News
Europe Programme - [09/29/2008]
Gordana Djurovic, Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro: “Leave the doors open”
The danger that the EU -- immersed as it is in a institutional crisis -- may temporarily close its doors to EU enlargement in the Balkans is a cause for alarm among the political representatives of the region who, on 22 September, attended the International Seminar on the integration of Southeast Europe organised by the CIDOB Foundation, the Open Society Fellowship Program, the European Stability Initiative and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
The seminar, which was inaugurated by the Secretary of State for the EU, Diego López Garrido, gave the pleasant impression that a generational change has taken place in the Balkan countries, producing a new batch of young politicians who are convinced that the EU is the best instrument for political stabilisation. At the same time, they are impatient at the slowness of the integration process. “Nothing inspires a government more than a clear entrance date” declared Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Bocevski, commenting on the complex, protracted negotiations over EU admission.
"Not at the moment"
Meanwhile, the EU seems to be mired in its habitual ambiguity. Lars Wahlund, Ambassador to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden (the country that will take over the presidency of the EU in 2009), predicted that Croatia's entry and the beginning of negotiations for candidacy is the most optimistic scenario, even though he acknowledged that "most countries are not ready yet". However, beyond the objective reasons, the analysts highlighted other motivations. Giuliano Amato, ex-Prime Minister of Italy and the diplomat who presided over the International Commission on the Balkans, believes that most of the European leaders continue to perceive the region as "a factory of problems". And this despite the fact that the period of open conflict and extreme violence has ended, and that, according to Ivan Krastev (Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sofia), crime rates in the Balkans are not as high as people believe. Krastev claims that the reason why the region has dropped down the Europe’s political agenda was the result of another generational change -- that of Europe’s new leaders, who are not as involved as Blair & Co. were, as well as the fact that the Balkans are less visible in the media. "A certain guilt complex still exists", claimed López Garrido, recalling the EU’s erroneous policy and passivity in the 1990s.
The representatives from the Balkans do not accept the excuse that the EU is suffering from an institutional paralysis owing to the Lisbon Treaty, claiming instead that it is the result of a lack of political determination in the EU. This absence of vision contrasts with the importance that the region has for the EU, and where it is risking "its credibility as a global actor", in Amato's opinion. The ex-Prime Minister of Italy declared: “If the EU fails in its attempt to transform and stabilise the region, it runs the risk of becoming a colonial power", owing to its action in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Amato called on the EU to send out clear political signals as to its vision for the region, and to stop prioritising control and security over political transformation.
Democracy, the ultímate objective
In spite of the criticism, the participants acknowledged the positive political evolution that has been made in transition towards democracy in the region. The failures in this respect are the responsibility of only the EU, but also (and especially) of the national actors and the use of their legitimacy in the power game, according to Pere Vilanova, Director of the Strategic Affairs and Security Division of the Ministry of Defence. The victory of the pro-Europe candidate Tadic in Serbia, considered an example of the EU's "soft power", does not conceal, however, a resurgence of more hostile attitudes to some of the EU's policies, in the opinion of Gordana Djurovic, Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro. "It is easier to win elections by opposing the EU", agreed Krastev, who believes that the EU will now have to compete with Russia, following the latter's show of strength in Georgia and the power of attraction of the Putin style. This is not helped -- added the Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia, Bozidar Djelic -- by the Dutch veto (and which went against the favourable opinion of the rest of the EU members) of the implementation of the Stabilisation Association Agreement signed with the EU, "accusing us of not collaborating with The Hague in handing over Ratko Mladic”, who is suspected to be the man responsible for the massacre at Srebrenica.
Pandora's box
The representatives for Spain and Serbia agreed that the crisis in Georgia and Kosovo's independence were equivalent cases, the former for defending “the coherence of the Spanish government's position in its defence of international law”. Meanwhile, Djelic reiterated that “Serbia will never accept the independence of the province of Kosovo, which forms part of our past”, and recalled the consequences (with reference to the crisis in Georgia) of "opening Pandora's box". López Garrido praised the Serbian government’s constructive attitude and collaboration in allowing the deployment of EULEX, provided that it took place under the auspices of the United Nations. He also acknowledged that until now, the Spanish government had not had "particularly close relations with the region", but that Spain was committed to its stability, owing to the effects that this would have for the rest of Europe.
Patience with Turkey
However, Spain's role seemed to be more important in the case of Turkey, which Zapatero had visited recently for a meeting of the Alliance of Civilisations. Ishak Alaton, President of the Alarko group in Istanbul, expressed his gratitude for the efforts of Zapatero, whom he referred to as "the leader of a Catholic country". He admitted that "Europe still doesn’t know how to digest Turkey", and called on the EU to show "patience" following the latest political crisis, "to keep Turkey on the path toward democracy, so that it can become a member of the EU". To this end, Alaton believed, Turkey needed "a change of mentality, and emancipation that will take a generation or two".
