Europe and the Balkans
The Balkans, South-East Europe, is unequivocally European. Consequently, increased European engagement in the region is essential. Paneuropa President Karl von Habsburg outlines a foreign policy mandate for the new Austrian Federal Government.
With Bulgaria, the heartland of the Balkans – the Balkan Mountains are located in Bulgaria – holds the EU Council Presidency in the first half of 2018. The Balkan region, referred to in EU jargon as the Western Balkans, is – alongside Switzerland and a few microstates – one of the last territories in Europe to be surrounded on all sides by EU member states. The history of the past 150 years has shown that this region has repeatedly become a hotbed of instability within and for Europe. There are a number of reasons for this. One is rooted in the fact that this European territory was, and remains, at the mercy of the powerful interests of non-European powers.
During the presentation of the Bulgarian Council Presidency programme, the country’s ambassador caused a stir by stating that the current influence of non-European powers in the region could lead some Balkan countries to orient themselves in a direction other than towards Europe. This brings to mind the telling story of a conversation between the foreign minister of one of these non-European countries and one of his European counterparts. When asked by his colleague whether his country had interests in the region, the European replied with a clear “No”. To which the (non-European) questioner reacted with satisfaction: “We do.”
In 2003, 15 years ago, at the EU Summit in Thessaloniki, the countries of the former Yugoslavia and Albania were offered the prospect of EU membership. Little has happened. Macedonia, for example, was granted candidate status in 2005, yet to this day, no accession talks have been initiated. To this day, Greece successfully blocks all of Macedonia’s international efforts due to a dispute over the state’s name. To this day, several EU countries refuse to recognise the independence of Kosovo, which was declared on 17 February 2008 – ten years ago.
The more fragmented the EU’s foreign policy line towards the region (which still depends only on the lowest common denominator of the EU nation states), the easier it becomes for other states to gain influence there, thereby exerting a destabilising effect on a notoriously crisis-prone region of Europe. In this context, Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov once spoke of the looming threat of a “Balkanisation of Europe” instead of the “Europeanisation of the Balkans” hoped for in the region.
With Bulgaria and Austria, two countries closely linked to the region hold the EU Council Presidency this year. Bulgaria is clearly a Balkan country, and Austria arguably is too, for according to an old definition by Metternich, the Balkans begin at the Rennweg. It is therefore to be expected of both states – and the statement by the Bulgarian ambassador cited at the beginning is an indication of this – that they take clear steps towards realising the EU perspective for these countries.
Austria can draw upon a very clear and unambiguous foreign policy line here, which has had a positive impact over several centuries. By emphasising this line, Austria also has the opportunity to gain a strong European policy profile. The European Union is, after all, called the European Union. That means: it ought to encompass the whole of Europe. Therefore, enabling all European countries to join the EU is a core task of European politics. The opportunity for Austria to show profile once again in a continuous line of foreign policy for South-East Europe should therefore be seized.
The article originally appeared on the website of Karl von Habsburg.
Photo: European Union 2016
