Balkans report highlights need for urgent action

Date: 23/03/2000

A year on from the NATO campaign against Serbian repression in Kosovo, the EU and its international partners can claim at least partial success in their efforts to stabilise the Balkan region, although recent tensions between ethnic Albanians and Serbs in Mitrovica are a cause for serious concern and President Slobodan Milosevic's grip on power appears as firm as ever.

Since the military campaign to protect innocent Kosovars was won, the challenge has been to make a victory of the peace for the region as a whole. But as a report drawn up by EU foreign policy supremo Javier Solana and External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten for this week's Lisbon summit shows, there is still much to be done to bring the region up to Europe's standards of democracy, human rights and economic prosperity.

There are encouraging signs here and there, such as the election of Ivica Racan's reformist government in Croatia which paved the way for a break with the isolationist polices of former President Franjo Tudjman. But, as Solana and Patten highlight in their paper, the Union is failing to use the massive amount of money, resources and political capital it has invested in the region as effectively as it could.

Its efforts to restore peace and stability have been undermined both by the multitude of different agencies operating on the ground in the Balkans and the layer upon layer of bureaucracy in Brussels which hampers attempts to take rapid decisions to deal with problems as they occur. And despite all the Union's hard work, most people in the region are unaware of who has provided the most help to rebuild their shattered economies.

It can only be hoped that EU leaders will take on board the hard-hitting messages contained in the Solana-Patten paper, recognise the need for urgent action to make better use of resources and inject fresh impetus into the Union's work in the Balkans. For as European Commission President Romano Prodi said this week: "We need heavy-duty political commitment and a determination to continue to provide the resources needed to get the job done."

Solana is perfectly placed to take on greater responsibility for effective implementation of EU policy in the Balkans and to act as the figurehead for what the Union is trying to achieve. National governments should give him the flexibility to take a lead in the region if they are sincere about honouring the commitments they made last year to provide a safe European home for the Balkan states.