|
| Updated: 17-Jan-2000 | NATO Review |
Web edition
|
The
Stability Pact:
|
 The Special Coordinator of the Stability for South Eastern Europe, Bodo Hombach, at the opening session of the Stability Pact Summit, in Sarajevo on 29 July. (Reuters photo - 65Kb) |
The Stability Pact launched last summer sets
the political and practical framework for promoting peace and stability
in South-eastern Europe. With its broad-based membership - including the
European Union, the Group of Seven Industrialised Nations plus Russia
(G8), the countries of the region, and key organisations such as NATO
- the Pact's comprehensive approach of preventive diplomacy is breaking
new ground in policy towards the Balkans.
A dangerous trend has been arrested in this last year of the present
century. Too often the conflicts in South-eastern Europe became the conflicts,
or even the wars, of Europe. Equally, Europe too often carried out proxy
wars in the Balkans. This time, the conflicts in the region were controlled.
In the Kosovo crisis, through joint effort, a dangerous conflict was successfully
limited and isolated. On the eve of the new millennium that is a great
political success.
This success demands commitment from all of us: the Stability Pact for
South Eastern Europe is the political framework for maintaining it. A
policy of realistic steps is being developed, involving integration into
European and Euro-Atlantic structures, including NATO. One goal is that
of a European Union expanded by the addition of the countries of South-eastern
Europe. The countries of the region must have the possibility to come
a bit nearer to this reality each day.
Peace and stability require economic recovery, just as economic recovery
requires peace and stability. This is where the Stability Pact comes in,
with its perspective of integration, and its three equal "Working
Tables" addressing democratisation and the promotion of civil societies,
economic development, and questions of internal and external security.
At the Stability Pact Summit in Sarajevo at the end of July, Finnish
President Ahtisaari correctly spoke of the Stability Pact in terms of
a marathon. I would add that we want to set ourselves targets along the
way to our goal, so that we can measure ourselves by our achievements
at the intermediate stages.
To be politically responsible we must not awaken hopes which cannot be
fulfilled. But the Stability Pact must use concrete successes, based on
steering a clear course, to maintain acceptance and motivation. People's
lives must become a little bit better each day.
The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia remains a central problem and challenge.
People in Yugoslavia should know that the Stability Pact is not building
a wall around them. On the contrary: as soon as Yugoslavia has solved
its political problems, it can and should become a participant in the
Stability Pact with full rights. Until then, the Stability Pact will reach
out to the democratic forces in Serbia and Montenegro.
President Milosevic's policies have driven his country to political and
economic ruin. Aggressive nationalism, despotism and the preservation
of his personal power have, over the last decade, engulfed South-eastern
Europe in blood, hate and expulsions. Europe has not accepted this policy,
nor will it be tolerated in the future.
Against this background, and spurred by the systematic deportation of
the Albanian population from Kosovo, the West took a stand against the
regime in Belgrade. At stake were the European system of values and peace
in the region, which was also endangered by the destabilising movement
of tens of thousands of refugees into neighbouring countries.
Seldom have such difficult decisions relating to post-war Europe been
required. During the air strikes, all politicians carrying responsibility
in NATO countries grappled with the best approach. The flagrant abuse
of human rights, unrestrained terror, brutal expulsions, and the danger
of war engulfing the region could not go unchallenged. Yet, it is impossible
to entirely protect the innocent from the effects of a military campaign.
 Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari (left) seated next to Stability Pact Special Coordinator Bodo Hombach during a meeting of nine Balkan States on the eve of the Stability Pact Summit in Sarajevo spoke of the Stability Pact in terms of a marathon. (Belga photo - 41Kb) |
The Stability Pact can mobilise initiatives and resources, accelerate
processes and create political momentum. It does not have its own implementing
structure. For that it is dependent on its participants. As a framework
for coordination and political impulses, it must call on its participants
to act, and to channel existing activities. The Stability Pact Summit
in Sarajevo with 40 Heads of State and Government, and heads of international
organisations, made clear the firm will of the international community
to work together with all the countries of the region to implement the
Stability Pact with concrete actions.
We do not want to reinvent the wheel. We want to build on what already
exists: the varied levels of development of the countries of the region;
the initiatives and programmes already started; and the expertise of NATO,
the European Union (EU), the Organisation for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe, the United Nations, international
financial institutions, NGOs, and many others.
The Stability Pact differs from previous ways of approaching matters
in the region, because it has a vision for the region, a coherent policy
of preventive diplomacy, and custom-designed decision-making structures.
