Address by the President at the SEECP Summit Meeting of the Heads of State and Government

Istanbul, 23.6.2010  |  speech

Address by Dr Danilo Türk, President of the Republic of Slovenia, at the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) Summit Meeting of the Heads of State and Government
Istanbul, 23 June 2010


Thank you, Mr Chairman.
Mr President,

Let me start by reiterating our gratitude for the very warm welcome that Slovenia received earlier this morning upon our admission to the South-East European Cooperation Process. We look forward to fruitful and dynamic cooperation within the process. The South-Eastern Europe is one of the most dynamic, most promising parts of Europe and our era is an era of enhanced cooperation.

I would also like to congratulate you, Mr President, and the Republic of Turkey for the presidency of the South-East European Cooperation Process and for the organisation of this important Summit. Other speakers before me have said and I would like to join them in the belief that the symbolism of this venue, of Istanbul. This should help us to think in historic dimensions, about Istanbul as a meeting place of different cultures, traditions and new opportunities and to look into the future with optimism. Istanbul is an optimistic place and let us all be optimists.

Mr President,

In your opening statement you put before us a number of basic concepts of cooperation and integration, which I believe are of great value and which merit further thought and discussion. You also suggested several guiding principles, which should help us in developing our cooperation and programmes with the necessary sense for detail. Let me briefly reflect on some of these concepts and guiding principles.

First, South-East Europe is a young, dynamic and forward-looking part of Europe. We should fully realise that and take full advantage of that fact. Europe is sometimes defined as an old continent. Let us reflect about that as well. But Europe has as its part South-Eastern Europe, a young, dynamic, forward-looking part, which we believe should help Europe in the future in its dynamism and its future development.

However, large parts of South-Eastern Europe were recently affected by armed conflict and that has left deep scars. Let us not underestimate those scars. But, on the other hand, let us be also very clear – the era of armed conflicts is behind us. Peace is now prevailing and peace is irreversible. The question is what kind of content we give to peace and how do we take full advantage of peace for the benefit of our region and for the benefit of Europe as a whole.

Another concept that you mentioned, Mr President, is diversity as richness. The European Union likes to refer to itself as a place of diversity. But the frontiers of European Union are not the frontiers of diversity. There is more richness and more diversity to be integrated into the European Union. And let us take advantage of that as well. We have to identify the opportunities, which do exist, as well as we have to overcome prejudices, which still persist. We have to be aware of both and to work on both fronts. The opportunities are here but prejudices are also still there and we have to fight them.

But how shall the countries of South East achieve tangible progress? The first condition for success in our endeavour is the clarity of direction in which we are going. And that clarity is our common direction towards full integration of entire region of South-East Europe into the European Union and NATO. We have to overcome and help others to overcome the enlargement fatigue. Perhaps it will be a little easier to do so if we remember that every wave of enlargement of the European Union was preceded by a degree of fatigue. Enlargement fatigue is not a new phenomenon for the European Union. It is perhaps more intense this time, it is of longer duration, but is not a new phenomenon. Overcoming it is not a new task. Let us be energetic and optimistic in that regard as well.

Obviously, on our path each of our countries has to overcome its own obstacles. There is a need for reform and each of us knows the priorities of reforms in his own country. Much of them can be done only internally and, obviously, the need for reform has to be taken as a priority number one for each of our countries.

On the other hand, reforms can be greatly assisted by proper international cooperation. We have some positive experience. The process of visa liberalisation has started. Last year there were several significant achievements in that regard. But the process is not yet over. And let us be aware of the following fact: visa liberalisation is not a region-specific project. We are not talking about visa liberalisation simply because of the need that exists in South-Eastern Europe. We are talking about visa liberalisation as a part of a broader human rights agenda. Let us not forget, freedom of movement is a fundamental human right. And if we wish to guarantee the people of Europe their full potential of development we have to insure that freedom of movement is strengthened. So in that regard, Mr President, Slovenia believes that visa liberalisation is an important strategic direction for the work within European Union and in the partnership between European Union and other countries, including the countries of South-Eastern Europe. There is a great deal to do in that regard. I’m thinking about the relations between Turkey and European Union, I’m thinking about the relations between Russia and European Union and about the countries of Eastern Partnership. Everywhere in these areas adjacent to the European Union, there are tasks related to further visa liberalisation.

