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NATO
Solana Calls for Economic Reconstruction in
the Balkans
16 March 1999
By Tasos Kokkinides
In an unusual plea from a head of a military organisation,
NATO's Secretary General, Javier Solana said that the military
approach to the Balkans is not enough. "We have to broaden
our perspective", he said, adding that "we need to tackle
the root causes of these conflicts ... what the Balkans need
is a "Partnership for Prosperity". According to The London
Times one NATO official described the proposal as a "Marshall
Plan for the Balkans". Javier Solana argued that "the entire
Euro-Atlantic community - its nations and institutions -must
become engaged."
Below are excerpts from the speech by Javier Solana, Secretary
General of NATO, at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI),
London, 9 March 1999
"The international community can assist in many ways other
than through implementation of a peace settlement in Kosovo.
If we want to encourage a long-term peace in Kosovo and surrounding
regions, we have to broaden our perspective. In my view, the
start of the Kosovo Implementation Force should signal the
start of a wider initiative to put all parts of the Balkans
on the path towards regaining their rightful place in Europe
- politically as well as economically. Without such a comprehensive
approach we will never get beyond treating the symptoms only.
We must do more than protect the peace. We need to tackle
the root causes of these conflicts.
We must create the conditions for reconstruction, the climate
for reconciliation, and we must give strong incentives for
progress. That is why the entire Euro-Atlantic community -
its nations and institutions - must become engaged. But it
is not only engagement on our part. We need the engagement
of a new generation of citizens and leaders in the re-building
process in the troubled parts of the former Yugoslavia. We
need the people of the region to take the responsibility into
their own hands, to seize the opportunities that are open
to them. With the first signs of such re-generation can come
the first steps in a longer-term re-integration process. A
re-integration back into the normalcy, the stability, the
prosperity of mainstream Europe.
And it can be done if the will - on their part and on our
part - is there. In short, what the Balkans need is a "Partnership
for Prosperity". I believe that such a Partnership for Prosperity
is not only feasible; it is also in our long-term strategic
interest. Its short-term cost will be far outweighed by its
long-term benefits."
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