The Stability Pact's vision is that of a South-eastern Europe with its
future founded on peace, democracy, economic prosperity, and internal
and external security - South-eastern Europe which will eventually be
integrated into European and Euro-Atlantic structures. Looking back on
this century, this vision is something radically new… something that
we would not have dared believe possible even a few years ago.
Up to now, policy approaches concerning the Balkans have been directed
at symptoms and crises. The Stability Pact is the first attempt at addressing
the political and economic structural deficits in the countries of the
regions through a comprehensive approach of preventive diplomacy. An innovative
aspect is that it fully draws in the countries of South-eastern Europe
as equal partners, indeed as owners of the stabilisation process.
Above all, this approach makes use of the most successful concepts of
European post-war history: EU integration unified Western Europe; the
Helsinki Process helped overcome the division of our continent. We do
not have better instruments than these.
The Stability Pact is a type of Helsinki Process for South-eastern Europe.
Its decision-making structures, which consist of a system of three "Working
Tables", the results of which are brought together at the "Regional
Table", reflect closely the "Baskets" which grouped together
similar areas of policy in the Helsinki Process.
Only in the Stability Pact's structure does everyone come together at
the same table, including international financial institutions. And they
come together as equals. The Stability Pact is not an additional actor
on the international stage: it has the task of creating a genuine added
value among existing actors. It stimulates and accelerates action.
 A general view of the start of the Stability Pact Summit in Sarajevos Zetra Olympic centre on 29 July. Forty Heads of State and Government and the heads of international organisations meet to discuss how to promote peace and prosperity in South-Eastern Europe after a decade of bloodshed. (Reuters photo - 53Kb) |
Concrete work is well underway. The meeting of the "Regional Table"
on 16 September concluded the work plan for the "Working Tables".
It also agreed on a system of chairmanship and co-chairmanship for the
"Working Tables", all of which had their first meetings in October.
The system of co-chairmanship means that the countries in the region will
be hosting meetings of the "Working Tables", as well as playing
a key role in their preparation and follow-up.
On the substance of the Stability Pact's work, important progress has
been made in a number of key areas. For example, an investment charter
has been drawn up, which includes firm commitments by countries in the
region to improve their investment environment. A business advisory council
has been created, composed of senior business executives from Stability
Pact countries, including those in South-eastern Europe, which will be
closely involved in the implementation of the investment charter. In a
division of labour between the international banks, the World Bank is
preparing a comprehensive approach to regional development; the European
Investment Bank is leading on prioritising regional infrastructure projects;
and
the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is preparing a programme
for private sector development in the region.
An anti-corruption initiative has been launched as part of an overall
effort to fight organised crime. And a series of task forces are developing
integrated action plans on good governance, education, freedom of the
media, gender, ethnic minorities and refugees.
On the defence side, work is progressing well on confidence-building
measures, such as improved military-to-military contacts, control of arms
sales and reducing the amount of small arms in circulation, as well as
the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The next meeting
of the "Working Table on Security" will take place in Sarajevo
in early 2000.
A key date for the Stability Pact will be a regional financing conference
which will be held in the first quarter of 2000. This will provide the
resources necessary for many of the projects to be implemented. We are
now entering the next phase of practical implementation, in which projects
will be turned into construction sites.
 An SFOR soldier keeps watch from the tower of the Sarajevo Olympic stadium, where the Stability Pact Summit is held on 29 July. NATO clearly has a key role to play in a number of impor-tant aspects of the Pacts work. (Belga photo - 47Kb) |
In taking forward the work of the Stability Pact, I look forward to continuing with Lord Robertson the close working relationship established with NATO under his predecessor, Dr Javier Solana. The complexity and scale of the tasks we face is such that no one organisation or country can handle them alone. But NATO clearly has a key role to play in a number of important aspects of the Pact's work. Together, we have the chance to build a stable and prosperous future for South-eastern Europe.
|
Background
to the Stability Pact The
Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe was adopted at a special
meeting of Foreign Ministers, representatives of international organisations,
institutions and regional initiatives, in Cologne on 10 June 1999.
The Pact represents a political commitment by all the countries
and bodies concerned to a comprehensive, coordinated and strategic
approach to the region, replacing crisis management with preventive
diplomacy. The
Stability Pact provides the framework for all relevant existing
actors to achieve the common objectives in the fields of democratisation
and human rights, economic development and reconstruction, and external
and internal security. A
Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact is foreseen in the document
agreed at Cologne to facilitate the achievement of the objectives
of the Pact. Mr Bodo Hombach, formerly Minister in charge of the
German Federal Chancellor's Office, was appointed to the post in
July 1999.
|
