On September 23-25, Vienna hosted panel discussion "Periphery at Risk" held by Bruno Kreisky Forum, Bulgarian Center for Liberal Strategies, European Council on Foreign Affairs and Austrian Ministry of National Defense. The participants included analysts and politicians from the Balkan and EU countries, Turkey and Russia represented by RIAC Program Coordinator Daria Khaspekova, who have discussed ways for development of Balkan states in the modern world.
On September 23-25, Vienna hosted panel discussion "Periphery at Risk" held by Bruno Kreisky Forum, Bulgarian Center for Liberal Strategies, European Council on Foreign Affairs and Austrian Ministry of National Defense.
The participants included analysts and politicians from the Balkan and EU countries, Turkey and Russia represented by RIAC Program Coordinator Daria Khaspekova, who have discussed ways for development of Balkan states in the modern world.
In 2004, when the European Union was incorporating some of the Baltic and CEE countries, political and expert circles were full of great expectations as it seemed that the Cold War thinking was prevailed and the Balkan states were about joining the EU as well. Europe was meant to become genuinely united, and talks began on accession of the Balkan countries. However, the process was stalled and the optimistic forecasts did not come into being.
Currently, these negotiations rouse neither enthusiasm nor optimism, procrastinated for many years and seemingly turned into stepwise breaking of technical barriers to membership, with no clear light in the end of the tunnel.
While the politicians of the two negotiating parties find it more difficult to substantiate the Balkan membership in the European Union, the Balkan states are getting more distant from accession, with joblessness snowballing and incomes and literacy of the population on the decrease. The European Union would not take the Balkan countries in since they fail to match the EU standards, while these parameters keep falling each year.
The discussion participants pledged to present their proposals for breaking the vicious circle and prevent political and economic instability in the Balkan Peninsula.
