Black Sea states pulling together

Date: 19/02/1998

As they prepare for an historic meeting to formalise a charter for international cooperation, heads of state from 11 nations bordering the Black Sea face many challenges, including regional conflict and environmental pollution. By Mark Turner assesses the significance of the move for Europe WHEN Black Sea heads of state meet in Odessa next month, they will attempt to institutionalise an increasingly interesting experiment taking place on the EU's south-east corner.

Almost six years ago, in June 1992, leaders from 11 countries representing over 300 million people met in Turkey and took the first tentative steps towards a Black Sea economic community.

According to a Turkish government Internet site, the Istanbul launch of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) was "a symbol for a new regional cooperation model", a forum in which members would "come together and decide how valuable assets in their possession could be employed for mutual benefit and prosperity".

At BSEC's heart was a recognition that if the Black Sea states could only learn to live with each other and start trading, they could develop a "sea of peace, stability and prosperity" - and make some much-needed money in the meantime.

Over the past half decade, BSEC has become an increasingly prominent feature of the Black Sea's economic landscape, spawning environmental, transport and industrial cooperation in a way which would have been unthinkable only a decade earlier.

It was a bold move. Amongst BSEC's founding members were Greece and Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia, a host of former Soviet Union states just finding their feet, and the only slightly better established former Communist countries of Bulgaria and Romania.

The euphoria which initially accompanied the collapse of Communism had by then been replaced by growing economic and political tension among Moscow's former allies, and few analysts were confident about the new democracies' chances of survival.

But half a decade later, despite open hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh and rising tension between Greece and Turkey, cooperation among the Black Sea states continues to grow.

At next month's BSEC meeting, participants hope to draw up a charter giving the organisation international legal status, which officials hope will place it on the global political and economic map. "To have the charter could of course help our activities, and also increase the influence of our organisation on other institutions," said a Turkish official.

BSEC has quickly adopted all the trappings of a modern international grouping: a parliamentary assembly, a council of ministers, a trade and development bank and business fora.

Decisions are taken at meetings of foreign affairs ministers, supported by 'sessional officials', expert working groups and a permanent secretariat housed in Istanbul. The organisation even boasts a rotating six-month presidency, currently held by Armenia.

Much as in the early days of European integration, BSEC's focus is strictly economic, with few political elements.

Although the Istanbul summit declaration talks of "shared values such as democracy based on human rights and fundamental freedoms", officials explain that any formal political cooperation would not be feasible given the organisation's membership.

It is clear, nevertheless, that BSEC serves fundamental political ends.

"The reason behind this cooperation was the belief that through trade and cooperation between our countries, we could end conflicts," explained a Turkish diplomat.

To achieve that objective, 17 working groups have been set up on issues such as transport, communications, energy, mining, tourism, agriculture and health care.

The participating states have also started to talk of a free trade area: a long-term dream perhaps, but not inconsistent with globalisation, according to Ankara. "We feel this could serve our common interest," said a Turkish expert. "We do not think that Greece's EU membership or our customs union with the Union need pre-empt this possibility."

The European Commission is not convinced. "This is not very realistic in the near future," said a regional expert. "Many of these countries are not even members of the World Trade Organisation. Anyway, this is a fairly loose organisation of nations with rather disparate interests. They have not achieved much yet in concrete terms."

Nonetheless, the longer-term potential of BSEC has not been lost on the Commission, which sees the organisation as a healthy development in an unstable part of the world.

In a recent communication, it called on the Union "to develop a new approach to regional cooperation around the Black Sea ... taking into account both the common interests of Black Sea states and EU interests in the region".

The Commission says this could be achieved through the Phare, Tacis and Meda technical assistance programmes, Interreg funds (for Greece and its neighbours), closer contacts with BSEC and more dialogue on justice and home affairs issues. The EU has already spent half a billion ecu on Black Sea regional integration from 1991-1996, and gave more than 2.5 billion ecu to BSEC members over the same period.

The communication asserts that "the Commission is keen to support those regional initiatives whose participants demonstrate a clear commitment to regional cooperation ... [It] believes that the importance of regional cooperation will increase as the Union enlarges, so that no dividing lines are drawn on the European continent." EU foreign ministers will discuss the document later this year.

The reason for Europe's interest is clear. If the region gets its act together, it could soon become a crucial transit point for energy supplies from Russia, Kazakstan and the Caspian Sea - currently attracting huge interest within the oil industry.

As EU dependence on external fuel sources steadily increases, the Union will need to foster trade ties and stability in its supplier countries and the regions through which fuel is transported.

Since one of BSEC's major aims is to develop modern infrastructure linking road, rail and sea transport, and to build viable pipelines to convey oil and gas quickly and safely, the five-year-old grouping could prove increasingly valuable in the future.

Alexandros Philon, who as secretary-general of Greece's foreign affairs ministry participates in both bodies, wrote in a recent paper that "of particular importance to Greek interests is the fact that the vast quantities of crude oil from Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan will soon be channelled to Russia and Georgian Black Sea ports, and from there to the international markets."

He added: "Greek foreign policy, despite the problems faced by these states, aims at developing institutional links at all levels with these countries."

The European Commission set up a Black Sea Regional Energy Centre in Sofia in 1995, both to push the region to adopt the Energy Charter which binds states to treat foreign investors like domestic companies and will become fully operational next month, and to give the EU institutional access to Black Sea energy projects.

At a recent meeting of ministers from both regions, Energy Commissioner Christos Papoutsis made his intentions quite clear. "With energy cooperation we guarantee our security of supply, and we lay the foundations for the strengthening and maintenance of peace."

Although its energy ties are pursued outside BSEC structures, the Union occasionally attends BSEC meetings as an observer and is asking to do so more frequently in the future.

The EU is also keen to keep a close watch over the region's huge armies -

Russia, Turkey and Ukraine have the three largest armed forces in Europe - and its large arms manufacturing capability.

It is clear that for the foreseeable future, security in the region will be dominated by NATO and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and trade liberalisation will be promoted through the Union and the WTO. Nor is the Black Sea Economic Cooperation group a viable alternative to the EU for Turkey, say analysts.

Nonetheless, as the vastly different states of the region slowly build ties - even if their words exceed their deeds - they are earning increasing respect from the international community and, perhaps more importantly, each other. BSEC could well become a force to watch during the next 50 years.

Major feature on the forthcoming meeting of the Black Sea Economic Community (BSEC), Odessa, March 1998.