20/06/2003 11:47
On Friday the Thessaloniki summit will bring together the heads of state and government of the European Union, the EU accession states and the Balkan countries.
It offers an opportunity to take stock of more than 10 years of radical change, in which France and the EU have played leading roles.
We can draw three important lessons from the recent history of the Balkans. The first is the imperative of unity - a lesson that has been underlined by more recent events. It was only the unity of the international community, not least of Europe and the US, that brought peace and stability to the Balkans. Second, courage is essential: whenever the international community has shown determination, as in Bosnia in 1995 and in Kosovo in 1999, it has broken the cycle of violence and fanaticism. Last, change requires a clear vision. The Zagreb summit in November 2000, initially proposed by President Jacques Chirac, set out a simple goal: EU accession. The prospects for the Balkan states' rapprochement with, and eventual integration into, the EU were clearly mapped out.
This ambition requires commitment by the Balkan countries and the EU. The future of these countries is above all in the hands of their peoples. It is up to them to confirm the choice of Europe - and accept the consequences.
This choice presupposes support for European values: democracy, tolerance, respect for others and the absolute repudiation of ethnic and religious hatred and any recourse to violence. These principles must be translated into concrete action: implementation of the rule of law, through the balance of powers and protection of individual freedoms; exemplary co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; trial of war criminals, starting with Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic and Ante Gotovina; and the rooting out of organised crime. Some governments still do not fully appreciate the commitment required from prospective EU members. The EU must ensure that they do.
Progressive integration into the EU also entails economic reforms to nurture transparent and open social market economies. Here, too, the rule of law is paramount. At the same time, the region's peoples and countries must strive to restore the bonds of understanding and friendship between them. As the Zagreb summit declaration puts it: "Democracy and regional reconciliation and co-operation on the one hand, and the rapprochement of each of these countries with the EU on the other, form a whole."
The EU is determined to support those countries that choose Europe. To help them, it offers stabilisation and association agreements, which combine the opening up of local markets, technical assistance and political dialogue. One of the main objectives of these agreements must be stronger co-operation between the region's countries. Financial assistance is also important: through the community assistance for reconstruction and development programme, the EU is granting €4.65bn ($5.43bn) over six years; this is on top of financial support over the past four years of more than €8bn.
As well as being a big economic force in the Balkans, the EU is a close political and military partner. In Macedonia it helped mediate the Ohrid agreement, which sealed the institutional compromise between the opposing parties. It was also the EU that secured the creation, in February, of the state of Serbia-Montenegro. Since then, the EU has taken over from the Nato forces in Macedonia and could do the same in Bosnia. The Europeans have become responsible for most of the international peacekeeping and reconstruction efforts in the region, in co-operation with the US.
Each Balkan country must move at its own pace. But the EU forms a whole and Europe à la carte is not an option. Membership of the EU cannot be reduced to a series of formalities; every country has to embrace the European project, that of an ever-closer union between member states and peoples. The representatives of civil society in the Balkans are urging us to ensure that the accession of their countries, when the time comes, sets the seal on a transformation of their societies. They are asking us not to relax the criteria for EU accession, conscious that there would be no point in joining a Europe that set so little store by its values.
It is in this spirit that we are preparing Thessaloniki. Our watchwords are not only ambition and hope - because it is absolutely clear that Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia-Montenegro are destined to join Europe - but also responsibility, because the path to Europe is a hard one, demanding compliance with stringent political, moral, economic and social conditions. To attempt to deny this would be to betray our fellow European citizens. Asserting it means affirming our confidence in a future of peace that we shall all share.
It offers an opportunity to take stock of more than 10 years of radical change, in which France and the EU have played leading roles.
We can draw three important lessons from the recent history of the Balkans. The first is the imperative of unity - a lesson that has been underlined by more recent events. It was only the unity of the international community, not least of Europe and the US, that brought peace and stability to the Balkans. Second, courage is essential: whenever the international community has shown determination, as in Bosnia in 1995 and in Kosovo in 1999, it has broken the cycle of violence and fanaticism. Last, change requires a clear vision. The Zagreb summit in November 2000, initially proposed by President Jacques Chirac, set out a simple goal: EU accession. The prospects for the Balkan states' rapprochement with, and eventual integration into, the EU were clearly mapped out.
This ambition requires commitment by the Balkan countries and the EU. The future of these countries is above all in the hands of their peoples. It is up to them to confirm the choice of Europe - and accept the consequences.
This choice presupposes support for European values: democracy, tolerance, respect for others and the absolute repudiation of ethnic and religious hatred and any recourse to violence. These principles must be translated into concrete action: implementation of the rule of law, through the balance of powers and protection of individual freedoms; exemplary co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; trial of war criminals, starting with Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic and Ante Gotovina; and the rooting out of organised crime. Some governments still do not fully appreciate the commitment required from prospective EU members. The EU must ensure that they do.
Progressive integration into the EU also entails economic reforms to nurture transparent and open social market economies. Here, too, the rule of law is paramount. At the same time, the region's peoples and countries must strive to restore the bonds of understanding and friendship between them. As the Zagreb summit declaration puts it: "Democracy and regional reconciliation and co-operation on the one hand, and the rapprochement of each of these countries with the EU on the other, form a whole."
The EU is determined to support those countries that choose Europe. To help them, it offers stabilisation and association agreements, which combine the opening up of local markets, technical assistance and political dialogue. One of the main objectives of these agreements must be stronger co-operation between the region's countries. Financial assistance is also important: through the community assistance for reconstruction and development programme, the EU is granting €4.65bn ($5.43bn) over six years; this is on top of financial support over the past four years of more than €8bn.
As well as being a big economic force in the Balkans, the EU is a close political and military partner. In Macedonia it helped mediate the Ohrid agreement, which sealed the institutional compromise between the opposing parties. It was also the EU that secured the creation, in February, of the state of Serbia-Montenegro. Since then, the EU has taken over from the Nato forces in Macedonia and could do the same in Bosnia. The Europeans have become responsible for most of the international peacekeeping and reconstruction efforts in the region, in co-operation with the US.
Each Balkan country must move at its own pace. But the EU forms a whole and Europe à la carte is not an option. Membership of the EU cannot be reduced to a series of formalities; every country has to embrace the European project, that of an ever-closer union between member states and peoples. The representatives of civil society in the Balkans are urging us to ensure that the accession of their countries, when the time comes, sets the seal on a transformation of their societies. They are asking us not to relax the criteria for EU accession, conscious that there would be no point in joining a Europe that set so little store by its values.
It is in this spirit that we are preparing Thessaloniki. Our watchwords are not only ambition and hope - because it is absolutely clear that Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia-Montenegro are destined to join Europe - but also responsibility, because the path to Europe is a hard one, demanding compliance with stringent political, moral, economic and social conditions. To attempt to deny this would be to betray our fellow European citizens. Asserting it means affirming our confidence in a future of peace that we shall all share.
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