Tribune
| 30/08/2006
Europe's neighbourhood policy is again in the news, on account of its merits and demerits, but also because of the political deadlines that its neighbours to the east and southeast will be facing in 2006; Notre Europe has just published a study on relations between Russia and the EU ("Russian-European Perspectives Moscow sets its conditions" by Laurent Vinatier) and is set to publish another one on the situation in the western Balkans.
Tensions between Russia and the European Union have risen recently, which partly has to do with the fact that the Union's neighbours also happen to be what the Russians call their near abroad, and have spilled over to the strategic energy sector. This has stimulated European efforts to agree on a common energy policy. The European Commission hopes to reach a framework agreement with Russia next year on co-operation in the field of energy. The study shows that the EU-Russia partnership, which dates back to 2000? Has never had any real political substance to it. It takes apart the mechanisms of the future negotiations and seeks to identify the trump cards held by both players.
As far as the western Balkans are concerned, Croatia is an agreed candidate for accession, Montenegro should be making up its mind next month as to whether or not it will uphold its union with Serbia, Marti Ahtisaari is engaged in a consulting round to come up with a suitable project for the final status of Kosovo and Serbia is summoned to surrender two alleged war criminals to the court at the Hague. Ten years after Dayton, six years after the NATO bombings to call a halt to the violence in Kosovo, the wars of the Yugoslav succession do seem to be truly over but the Yugoslav succession itself is still in a sense an open question. The study Notre Europe is about to release advocates a degree of regional economical integration that goes far beyond the free trade agreements that are now in the news. The crux of the matter is how to get to insert Europe's post-modern, post-national culture into the Westphalian world of the western Balkans, or how to encourage their accelerated passage into the post-modern age where Europe has been playing a pioneering role for decades. Well thought-out regional mechanisms could be the right apprenticeship for the western Balkans to learn the trade of sovereignty sharing.
There is more than one connexion between the two. The most curious is perhaps the one having to do with the Russian position on Kosovo, which seems to be changing. The Russians were long opposed to even conditional independence for Kosovo, in the name of preserving the territorial integrity of the nation-state, Serbia in this instance. Their words referred to Kosovo but their thoughts were in Chechenya. The more flexible Russian positions on the possibility of conditional independence for Kosovo are probably linked to ulterior motives having to do with the future status of other territories such as Trandniestria, south Ossetia or Abkhazia.
"Keep from insulting your neighbour, as he will always be next to you" was the counsel given by the prophet Mohamed's father-in-law, Abu Bakr. The European Union would be well advised to look after the western Balkans with this in mind. The Union can further the cause of peace and prosperity in that part of Europe as much as it has in its own by wilful and concerted action.
