Xenophon Paper 2 pdf - ICBSS

interstate relations in Europe following the conclusion of the Cold War period. Thus, the
BSEC has been conceived from the outset as an integral part of the processes leading
towards a future Europe of peace, unity and democracy. Like all other countries of the
area, Romania saw in the intensification of cooperation at the regional level an additional
means of speeding up its economic development and, consequently, a contribution to
the process of its European integration. Indeed, the active participation of Romania in
the BSEC, in the development of its activities and in its growing affirmation as a wellstructured
organisation of regional cooperation was a significant asset in its endeavour
to join European and Euro-Atlantic organisations – the Council of Europe, the North
Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and, last but not least, the European Union (EU).
It was furthermore believed that successful implementation of regional projects in areas
of common interest would increase mutual confidence among the participating countries
and thus create a more favourable climate conducive to progress towards reaching
acceptable solutions to unsettled issues of the region. This is, in fact, in line with the basic
philosophy of the initiative, according to which the aim of the BSEC is to ensure that
the Black Sea region becomes an area of peace, stability and prosperity, striving to
promote friendly and good-neighbourly relations among the participating nations. Though
the main spheres of activity of the BSEC were and still remain of economic nature, the
periodic summits and the regular meetings, twice a year, of the Foreign Ministers of the
Member States also give this organisation a major political importance. Such meetings
often provide convenient opportunities for various participants to tackle en marge de
conférence sensitive issues, with favourable impact on the political climate and the
stability of the region.
When speaking about the BSEC significance, we should also be aware of one
unprecedented fact: it is for the first time in history that all nations around the Black Sea
decided to get together and consider as equal partners their common problems and
concerns and seek generally acceptable solutions to them. As was nicely put by Neal
Ascherson, a leading scholar on the Black Sea history, “it may be that the cause of the
Black Sea itself, of its waters and its creatures, is at last beginning to achieve what so
many millennia of human activity have failed to achieve: the union of the peoples who
live around it”. 2
The Romanian contribution to the BSEC
The specific contributions of Romania to the BSEC and its structure include several
areas of activity and institutional development. Thus, Romania was one of the initiators
of the establishment of the BSEC Parliamentary Assembly (PABSEC) seeking to rally
support from the legislative bodies of the participating states for the regional cooperation
2 Ibid., p. 270.
102 UNFOLDING THE BLACK SEA ECONOMIC COOPERATION VIEWS FROM THE REGION