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Unfinished Business in Southeastern Europe
Unfinished Business in Southeastern Europe
Contact: Loren Keller
563-264-1500 (office)
319-358-1255 (home) lkeller@stanleyfoundation.org
Unfinished Business in Southeastern Europe:
The United States and Europe must work together toward regional stability
Although the "war on terrorism" and the looming potential war with Iraq has
turned US and European attention away from Southeastern Europe, much work still
needs to be done to solidify the political and economic reforms and put the
region on an irreversible course toward becoming part of the Euro-Atlantic
community.
For the past two and a half years, the Stanley Foundation project "Serbia and
the Challenge of Regional Integration" has been examining-with official and
nongovernmental representatives from Serbia and neighboring countries and from
the international community-areas of critical need to foster regionwide
reconciliation and integration in Southeastern Europe. Work focused on three
areas that are believed critical to both Serbia's and the region's political and
economic development: establishing a sound business and investment climate,
promoting political and economic reform at the rural level, and fostering
cooperation between youth and the media across the region to promote
reconciliation.
The findings and recommendations from the latest policy bulletin, Fostering
Regional Cooperation and Reconciliation in Serbia and Southeastern Europe,
further emphasize the need for continued assistance in these three areas from
the United States and Europe to actively promote and support economic and
political reform in Serbia and the region.
The full policy bulletin is available on the Web at euro-atlanticinitiatives.org.
Among its findings:
Serbia and the region share a number of common features that continue to be
barriers to attracting trade and investment. These include visa regimes, trade
barriers, poor legal enforcement, organized crime and corruption, political
instability, poor transportation networks, and the unresolved final status of
Kosovo.
Strategic planning is necessary at all levels of government and should include
associations in that process. In particular, planning should assess local
government's strengths and weaknesses, set goals and establish priorities, and
identify resources and organize actions to meet those goals. The countryside has
been hit hard by ten years of sanctions and isolation. Economic reform will also
hit these areas especially hard. Local governments need to establish sound and
transparent bureaucracies and enact policies to promote economic development.
There needs to be greater attention by the media to ongoing efforts to promote
regional cooperation. Exchanges are taking place throughout the region on a
daily basis and these early forms of reconciliation need to be reported. In
addition, the media needs to do a better job of reporting about the wars of the
former Yugoslavia and the legacy of Milosevi .
Based on these findings, the project recommends that:
The international community should undertake initiatives to promote the
importance of transparency and investment into Serbia and the region. This
includes enacting laws that promote transparency, establishing financing for
small and medium-sized enterprises, tapping into the business expertise of the
Serbian-American community, and investing in youth to groom them as the next
business and political leaders.
Local governments need to institute policies and programs that create a good
environment for business creation and attracting foreign direct investment and
establish a process by which the public sector, the business community, and the
nongovernmental partners work together to create the conditions for economic
growth and employment. Training and skills development of local administrators
is critical as is association-building and providing opportunities for women and
minorities to establish businesses and take part in the political process.
Local NGOs and the international community need to provide more media assistance
related to young people and their needs in the region. Potential initiatives
include workshops to train reporters and exchanges among youth to develop ways
to work with media to promote reconciliation.
The Stanley Foundation was created in 1956 by C. Maxwell and Elizabeth Stanley
to pursue their longtime commitment to the effective management of global
problems. From its headquarters in Muscatine, Iowa, this private operating
foundation seeks to improve international understanding through media and
educational programs and through forums encouraging dialogue among policy
professionals, educators, students, and citizens interested in world affairs.
James S. Henderson
Program Officer & Program Coordinator, Euro-Atlantic Initiatives Program
The Stanley Foundation
209 Iowa Avenue
Muscatine, IA 52761
