The future of security and stability in South Eastern Europe

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me first thank you for your kind invitation to address you at this crucial stage for the future of South Eastern Europe the region to which I have dedicated myself as Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact for the last six years.

Stability and security in South Eastern Europe have been at the core of the Stability Pact’s mandate when it was launched back in 1999.

In these days the spotlight is on Kosovo and on the possible political tensions and security threats that might stem from its imminent declaration of independence.

The issue of the status of Kosovo does not fall within the Stability Pact’s mandate, but one of our biggest achievements has been to integrate Kosovo, represented by UNMIK according to UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and it’s Provisional Institutions of Self Government, fully into virtually all regional processes under the Stability Pact. This allowed us to ensure implementation of our initiatives in Kosovo, avoid that Kosovo becomes a black hole on the map of South Eastern Europe, and connect it to an active grid of regional co-operation networks.

But we should not focus solely on Kosovo today but look at the wider regional landscape. The picture of today’s South Eastern Europe looks considerably brighter compared to the situation of when the Stability Pact was launched, in 1999.

The region is now more politically stable, economically viable and a more secure place. This is not only thanks to our efforts, for sure, but Stability Pact activities certainly have been instrumental in re-establishing economic and political links between former warring parties. Thorny bilateral issues, such as the return of refugees could be addressed in a regional framework.   The very concept of regional co-operation, which was not extremely welcome back in 1999, is now widely accepted in the region as a valuable contribution to political, economic and social development.

This increased maturity of the region is the main reason behind the transformation of the internationally sponsored Stability Pact into a regionally owned and led framework, the Regional Co-operation Council (RCC). The handover will be formalised very soon, on 27 February in Sofia.

Talking about political maturity and improved security, the fact that the next NATO Summit will be held in the region, in Bucharest, in April, is an indicator of this maturity and stability and clearly shows to what extent the situation has fundamentally changed.

NATO enlargements, past and prospective, have helped to improve the security situation in South Eastern Europe, and thus to underpin political stability. It is important that all of the three current applicants from the region receive a clear and positive message from the Summit, to reward their reform efforts and to further consolidate security and stability at this delicate juncture. At the same time, it is extremely important that these countries continue to pursue these critical reforms to a successful conclusion regardless of the decisions that may come in Bucharest.    

Security co-operation will be one of the core priorities for the RCC, which will work closely with NATO just as much as the Stability Pact has over the years.. However, one of the key lessons drawn from the Stability Pact’s experience is the strong interdependence between security and political, economic and social development in the region. 

In general, the Stability Pact has worked well with the governments of the region to achieve a credible and consistent regional co-operation programme, which the Regional Cooperation Council and its Secretariat will continue to promote.

This regional programme draws its strength from a range of successful Stability Pact initiatives, task forces and working groups dealing with such diverse issues as   education, media, parliamentary co-operation, trade liberalisation, energy, disaster response and prevention, migration, defence conversion and the list goes on.

In all these fields, major progress was achieved.

The centrepieces of this regional agenda are energy and trade. The regional energy market is now fully integrated with the EU via the Energy Community Treaty, signed in 2005 and that enhances energy security both in the region and in the EU.

The region is now a single large, free trade area, which will boost intraregional trade and will make the region much more attractive for investors, both domestic and international.

In addition, the South East European Investment Committee will enhance economic development through regional co-operation on investment promotion policies and reforms.    A renewed coordination effort will enhance the results on regional infrastructure.

South Eastern Europe is also working hard to promote the knowledge economy and to bridge the digital divide.    Most recently, the establishment of a regional Center for eGovernance Development will accelerate the pace of eGovernance activity in the region and quicken development of eEconomy and eBusiness in the region.

A powerful complement and key to regional political co-operation, the Regional Secretariat for Parliamentary Co-operation in Sofia will assist South East European parliaments in their networking, information exchange and training activities. It will strengthen the national assemblies’ capacity to oversee government activities improving the quality of democracy in each country and ensure solid legislation and needed reforms across the spectrum.

Fighting organised crime and corruption is an important component of this overall agenda. The SECI Transborder Crime Fighting Center in Bucharest is an important hub for these activities and is gaining credentials as a serious partner with international partners such as Europol, Interpol and others. Allow me to say in this context that the American support in getting SECI, the South East European Co-operative Initiative, going in 1996 was an important spark to get many other activities going, ultimately also leading to the establishment of the Stability Pact.

The Regional Anticorruption Initiative will continue to address the difficult problem of corruption in the region, and work to promote the rule of law and transparency that are so critical to progress and political stability.

In the field of disaster preparedness and prevention, the countries of the region have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will further enhance regional co-operation and regional consultation in the field of disaster management and response and commit the participating countries to assume more technical and financial responsibility for preventing, preparing for and dealing with disasters.    Significantly, the Stability Pact has provided an umbrella for a variety of actors – NATO, the World Bank, the EU, and the UN -- to pool resources in this field and to share knowledge with South East European countries and are joining their efforts to organise a SEECP   Ministerial meeting on this topic.

Taken together, these Stability Pact initiatives and task forces represent a credible regional programme which is increasingly regionally owned.

The RCC, led by Secretary General Biscevic, will inherit the role of the Stability Pact in promoting and supporting regional co-operation in South East Europe, and in sustaining the Euro-Atlantic integration of all countries in the region.

When addressing the future of security and stability of South East Europe, regional co-operation and Euro-Atlantic integration are two main conditions for both.

It took the Stability Pact a long time to convincingly demonstrate that the two processes are inextricably intertwined, and to overcome the fear of some countries that regional co-operation was proposed to them as an antechamber or a alternative to EU integration.

Today the message is accepted that co-operating with your neighbours is both an obligatory element of the path to the EU and to NATO as well as a valuable reinforcement to domestic political, economic and social reforms.

And thanks to this enhancement of regional ownership, regional co-operation is no longer seen as a condition imposed from powerful external actors but as having an inherent value and being in the interest of the South East European countries themselves.

The European Commission has made it clear that the RCC will be its main interlocutor on all regional co-operation matters in South Eastern Europe, particularly with regard to identifying established assistance priorities and implementing programmes and projects.

The RCC, as a fully regionally owned and led framework and with its set of initiatives, will be a key actor in consolidating stability and security in the region, building on the Stability Pact legacy while giving countries in the region the core responsibility for their own affairs.

In my view this is quite a success story for South Eastern Europe – a success story which should be benchmarked. While every region is different in its political, economic and social context, there are lessons, which can be drawn and might be useful also for other regions, such as for example the Black Sea region.

As I close, let me look to the future and here simply underscore that the future will present the region with new challenges and issues.   With a strong co-operative framework in place, the Regional Co-operation Council, with an effective secretariat drawn from the region and with the outstanding regional leadership of Secretary General Biscevic, I am confident that the momentum of broad progress created by the Stability Pact, will continue and South Eastern Europe will be able to take its place in the EU and NATIO and contribute to both in a matter of years.

This success is on the horizon, it is absolutely achievable, and it will result from the labour and commitment of the region itself.    In this respect, I am pleased to have made a contribution, but believe that the true thanks go to the governments and people of South Eastern Europe.

Thank you very much.