Rupel: European Future for Bolstering Balkans Security

Brdo pri Kranju, 21 September

Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel has told the opening of a two-day conference on security in the Western Balkans that giving the countries of the region a European future is the solution to the region's security issues.

In his address at the conference in Brdo pri Kranju on Friday, Rupel said that much of the blame for instability in the region falls on the idea of a Great Serbia. According to Rupel, the best way to consolidate Balkan security is for the remainder of the former Yugoslav countries and Albania to follow Slovenia in becoming EU members.
The foreign minister hopes that Croatia, followed by Montenegro and Serbia, would in the future follow in Slovenia's footsteps. He added that Bosnia-Herzegovina was a special issue that needed to be dealt with, while the future of Kosovo also required special attention.
He said Kosovo could pose a threat to regional security unless it was tackled in the right fashion. He believes that every serious solution for resolving the issue must respect three guidelines set down by the Contact Group for Kosovo: Kosovo cannot be divided, it cannot return to the status before 1999 and it cannot be annexed to other Albanian territories.
Another important factor in stabilising the region is the loosening of EU visa requirements for these countries, Rupel said. According to him, such a move would increase public support for the EU in these countries.
Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe Maud de Boer Baquicchio said in her address that all of the countries made tangible progress in recent years. In her opinion however there is still a great security risk in the region. According to her, organised crime, human trafficking and corruption are the biggest hurdles to peace and stability. Good governance is key to overcoming the shortfalls that threaten security in the region, she said and added that giving the countries a European future was important.
Former UN High Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina Wolfgang Petritsch believes that the situation in the region is getting better. In his opinion, the countries must introduce greater reforms in order to bolster security.
The main challenges that need to be tackled in order to bolster security are the unfinished process of the formation of countries in the region, poor cooperation among the countries and the weak and ineffective judiciary.
The participants of the conference, staged by the Euro-Atlantic Council of Slovenia, are expected to take part in a dinner with Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel and State Secretary for European Affairs Janez Lenarcic later tonight. On Saturday, the conference is to focus on the causes of instability in the region, the future of Kosovo and the role of the EU and NATO in the Balkans.

Rupel: European Future for Bolstering Balkans Security

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