A two-day European Parliament conference in
Brussels is dealing with the stabilisation and reconstruction
of the Balkan countries. Germany’s Foreign Minister Joschka
Fischer has proposed the creation of a “European Economic Area
2” to the five Balkan countries – Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Croatia, Macedonia and Yugoslavia.
The European Parliament conference on 17-18 September is
dealing with the issues of economic reconstruction and
development, and the fight against organised crime,
especially the trafficking of illegal immigrants from the
Middle East and Central Asia.
This is now the biggest concern for the
EU, and the Commission wants to establish a functioning
Interpol network in each Balkan country, fully linked to
the rest of the Interpol network and, increasingly, with
Europol. The EU would also like to establish a regional
judicial and prosecutorial network, including joint
investigations and prosecutions dealing with cross border
crime, as well as a common and Schengen-compatible policy
on visas, immigration and asylum.
Mr Fischer has proposed to create an
economic union among the Balkan countries at the Genval
informal meeting of EU foreign ministers on 9 September
2001. The economic union would serve as a waiting room for
prospective EU membership for the five Balkan
countries.
