Positive Developments in the Balkans Discussed at TEPAV In a roundtable meeting organized by TEPAV and GMF, recent developments in the Balkans were addressed in the context of the improving dialogue and progressing efforts for integration.

22/03/2011 - Viewed 1839 times ANKARA -TEPAV and German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) organized a roundtable meeting with the theme "Recent Developments in Balkans" on Tuesday, March 22. The meeting addressed the recent positive developments in the region including the process of integration with the European Union (EU) and NATO and the growing efforts for dialogue among the countries of the region.

The roundtable meeting was held at TEPAV with audience composed predominantly of the foreign mission representatives. The keynote speaker of the meeting was Ivan Vejvoda, Vice President German Marshall Fund of the United States. Vejvoda, stating that they have learned many difficult lessons as the witnesses of the war in the region in the late 20^th century, said that he saw that period as an earthquake the after-shocks of which were still felt after more than 20 years. Vejvoda's speech mainly focused on the positive developments in the recent period.

Europe uses its "soft power"

Vejvoda stressed the significant developments with respect to the integration with the EU and NATO as well as to regional dialogue. Stating that the Balkans are a part of Europe and that the soft power of Europe was felt clearly, he expressed that NATO was clearly an important security component for the region. He gave information about the EU accession process for Balkan countries and maintained that the outstanding issues between the Balkan countries must be solved in this process since it was very clear that the EU would not take another Cyprus.

Hopes grow for solving the Macedonia-Greece issue

Stressing that Bosnia - Herzegovina was historically the most mixed part of Yugoslavia and also suffered the most, Vejvoda emphasized the importance of the dialogue that was recently initiated between Belgrade and Kosovo in Brussels. He also drew attention to the recent dialogue between Croatia and Serbia and added that they hear that the name issue between Macedonia and Greece was about to be overcome. Stressing the key importance of the recently established dialogue across the region, he stated that to recognize the faults and to launch reconciliation process was the only way to a serious democratic political culture in the region. Vejvoda added that Turkey was an important actor with a significant role in the region.

The meeting continued with comments and questions from the audience.