|
Significant progress has been made across the Balkans – both east and west – since the early 1990s. The improvements are remarkable yet there remains a substantial distance to cover. This is mainly due to the role of networks, the pervasive nature of informality, the kind of borders that cut across the countries and societies of Southeast Europe, and the still limited scope of regional co-operation.
In effect, transactions undertaken outside the scope of the formal economy, discretionary applicability of rules and regulations, corruption, particularistic social capital and emigration, continue to be highlighted as the region’s main characteristics. In addition, regional co-operation across all sectors continues to be approached with caution and hesitation. These characteristics imply that there exist visible and invisible borders that cannot be easily overcome. Moreover, there exists a distance between formality and substance across the region. This distance breeds conditions of insecurity and unpredictability and, in turn, nurtures reliance on informal networks and practices. Thus, security - expanded in its definition and in all its dimensions - remains the main issue in the Balkans.
It appears that until now and in spite of advances in specific sectors, regional co-operation has taken only a limited dynamic of its own within the region; the end-goal of all actors is EU accession thus all else takes on secondary importance. The role of the EU as a regional anchor and a promoter of regional co-operation are indispensable. The EU is instrumental and indeed for the time being, it appears that it is required to both push and pull this progress across the Balkans.
At present, the EU is confronted with a series of internal challenges, not least related to digesting enlargement and reflecting on what will follow the European Constitutional Treaty. Nevertheless, it is essential that the Western Balkans in particular do not cease to be a priority for the EU.
2006 is a milestone year for the Balkans. The future of Serbia and Montenegro has been decided via referendum, the talks on Kosovo are
5 underway to resolve the status issue, the EU Commission will give its ruling on whether Bulgaria and Romania have met membership conditions. At the same time, Croatia and FYROM have come farther along the EU membership path, while Bosnia, Serbia and Albania have also started treading on it. Enlargement fatigue ought not to risk compromising the EU’s influence in the region, nor the region’s prospects for co-operation, modernisation and security.
|
