Southeastern Europe should no longer be a region of misunderstanding, instability and violence. It deserves to become a region of cooperation and dialogue, productively integrated in broader international institutions and forming a distinctive part of Europe, where it belongs.
In today’s globalized world, where the interdependence of national economies is gradually increasing, regional and peripheral policies are facilitating the process of economic integration and incorporating the region into the universal system. Regionalism, while maintaining its own special elements, plays a crucial role in the effective functioning and legitimacy of globalization.
Recent developments in relations between the EU and Southeast Europe have been quite promising and demonstrate the EU’s strategic role in the area. Only a few months ago, two countries ― Turkey and Croatia ― began accession negotiations with the EU, while two others ― Serbia-Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina ― started negotiations for Stabilization and Association Agreements. Moreover, the Council of Ministers at its recent informal meeting in Salzburg reaffirmed its full support for the agenda set out at the Thessaloniki Summit in 2003, confirming once again that ‘the future of the Western Balkans lies in the European Union.’
At the same time, important economic initiatives concerning Southeastern Europe are under way. The signing of the Energy Community, the natural gas and oil pipelines, the opening of Single European Sky negotiations between the EU and states in the region, and the upgrading of the Trans-European Network of transport corridors through the region are key elements in the process of economic cooperation and infrastructure development based on energy and transport, fundamental for the region’s EU integration.
It is important to note the establishment of the common energy market for Southeastern Europe, signed in Athens last October with the EU’s full support and supervision. The benefits of this initiative are remarkable. The required reforms in the local energy markets and the clear competition rules that will be created will not only attract foreign investors to the area, but will also result in bringing prices down and eliminating shortages in times when energy security is acquiring greater importance and dimensions.
The recent Commission initiative to establish a free trade zone in the area constitutes the latest attempt to strengthen trade and investment. The 31 bilateral trade agreements signed so far in the region have not been fully implemented, hence regional trade remains below expectations. The free trade proposal should not be seen as an alternative to EU integration nor as an excuse to slow down the process of EU accession for the countries that are more advanced. On the contrary, its intention, besides the obvious aim to promote regional cooperation, is to sell the region to European investors and European public opinion, which is either unaware of the prospect of Balkan enlargement or is negative to any further EU expansion. After all, any plan which seeks to promote regional trade must not set aside the critical need to boost foreign investment.
To what extent, though, could we argue that the prospect of EU membership, together with the ever-growing and multifaceted EU presence in the area, will gradually lead to the formation of a new regional identity? Judging from the reserved welcome that the free trade initiative has encountered in the region, one could assume that the notion of regionalism still does not prevail in the Balkans. The development of a Southeastern common identity remains a distant ambition and its achievement requires mostly time and further political determination. For the time being, evidence that past conflicts, animosity and instability have not yet been forgotten is widespread in the region. Unresolved political, border and refugee issues still take priority over the need for regional cooperation. Moreover, the road to EU accession, although everyone’s ultimate aim, is separate and distinctive for each country of the region. The different speeds among countries create antagonisms and suspicions resulting in the lack of a true sense of a common and united aim.
Unfortunately, stability is still not a given in the region. Negotiations for the final status of Kosovo, the prospect of independence for Montenegro following the May referendum, the implementation of constitutional changes in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the still-unresolved border and refugee issues represent only the most urgent problems, threatening to trigger a new wave of violence and instability in the region.
The EU’s role at this stage is crucial in closely following and effectively contributing to all the remaining divisive issues in the Balkans with a common and consistent voice. The clear perspective of membership has proven the most powerful incentive so far for maintaining a sense of security and carrying out painful reforms. The EU’s contribution to the strengthening of peace, stability, security and economic prosperity will only be effective if the message is clear: EU membership for the countries of the Western Balkans remains the strategic goal. Any premature discussion regarding alternative EU membership will harm consistency and will seriously weaken the effectiveness of the European strategy. Enlargement cannot be the victim of the EU’s current institutional crisis.
However, since the process of enlargement still requires time and continuous effort, the EU should not abandon initiatives to further consolidate stability and promote regional cooperation and trust. Therefore, at this stage, all its proposals should focus on bringing those countries closer together and eliminating past differences as much as possible.
Apart from economic assistance and the various economic initiatives introduced by the EU in Southeastern Europe, already discussed above, bolder steps are also required. The EU should soon consider the prospect of extending a customs union with the Balkan states, a move that will certainly make a bigger impact on the economic growth of the region, demonstrating at the same time the EU’s real determination to gradually proceed with enlargement, alleviating present concerns and doubts. Moreover, such an initiative acquires further urgency in the light of the imminent EU accession of Bulgaria and Romania and the opening of negotiations with Turkey and Croatia, developments that will affect the Balkans’ attractiveness to foreign investors and businesses.
Another crucial development should be the much-discussed plans to facilitate a visa system for the region. EU institutions should pave the way and begin negotiations with each country in a selective Schengen visa liberalization program for students, academics and the business and trade community, as well as facilitating visa applications for all citizens. Such a gesture will undoubtedly bring tangible benefits to the citizens’ everyday lives and therefore enhance to a great extent the EU’s image in the whole region.
Greece’s double role as an EU and a Balkan state gives it special responsibilities in the accession process of all countries in the wider region toward EU membership as well as for the gradual adaptation of their economies in the global system. The Greek presence in the region has been very significant for more than a decade now. The Balkan region constitutes the first choice for the expansion of the most competitive Greek companies abroad, transforming Greece into one of the biggest foreign investors in the whole area. At the same time, Greece has led the way for the successful preparation and implementation of the plan for the reconstruction of the Balkans and hosts the European Agency for Reconstruction, whose task is to manage the European Union’s main assistance programs in the region.
In conclusion, good-neighborly relations and cooperation constitute the foundation of development in the area of Southeastern Europe. They are preconditions rather than an outcome of the process of EU integration. The EU has in the past few years played a significant role in promoting regional dialogue and cooperation and it should continue along the same road until it has achieved the successful and complete integration of the whole area in the European framework. At the same time, though, these countries should move forward and realize that the aim of EU integration is indeed a common one and that their common future lies within the EU. The European Union and the process of European integration will remain incomplete without the full accession of the Western Balkan countries into community institutions.
| (more...) | |
| |