THE SOUTH-EAST EUROPE CO-OPERATION PROCESS: AN UNSPECTACULAR, INDIGENOUS REGIONAL CO-OPERATION SCHEME ALİ HİKMET ALP

Abstract

With the ending of the Cold War, regions situated on the fault lines of the old blocks witnessed a proliferation of regional co-operation initiatives. To name a few in or close to the region: the Black Sea Economic Co-operation Organisation, the Central European Initiative, SECI South-east Europe Co-operation Initiative , and last but not the least, the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe. Trilateral or quadrilateral ad hoc arrangements, formed according to political convenience can be added to this list. The Balkan region nowadays somewhat euphemistically called South-east Europe could not stay behind this development and indeed, it is chronologically the first. With the first signs of the Cold War ending, the yearly meetings of the ministers of foreign affairs started Belgrade 1988, Tirana 1990 , but these were inevitably interrupted during the Bosnian War. It became necessary to wait until the summer of 1996 for the Sofia Meeting devoted to inviting the EU to provide assistance to the region followed by the Salonika and Istanbul meetings. The Salonika Declaration of the ministers was a major step towards the formalisation or the institutionalisation of an indigenous process of co-operation and good neighbourly relations. Greece, Turkey, the FRY, Albania and Macedonia strongly supported the further institutional development of the process. Bulgaria and Romania, while supporting closer Balkan co-operation were rather cool towards institutionalisation.