STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Have you visited eBayTM lately? The Worlds Marketplace where you can buy and sell practically anything keeps getting better. From consumer electronics to movies, find it all on eBay. What are you waiting for? Try eBay today. http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/ebay ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [Hombach, Soros, Djindjic and Albanian President Rexhep Meidani all agree: Bring back the Dual Monarchy. Who can argue with the world's pre-eminent humanitarian authorities? If God is with us, who can be against? "Five people were injured when protesters threw rocks at riot police and 13 were arrested as demonstrators surrendered after a standoff of several hours." Some ingrates - you know, Slavs, Roma, Jews - will never appreciate how good they had it under the Hapburgs.] Wednesday July 4, 12:10 AM Balkans urged to develop regional cooperation SALZBURG, Austria, July 3 (AFP) - Top European business and political leaders urged Balkan countries to put aside historical rivalries and build regional cooperation needed for economic development at a three-day summit which closed here Tuesday. At the European Economic Summit held in the Austrian city of Salzburg Balkan leaders were urged to abandon the divisive practices which have picked up the name "Balkanisation" if they want to attract foreign investment and into the European Union. Attended by some 660 top business and political leaders, including a dozen heads of state and government, the summit organized by the World Economic Forum was dominated by the Balkans, which is still plagued by conflict. The countries of the region, divided by national rivalries, have known conflict more than cooperation over the centuries, but the prospect of EU membership is forcing them to renew ties. "It cannot be said clearly enough that regional cooperation is a precondition for entry into the European Union," said Bodo Hombach, the coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, an international aid program put into place after the 1999 NATO action in Kosovo. "But the message doesn't seem to get through to everyone," he said. Croatian Presient Stjepan Mesic said at the summit that his country prefers working through bilateral agreements than multilateral arrangements, however. He did not see the point in creating a structure only to later dissolve into the EU. Until recently "we had a tradition in the region where countries didn't cooperate with their neighbors but had a big brother outside. Everyone in Europe had a friend in the Balkans," said Hombach. France had historical ties with Serbia and Germany with Croatia, for example. The ideas of sharing water resources or electricity is only just beginning to be considered, he said. Hombach's message was echoed by Jean Lemierre, the president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which invests, and provides loans, in the region. "The context for development should be the region," he said. US financier George Soros warned that a web of bilateral agreements in the region would not suffice as they make trade and investment more difficult. "Unless they move more aggressively in creating larger areas of free trade and create conditions conducive to investment they won't get the private investment they seek," Soros told journalists. Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was urging business leaders at the summit to speed investments into his country to help ensure stable development. He said he saw EU membership for Yugoslavia as a possibility around 2010. Hombach said eight of the region's countries have signed a memorandum of understanding pledging to liberalise some of their trade beginning next year. Albanian President Rexhep Meidani called the memorandum a "positive step in regional cooperation." He said he was convinced that the Balkans should move "from the concept of sovereignty to interdependence," although he conceded that the idea was controversial. "Our markets are all small" but together they total 54 million consumers, he said. "If we adopt common legislation, the same customs regulations, we can attract serious investments," he said. Summiteers concluded that the EU enlargement process had not lost momentum after the rejection by Irish voters last month of the Nice Treaty, which contains key institutional reforms needed to accept 12 candidate countries into the 15-member union. But they warned that the gap was widening between EU institutions and citizens, and launched an initiative to encourage public dialog. The opening of the summit on Sunday was marred by clashes between police and hundreds of globalization protestors. Five people were injured when protestors threw rocks at riot police and 13 arrests were made as demonstrators surrended after a standoff of several hours. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
