Xenophon Paper 2 pdf - ICBSS

and deeply imbedded controversies as it was for the countries of Central Europe? In
her introduction to the Chaillot Paper no. 70: The Western Balkans: Moving on, Judy
Butt rightly points out: “The common declared aim of the EU and the states of the region
is to repeat the success of the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe
(CEE) which acceded to EU membership in May 2004. This laudable aim, however,
begs the question of whether that success story can be directly replicated in the much
more complex conditions of the Western Balkans. (...) And if these countries are a special
case (or rather, a set of very diverse special cases), is the EU ready?” 7 In addition, is
Greece as the European champion of the Black Sea region really able to lead such a
diverse and complicated group of countries through the BSEC towards a full EU
membership? Or is the BSEC an organisation bereft of such major potential, and really
endowed with the capacity to foster some regional advantages and relative progress in
certain technical areas?
On reflection, it would appear that the BSEC as a regional organisation must have
greater aspirations than just facilitating trade and communication among its members.
For example, security issues arising from territorial disintegration, difficulties encountered
in fighting organised crime, especially the various forms of illicit trafficking in the region,
immediately give rise to more global concerns, as all these problems have a broader
resonance than just the Black Sea area. One of the most painful problems is the issue
of territorialisation of ethnic rights and political aspirations as it is exemplified in the
example of Kosovo and Metohija.
Kosovo and Metohija
The capacity of any organisation, including international ones, is reflected in its ability
to address the most complex issues that fall within its competence. For the BSEC,
Kosovo and Metohija is obviously such an issue, and the ways in which the BSEC may
be able to incorporate the dialogue between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija
after the status negotiations, with their very different perspectives on issues such as
statehood and the bounds of international law, arising from their opposed interests, will
clearly reflect the degree of development of the BSEC itself.
While the status negotiations on Kosovo and Metohija are out of the hands of regional
organisations, including the BSEC, and are the exclusive prerogative of the negotiating
parties and, in the final instance, the UN Security Council, the consequences of any
outcome will most certainly create issues that will have to be managed on a daily level
by the BSEC member countries, including both Kosovo and Metohija’s neighbours and
the other countries of the region indirectly linked to the area. One of the most obvious
7 Batt, Judy (2004), ‘Introduction: the stabilisation/integration dilemma’, The Western Balkans Moving on, Challiot
Paper, no. 70, Institute for Security Studies, European Union, Paris, p. 7.
124 UNFOLDING THE BLACK SEA ECONOMIC COOPERATION VIEWS FROM THE REGION