Xenophon Paper 2 pdf - ICBSS

and timeliness of its participation in the implementation of BSEC projects in fields of
mutual interest, particularly in the areas of transport and energy infrastructures,
environmental protection and combating organised crime. On the other hand, Bulgaria
and Romania, as new EU members, are expected to take the lead, together with Greece,
in promoting in Brussels the need and usefulness of developing a Black Sea or Pontic
Dimension of the EU regional policy, following the example of Finland and Sweden
which, after 1995, played a substantial role in the formulation of the EU Northern
Dimension. In this context, it may be useful to note what the Bertelsmann Group for
Policy Research in Munich wrote on this matter in its study entitled “Europe’s Strategic
Responses” of September 2006: “The EU needs, the Study says, a genuine strategy for
… the Black Sea region, an area that will become even more strategically important
after the accession of Bulgaria and Romania. The European Union should initiate a
Black Sea Dimension analogous to the Nordic Dimension for the Baltic States. Furthermore,
the EU should also focus on Central Asia, which is becoming even more important for
Europe in terms of security and energy policy. …Cooperation with the EU’s immediate
neighbours in Eastern Europe, Black Sea region and Central Asia requires an active
partnership with Russia. The Russian Federation continues to be an indispensable actor
in Europe”. 7
If the European Union can, through a constructive partnership with the BSEC, play a
significant role in the development of the Black Sea countries and, hence, in the
consolidation of security and stability in this region, the Council of Europe can do more
to strengthen democratic institutions in the area. The fact that all states of the Black Sea
region are members of this respectable institution makes it the right authority to provide
advice and assistance in matters relating to democracy, human rights and the rule of
law. And it is the accepted responsibility of this organisation to be forthcoming when
necessary. Indeed, in his statement at the International Conference on the establishment
of a Black Sea Euroregion, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis,
emphasised the capacity of this organisation to provide increased political support,
consultancy and practical assistance for the democratic construction in this region. This
is only natural, he said, since all the countries of the area, without any exception, are
members of the Council of Europe and, as such, they share the same European values
of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, which are the solid common ground
for the strengthening of the democratic institutions as an essential factor of economic
and social progress and of security and stability in today’s world.
Like in the case of other regional organisations, such as the Association of Southeastern
Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, further development
of multilateral cooperation in the Black Sea region can be achieved through intensified
7 See The Romanian Journal of International and Regional Studies, vol. II, no. 1-2, Eurisc Foundation – Romanian
Institute of International Studies, Bucharest, 2006, p. 224.
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