U.S., EU Committed to Balkan Democracy, Prosperity
Washington " The United States and Europe are deeply committed to supporting democratic institutions and revitalizing economic growth throughout the Balkans, says Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Washington — The United States and Europe are deeply committed to supporting democratic institutions and revitalizing economic growth throughout the Balkans, says Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg.
“That commitment is not just a rhetorical one,” Steinberg said during a March 29 briefing at the Washington Foreign Press Center. “From the beginning [of the Obama administration] we have been engaged through frequent high-level visits to the region, starting with the vice president’s trip last May to Sarajevo, Belgrade and Pristina. I myself have had the opportunity to travel to the region half a dozen times since becoming deputy secretary, and I have to say for the most part I have been very encouraged by what I see in the years since I last served in government.”
Steinberg leaves April 6 on a trip that will take him first to Slovenia and then to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Kosovo. Steinberg will be joined in Sarajevo by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos, whose country holds the European Union presidency. He said each of his trips has been with EU counterparts, which reflects the U.S.-EU partnership.
Steinberg described Slovenia as a partner in promoting stability in the Balkans, and also as a NATO ally, particularly in Afghanistan. He said he was pleased to see positive movement toward an arbitration agreement with Croatia on a border dispute between the two countries. The resolution of this disagreement would remove a major hurdle to EU accession talks for Croatia.
A March 20 conference in Brdo, Slovenia, where seven Balkan countries urged the European Union to stay committed to enlargement, was “a welcome example of how the countries in the region can come together to promote stability and opportunity,” Steinberg said.
One force for stability in the region has been Kosovo’s independence, he added.
“It’s experienced enormous progress in its first two years as an independent state, including successful first elections in November, strengthening regional cooperation through its border demarcation with Macedonia, and establishing diplomatic relations with its neighbors and improving inter-ethnic relations through the decentralization process,” Steinberg said.
Within Kosovo, Steinberg said, the United States and European Community want to encourage further integration. “We recognize that despite the formal differences, that there are common interests there and that it is important to work in ways that do not create greater instability in the region. So we are going to be very much focused on pragmatic levels of cooperation and how to facilitate that and to increase dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina,” he said.
Steinberg highlighted some of the positive developments on Serbia’s EU integration, such as visa liberalization for Serbian citizens travelling to the EU and the country’s application for EU membership.
“I have also been encouraged that Serbia has made it clear it understands the importance of cooperation with the Hague tribunal [the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia] as a key to integration into the Euro-Atlantic community,” he said. “We expect Serbia to make every effort to ensure that the remaining fugitives Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic will be arrested and transferred to The Hague.”
Daniel Serwer at the United States Institute of Peace’s Centers for Innovation says that although Belgrade is taking a hard line against Kosovo’s independence, some leaders within Serbia are starting to become worried that this unresolved issue will affect their EU prospects.
Serwer suggested one thing that would help would be for Serbia to publish all the data on the aid that it has given to the north of Kosovo, which is dominated by ethnic Serbs.
During his trip to the region Steinberg will visit Sarajevo. In Bosnia’s election year, the United States is urging the government and leaders to work together to serve the interests of all citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Steinberg said this means continuing to make progress on Bosnia’s integration into Europe and Euro-Atlantic institutions.
“We don’t want to see Bosnia fall behind its partners in the region. It deserves and should be right in that same rank as the others, and we will do what we can to help facilitate that,” Steinberg said. “And I think it is particularly important in this election year for all of the leaders, all the party leaders, to have a positive vision about their country, to avoid the kind of divisions that can hamper Bosnia’s progress and to work to set the conditions for even further progress after the elections in October.”
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