For immediate release
16 March 2005
PRESS COMMUNIQUE - COMMUNIQUE PRESSE
SOUTH-EAST EUROPE: RECONCILING INTEGRATION AND FRAGMENTATION
Members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly gathered in Dubrovnik, Croatia, for their 59th Rose-Roth
seminar, on 12-14 March. More than 60 members of parliament from most NATO countries and partners,
including Assembly President Pierre Lellouche, gathered with other 70 participants from regional
governments, the civil society and academia, to discuss the situation in South-East Europe.
Almost 10 years after the Dayton agreement, the situation in the region has substantially improved and the
countries that emerged from the former Yugoslavia are overcoming past problems and instabilities. All of the
governments appear committed to Euro-Atlantic integration, although with varied degrees of success in their
efforts to reform. The prospect of integration into the European Union has worked as “a magnet”, as one
speaker underlined, providing a general framework for stabilization and transition.
At the same time, various grey areas persist in the region, making inevitable a mid- to long-term commitment
to the region of the international community, and in particular of the EU and NATO. Paradoxically, as the
region moves towards integration, the situation in Kosovo and Serbia and Montenegro would indicate that
the process of disintegration of the former Yugoslavia may not be over. The challenge is to manage this
process so that it does not harm the hard won stability within the region.
The state union of Serbia and Montenegro was described by many participants as increasingly dysfunctional
and hindering necessary reform and progress in both states. The referendum on the state union scheduled
in 2006 may indeed mark the end of what an analyst has described as “a Frankenstein state”.
According to James Lyon of the International Crisis Group, the government in Belgrade is clearly lagging
behind all the others in the region in terms of reforms, particularly in the economic and judiciary spheres.
Moreover, cooperation with the Hague tribunal, despite the recent surrender of some indicted criminals, is
still insufficient and many politicians in Belgrade are increasingly critical of Euro-Atlantic integration. Mr Lyon
criticized the international community for miscalculating that the EU “carrot” would suffice to stimulate reform
in Belgrade. Others clearly indicated that Serbia and Montenegro, together with Kosovo and Bosnia and
Herzegovina, felt frustrated in their progresses by being confined to a “cluster of ‘problematic countries’”, as
defined by Belgrade analyst Duska Anastasijevic.
The unresolved question of the status of Kosovo is another major concern for the international community as
much as a complicating factor for the situation in Serbia and Montenegro. From the animated but civilised
debate between representatives of Kosovo Albanian and Serb communities, participants gathered a sense of
urgency, as the international community is gearing up to make important decisions this year with regard to
Kosovo’s status. Again, defining and reconciling what is acceptable to the various forces involved will be a
massive challenge for the international community. Meanwhile, the role of NATO’s KFOR will continue to be
crucial in maintaining security.
The various options and viewpoints on the status of Kosovo will be analysed in more detail during the next
Rose-Roth seminar, which will take place in Montenegro, 16-18 June 2005.
In Dubrovnik, participants also discussed the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and EUFOR
commander general David Leakey gave a positive assessment of the takeover from NATO of the military
operations in the country. In many respects, EUFOR mission was the continuation of SFOR, yet there were
differences stemming from the fact that it was an EU instrument and would complement other EU actors, for
example, the police in the fight against organised crime. General Leakey also indicated that coordination with