Then there are other and long-term activities necessary in such areas of cooperation as development of infrastructure, roads and railways in particular, development of energy cooperation with regard to gas pipelines, such as South Stream and Nabucco and other projects. This should also form a part of our agenda and, obviously, patience and persistence will be needed. And as President Tadiĉ emphasised in his statement just a few minutes ago, we have important tasks ahead of us in the area of fighting of organised crime and in confronting the dangers of terrorism. The basic experience in that regard exists but organised crime is likely to persist as a major challenge to security in our region and to the legitimate aspirations for integration of the entire region into the EU. Therefore it has to be given appropriate attention and priority status.

Mr President,

We also have to deal with political issues. Where there are political disputes they have to be resolved by peaceful means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.

So, Mr President, these are some of the basic concepts and guiding principles, which you have introduced and which I believe we have to reflect upon and develop further in our discussion today and in our work in the future.

By the same token, we also have to be sensitive to the specific political priorities of our time. Some of those priorities relate to particular situations of our respective countries. We all should help the efforts of Bosnia and Herzegovina to continue on its path towards NATO. An important step has been made earlier this year with the joining of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Membership Action Plan. We hope that this path will be continued without any loss of pace and that Bosnia and Herzegovina will progress.

We should also help Macedonia. I believe that all of us around this table support the mediation process which is put in place and which is lead by the United Nations and that we all are in favour of encouraging both Macedonia and Greece to strengthen their bilateral cooperation in the effort to find the final solution to the matter that impedes not only their cooperation but also Macedonia’s path toward European Union and NATO. This conference perhaps represents one of the opportunities where in addition to the very valid mediation effort, which is taking place, further bilateral steps can be taken to make this process succeed.

Speakers before me have referred to the issue of Kosovo. And I agree, Mr President, Kosovo should not be seen as a black hole in South-Eastern Europe. There is a difference of opinion, a serious difference of opinion with regard to its status. But that should not prevent Kosovo’s participation in the regional development, in the regional efforts to strengthen South-Eastern Europe as a whole on its path towards the European Union.

We also heard references to Moldova, a country, which needs a proper European Union perspective. But that perspective has to be amplified and strengthened, not only through such economic measures as the Free Trade Agreement but also through political support, support related to the overcoming of the constitutional issues and to the settlement of the Transdniestria status issues. We should all help the country in strengthening its position and its European perspective.

Mr President,

I did not hesitate to refer to some of the more sensitive political matters that are before us. We are all aware of them. We are all trying to do our best in making the South-East European Cooperation Process helpful in the attempt to address those issues successfully. I'm not suggesting that the plenary discussion today is a moment when any solution can be defined. But the plenary discussion can help in developing our ideas further and can encourage further bilateral activity and further initiatives in an overall effort to make South-Eastern Europe a place of political cooperation, a place where political confidence, mutual respect and trust are constantly being strengthened.

This is, Mr President, one of the main reasons why Slovenia looks towards cooperation in this initiative with such excitement. We continue to emphasise that South-Eastern Europe belongs to the larger Europe and to the European Union and NATO. However, the pace, with which we proceed in that direction will depend to a large extent on what we do ourselves domestically, bilaterally and multilaterally, including at meetings and gatherings like the one today. The more we can do ourselves, the closer the region will be to its ultimate objective.

In this spirit, Mr President, I would like to conclude my remarks. I would like to thank you once again for hosting this meeting and my best wishes for success to Montenegro, the future President of the South-East European Cooperation Process. In Slovenia we look forward to participating actively in this process.

Thank you very much.