EUROPEAN INTEGRATION AND REGIONAL CO-OPERATION IN SOUTHEAST EUROPE

Abstract

Multilateral co-operation in Southeast Europe is not a new process. Despite the unfavourable conditions of the Cold War, Ministers of Foreign Affairs of six Balkan countries came together in Belgrade in February 1988. This was then considered to be a constructive attempt at regional co-operation. One of the most important characteristics of Balkan Multilateral Co-operation was its success in bringing together all the Balkan countries which had different social, political and economic systems. Foreign ministers, when they met in Belgrade, believed that the problems of the region could only be overcome with a new approach to international and security relations; one based on the principles of the Helsinki Final Act. The division of Europe, however, was still a fact and it was unforeseeable whether or when such a division could be overcome by the emergence of common values which would then pave the way towards meaningful integration in Europe.