Izvor: N1 televizija, 19.Mar.2018, 15:35 (ažurirano 02.Apr.2020.)
Dusan Reljic: EU Strategy on WB lacks necessary conditions
Dusan Reljic, chief of German Institute for International Relations and Security’s (SVP) office in Brussels said neither new EU Enlargement Strategy nor development strategies of the six Western Balkans economies did not provide conditions for necessary growth, social prosperity and political stability in the region.
“If the EU really wants >> Pročitaj celu vest na sajtu N1 televizija << to get ex-Yugoslav region together with Albania closer to the rest of the continent, it has to give those countries an access to the EU structural funds or to find another way for non-refundable aid,” Reljic told Biznis Magazine.
He said that next month the EU Commission would publish fresh reports on political and economic situation in the countries aiming for membership.
“It is already clear, based on existing EU documents sent to Serbia’s Government and experts’ estimates in Serbia and abroad, that the biggest material problem is insufficient economic growth,” added Reljic who together with his Italian colleague Mateo Bonomi has recently published an analysis titled “EU and Western Balkans: So Close, Still so Far Away”.
He stressed that the most serious political problem was the weakening of rule of law and of democratic institutions, above all the absence of public control over the role of Parliament and Government.
He added that, as the EU Enlargement Strategy itself pointed out, there are “trapped countries” in the region in which links to organised crime and corruption at all governing levels and public authority, had been clearly recognised.
Asked about what would be the most important thing Serbia should do in order to improve its position toward the EU membership, Reljic said it would be compulsory to triple the economic growth, to some five, six percent a year and to liberate currently “trapped countries” and their public from the squeezer politicians keep them under.
According to him, the main problems the Western Balkan countries are facing in social and economic walk of life are the loss of population and related to that the regression of public services’ quality in education, health care, science.
“The consequence is a deterioration of a middle class. One should be aware that only education and relatively good material position of the middle class can put enough pressure on politicians and business community to respect democratic regulations and rule of law generally. It is important that EU insists on political and economic reforms and that their legal framework has gradually being adopted, but those reforms are inapplicable in poor society,” Reljic said.
Speaking about his view about the EU in the next few years, he pointed out that since neither “The United States of Europe” were on the horizon, nor it looked certain that so-called differentiated integration would spread, there would be even more forms of linkage inside the EU which would not include all countries.
“To make it clearer, not all EU member states use Euro, or are members of Schengen visa regime, or want to be included in a permanent defence cooperation. However, on the issue of common market, the EU undoubtedly proved itself as a pillar of solidarity by helping countries in need, while simultaneously strengthening common interest towards the outside, as a generator of scientific and technological development, and as an efficient guardian of the environment,” Reljic said.
