Balkans need to be
developed to build a safe and secure Europe -
FF
Date: Tuesday,
January 20
Topic: Foreign
Affairs
Fianna Fáil
Dublin South East Deputy and Dublin European Election
Candidate Eoin Ryan TD. The Irish Presidency of the European
Union offers Ireland an extraordinary opportunity to shape the
future of European enlargement for the better. It will undergo
its largest enlargement yet, in May an additional 10 members
from central Europe, while the subsequent further enlargement
(in 2007) will bring in Romania and Bulgaria.
However
this will mean that the nations of the western Balkans,
Croatia, Bosnia Hercegovina, Serbia Montenegro, (including
Kosovo) will be encircled by the EU, in effect creating a
black hole of underdevelopment, ethnic tension and political
instability within the geographical heart of the EU.
It
has taken 15 years for the nations of Central Europe to get to
a level where they could join the EU, but unlike the nations
of former Yugoslavia they did not have to deal with the impact
of savage ethnic conflicts, NATO bombing and
sanctions.
Wars have killed hundreds of thousands in
the region; over a million people were displaced (and still
are) the widespread destruction of critical infrastructure
remains in many places unrepaired. While steady economic
growth has started in the region the legacy of conflict still
has to be overcome.
Poverty and unemployment remain
widespread GNI remains low while Croatia is now relatively
high at $4640, for the other countries it is on average below
$1500. Worse the nexus of organised crime, narcotics and
corruption in these countries represents not only a serious
impediment to progress but a very real threat to the security
of the EU. There are credible reports that Al-Qaeda is
building cells in Bosnia and Kosovo, and in the region as a
whole they are thousands of militant extremists with easy
access to weaponry. Poverty and weapons are a pretty
combustible mixture. The region remains plagued with the
problems of human trafficking, narcotics and cigarette
smuggling, clandestine migration, money laundering and the
links which still exist between rogue elements of the police
and army and organised crime and in some cases extremist
parties and terrorist groups.
In 2007 these countries
will be surrounded by the EU, geographically at the heart of
Europe but excluded from the EU and all of the rights and
benefits of EU membership. It will be the political equivalent
of a black hole no longer in the EUs backyard but right in its
midst, if we are to prevent this nightmare scenario we must
act now.
Ireland should make the Western Balkans a
priority of its Presidency and ensure that the EU and the new
accession countries launch a joint aid programme for the
region. The aid programme should be designed to build national
capacities, reform judiciaries, root out corruption, enhance
policing, and most of all build support for democratic values
as a countervailing force to rising hard line nationalism.
While the new nations of the European Union could not be
expected to make substantial donations in terms of cash, they
have built up significant expertise during the lead in to
accession which they could make available to help the nation
building effort.
Ireland too has significant public
sector expertise which could be used to assist the nations to
build effective Governance Structures. The integrity, honesty,
fairness, and commitment to "doing right by the citizen" of
the Irish Public Service has been one of the key contributors
to our economic development. If that same culture could
inculcate in the developing public administrations of the
region it could play a huge role in encouraging foreign direct
investment. In addition the Irish Public Service has a huge
amount of experience (and intellectual property) in building
complex computer systems to ensure compliance with EU
regulations and to provide services to the public e.g. in
Agriculture, Revenue, Civil Registration. The sharing of
expertise and IPR could help to kick start the journey of
these new Governments to membership of the EU.
The
challenges faced by the nations of the Western Balkans are
huge, and they need our help if they are not slide back into
the quagmire of instability, ethnic conflict and outright war.
We can intervene now and pay the price of an aid programme or
wait until the situation sours and pay a far greater sum in
blood and treasure to restore peace again. I believe that
Ireland should use its Presidency of the EU to push for a new
Marshall Plan, this time from Europe to assist the peoples of
the Balkans to build new nations and lives from the ashes of
the former Yugoslavia. Failure to act may well condemn the
peoples of the Balkans to a re-run of the wars of the late
20th Century and Europe to another bloody and preventable
chapter in its history. By acting boldly Ireland and Europe
can show the people that the democratic nations of the EU that
we have not forgotten their plight make a tangible difference
to their lives and not least of all ensure the security of
both the region and Europe as a
whole.
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