EU's enlargement to the Western Balkans should be the bloc's priority, as peace and stability in the region cannot be secured without its European prospects, French international relations expert Jacques Rupnik told a meeting in Ljubljana. However, this enlargement will require a new approach, Rupnik said at Tuesday's panel.
Rupnik, a research director at the French Centre for International Studies and Research (CERI), said that nationalist politics in the Western Balkans cannot be put to the side without a clear and credible promise of a better future, offered by the EU.
Rupnik believes that Slovenia, which is to preside over the EU in the first half of 2008, could play an important role in this expansion, as no other EU country is better acquainted with the situation and active in the region.
According to him, the arguments for enlargement have to be presented clearly because the EU is currently assailed by doubts as it decides between expansion and the need for deeper institutional links.
He proposed that the enlargement to the Balkans be carried out in two phases. In the first phase, the Western Balkan countries would be offered a limited membership, from where they would then progress to full-fledged membership.
Regarding Turkey's bid to join the bloc, Rupnik is worried that accepting the country could transform the EU into a merely geopolitical project instead of the current political and economic union.
Moreover, Turkey's entry is possible only as a projects of the elites, as the people are against its membership in the bloc, he said.
|
Subscribe
To receive our weekly newsletter by e-mail subscribe here.
HOME
Government | Calendar of Events | Media Room | About Slovenia
Sitemap | Contact us | About us | Graphic version | Slovensko
© Government Communication Office