A high-level international conference organized by the Ministry of National Defense was held in the Greek capital Athens on 28 November. Former Greek Ambassador to Washington, Skopje and Tirana Alexandros P. Malias.
BGNES news agency published his six-point analysis on the Western Balkans.
1. Regardless of the soft talk, our region will not look much different tomorrow unless a real sense of political responsibility develops. Politics should serve, not the other way around. Change will require rooting out unreliable and corrupt politics. Political selfishness, nepotism and corruption adversely affect the legitimate aspirations and expectations of citizens. In some cases, leaders appear to be misleading their peoples, thereby jeopardising the process of accession to the European Union.
2. The unprecedented outflow of population - mainly the young, educated, skilled and talented generation - from the Western Balkan countries shows an alarming lack of trust and confidence. It is the political leaders who urge them back to their homelands who bear the greatest responsibility and must be held accountable for this outflow, which is usually met with fatalism and apathy.
3. Rule of law and independent judiciaries are needed, as in much of the Western Balkans the courts are subject to political and party influence. In one case (Albania), the special anti-corruption court was used to improperly prosecute and convict an elected ethnic minority mayor.
4. Today's regional architecture is based on a set of agreements and treaties - including the Dayton and Paris Agreements, the Ohrid and Prespa Agreements and the Belgrade-Pristina arrangements. Their systematic and systematic violation therefore leads to crisis and potential instability.
5. The EU accession process, initiated by the Thessaloniki Summit in June 2003, offers an appropriate 'stick and carrot' policy. Aristotle said it well in his 'Nicomachean Ethics': 'Inflict punishments and sanctions on evildoers and honour those who do good deeds'. Compliance will be rewarded. Any deviation will be censured.
6. Fresh ideas and talks about new border changes in Southeastern Europe, including territory and population swaps, will open Pandora's box in Europe. It will become a pandemic. The bad precedent will become the prototype. It always starts from a certain beginning but continues with an unpredictable end. I am aware of arguments that repeat that recent or past history and the relevant agreements have been unfair. This is precisely the "justification" of Putin's revisionist dogma and expansionism in Europe.
Agreements on borders, exchange of territories and populations cannot exist and cannot be recognized unless: a) they are proposed and approved by the UN Security Council; b) they are in the form of a multilateral treaty and approved by a relevant UN Security Council resolution with the formal consent of the directly interested and affected parties.
Adherence to the principles and objectives enshrined in the United Nations Charter, the Helsinki Final Act and the Paris Charter for a New Europe of November 1990, adopted after the fall of the Berlin Wall, is eroding. The reconstruction of the international collective security system has a name: the United Nations. As long as the permanent members of the Security Council are unwilling or unable to act in accordance with the Charter's mandate, it will be impossible to prevent threats against peace, justice and stability. Aristotle's metre and ethics are the antidote to hubris. | BGNES
