Time for New Access to the Balkans

See the Western Balkans! As the final summit in Berlin, leaders of France and Germany, showed, they are realizing that they must focus on real solutions to the problems of the Western Balkans. The vision of “Europe as a whole, free and at peace” has an unbounded corner that we now call the Western Balkans, formerly known as Yugoslavia, before that country was disbanded in war, ethnic cleansing and genocide.

States there -- Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia, northern Macedonia and Montenegro -- are calm today, but this is a deceptive calm. The region has plunged into trouble, which can easily spread to the rest of Europe and affect the interests and security of the United States.

The most difficult problems are the relationship between Serbia and its former province, now an independent republic, Kosovo; and conflicts within Bosnia and Herzegovina on the identity and survival of that state.

Both of these problems are rooted in war, and both raise fundamental questions about identity, and are deeply emotional. These problems are like broken bones, which were settled hastily, and that were not healed properly: they affect everything, and they will continue to cause trouble.

Meanwhile, the entire region is suffering from cosmic corruption, the low capacity of the state, and the governance by auspices and clienteleism, rather than by law. Also, Russian influence in the Western Balkans has increased significantly in recent years. While Moscow's ability to play a crucial role in the region is limited, Russia can still have a devastating role for the region.

What should be done? Europe and the United States have tried to fix problems in the Western Balkans, but this has not worked. So it takes a new approach to accept the seriousness of the problem, and the fact that it will take a long time and important resources to solve it.

Earlier efforts have been wrong in one of two aspects: Either they have ignored real problems or they have tried to solve them very quickly. For many years, Europe and the United States have encouraged local leaders to shift their attention to the most difficult problems, which they put into severe conflicts with each other in the technical and apolitical processes of integration with the European Union and NATO.

It was hoped that in this way conflicts that would eventually become more resolved would be eased. It's clear now that this approach hasn't worked. However, any attempt to achieve significant success, whether in changing the Bosnian constitution or overcoming differences between Belgrade and Pristina, has failed.

Any acceptable solution will involve painful compromises. For nationalists, it is tempting to attack these compromises as deals or betrayals. These problems cannot be solved overnight. They will not disappear, even after Balkan countries enter their path towards EU membership.

They require constant attention and patience over many years and many people, led by local actors, with support from the EU and the United States.

The search for solutions must continue, but quietly, and possibly away from media attention, and without unrealistic prospects for quick victories.

Meanwhile, Europe should help the region support itself and rebuild its ties with others around it. It's a sad irony, the fact that today is harder to travel from one part of what was once Yugoslavia to another than to go from Warsaw to Paris. Free movement of people, ideas, money, goods, services, etc. within the Balkans, and between the region and Europe, will make a big contribution to confidence building, as well as to promote requirements for good governance.

Integration of this region into Western political, economic and security architecture is still a worthy, even essential goal, but many years away. However, integration will not in itself solve the region's political problems. NATO and the EU can only accept peaceful states with themselves and with their neighbours.

The two remaining Balkan conflicts prevent just this -- they enable the formation of stable and fair states. Nobody wants a partner whose rule of law is a joke, whose neighbors are fierce enemies. The urgency of the Western Balkans is also highlighted by a recent discovery.

It had until months ago a third challenge: Greece's refusal to accept Macedonia's name from its neighbour. The two countries resolved the conflict with a new name of compromise, North Macedonia “”. It was the easiest among the major Balkan problems. Yet, it took almost 30 years for him to resolve it - at a terrible cost.

Northern Macedonia lost about 15 years of progress in leading NATO and EU membership, as the quality of its governance passed from the best to the worst in the region. Northern Macedonia is now on a difficult but hopeful road. For Bosnia, Kosovo and Serbia, and the rest of the region, there is no time to lose.

The time has come for Europe's leadership, in co-operation with the United States, to refocus in the Western Balkans, to give the region and its problems the attention it deserves, and to meet our interests for a stable and prosperous Europe

Therefore, to address these challenges in the Western Balkans, it is not enough for us to rely solely on existing mechanisms. European leaders have the right to engage, and the United States should be willing to support these efforts.

Note: Frank G. Wisner, former career diplomats, former US ambassador to Kosovo. Cameron Munter, director of the East-West Institute in New York, former US Ambassador to Serbia (2007 - 2009). Marko Prelec, expert on South and Eastern Europe, and states of the former Yugoslavia.

<x0) World.al Frank Wisner, Marco Prelec, Cameron Munter