To increase the problem-solving capacity of the region
In the current situation of Europe the Berlin Process is of outstanding importance! After a longer time where there was no big interest in the development in Southeast Europe, the Berlin Process was initiated thanks to the German government and Angela Merkel, which focused on taking the steps forward in the direction of enlargement of the European Union and on improvement of the current situation in Southeast Europe. This is also backed by the fact that the economic situation is improving and also some political problems are on the way to be solved. The development, for example in FYROM (Macedonia), is a sign of it. Therefore it is necessary that we are embedding all these changes in different countries, and also focusing on the fact that we are not only working for governments, but for the European Citizens.
It is necessary to underline that the improvement of the situation in Southeast Europe is of great importance. Not only under the auspices of EU enlargement, but also by the way of general development in this part of the world. The Mediterranean area is becoming more important for stability (migration process, political changes and so on) and Southeast Europe is in close connection to this direction. This is also true for Near East, because there is a great danger of loosing stability more and more, by what is happening there in this aspect (Iran conflict, Saudi Arabia war in Syria, Development in Turkey and so on). Therefore the capacity to solve the problems in the region should be increased. It is nonsense to always discuss Kosovo, because this new state is a reality. Concerning Catalonia nobody is mentioning the decisions on independence of Kosovo, because the difficulties within Spain are coming out for other reasons. Therefore, for example, it is nonsense that five member states of the European Union have not yet recognized Kosovo. Also the migration problem is not any more created out of the Balkans, but by the development in Africa. So far, it is even more important to stabilize the region, where also the possibility of economic development is extremely influential concerning the whole situation in Europe. A lot of investment and business possibilities are there, which are not yet used in the right way. We have to concentrate on this problem, not only on the usual questions concerning justice and corruption. We need a broader view on the region, concerning its political importance.
Erhard Busek, Chairman of the Institute for Danube Region and Central Europe