of the former enemy group perceives itself primarily as be­ing victims. The acknowledgement of the fact that there are not only victims, but also per­petrators in each of these groups is a painful, but necessary experience and a step for­ward. Time and timing Is there a universal sequence in reconciliation processes? Though there are probably no definite steps of reconciliation in a way that one development must necessarily be followed by another, there is at least a number of preconditions that might trigger reconciliation processes. The process of reconciliation cannot start before people do not feel safe. Security from violence is the most important precondition. In a wider meaning security would also com­prise the fulfillment of basic needs, such as e.g. food, water and shelter. Then, there must be at least some local actors, usually a minority, who take ownership and responsibility and start action. In South-Eastern Europe even during the civil war, a re­gional network of civic society activists still hold contact that could be build upon when the fighting stopped. As reconciliation requires a deep change – as well in social as in political terms – it usually goes hand in hand with regime change. People who committed crimes against humanity have to be deprived from power. The way how a political transformation takes place dif­fers: an internal peaceful or violent revolution, a military victory of one group over the other(s) or an international intervention with an international protectorate as consequence. The new regime should be based at least on a minimum of democratic standards including rule of law. The working group on the Arab World made quite clear that for their region reconciliation is dependent on the democratisation progress in their countries. How could the international community improve their support of reconciliation proc­esses? Lessons Learned: Show critical solidarity, but do not impose! Support from outside is needed, but the way and the speed of reconciliation processes depend on internal social dynamics. Reconciliation cannot be imposed – doing that might even hamper reconciliation in the long term. Important is a constant and critical attention of the international community on the process. There should be a clear political position to­wards the country’s performance on dealing with the past conflict based on solidarity with the victims of the conflict and striving towards justice based on truth. 4