A Romanian Perspective on the Balkans and The Black Sea Region

Ambassador Bogdan Mazuru Romanian Ambassador to Germany

I agree completely with Minister Tarasyuk’s statement that it is extremely important that the Black Sea region have a defined relationship with the EU and with NATO. I also believe that not having such a relationship would be a security risk.

Regarding the Balkans, the Albanian Minister of Defense talked very quickly about the risks there, but we know that Kosovo is an extremely important topic and a major element of region-wide security. I also think that the developments regarding Kosovo and what is decided in the fall of 2006 and in Belgrade will be extremely significant. It is also very important that the democratic forces in Belgrade maintain their strength within the internal political stage.

So I would say that we need to take into account the individual performances of the individual nations in the region but that we also need to have a more comprehensive approach to the entire region, because what happens in one part of the western Balkans may affect other parts of the area as well. The Black Sea region, however, is more heterogeneous, with very different nations of different sizes and different interests, but this is actually a positive challenge, not a difficulty.

What I believe we need to do in the Black Sea region is to minimize the risks and maximize the opportunities to find and jointly work on concrete common projects and to attach these projects to the EU and to NATO. In this way, we will be able to develop a regional identity, which is important for dealing with the risks in the area: the frozen conflicts, the terrorism, the organized crime, and the human, arms, and drug trafficking.