Speech
by H.E. Mr. Traian BASESCU, President of Romania ,
at the 8th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the states participating to the South-East Cooperation Process (SEECP)
- Bucharest , 11 May 2005 -

    Distinguished Heads of Delegations,
    Excellencies,
    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    I am honored by your presence here and I have the pleasure to welcome you, once again, in Bucharest , at the 8th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the states participating to the South-East Cooperation Process (SEECP). Being the first high-level meeting that I host since my election as President of Romania, I notice, with undissimulated satisfaction that I am alongside the generation of politicians that is called upon to change, using the “voice of the region”, its future.

    I would also like to welcome the presence of my homologue from Croatia , H.E. Mr. Stjepan Mesic, and of the President of the Republic of Moldova , Mr. Vladimir Voronin, whose countries have obtained, during Romania 's chairmanship of the SEECP, the full-fledged participating status and, respectively, observer status. Allow me to wish them, once again, on behalf on everyone present, a warm welcome.

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    Let me take this opportunity to underline Romania 's heartfelt attachment to multilateralism, as an effective instrument designed to identify the adequate answers to the challenges brought by globalization.

    We all understand that, in order to adapt ourselves better to the new international political environment, we need to also build on the regional solidarity and share our resources, limited as they are.

    For this reason, among others, our European partners attach a great significance to the regional integration processes in the Balkans, such as the common energy market or the regional network of Free Trade Agreements. We firmly believe that regional stability and prosperity cannot be obtained without regional solidarity.

    Today, when the need to ensure the welfare of our own citizens, in democracy and prosperity, is closely connected to the notion of integration, the concept of regional cooperation gains its true value. This is the great lesson of history taught by the process of European integration. Focusing on the past would only fuel dissension and mistrust and, eventually lead to crisis. If we are able to envisage a common future, we will also be able to build it together.

    There are plenty formats of regional cooperation in South East Europe, but SEECP is the only structure that evolved from within the region, at the initiative of the participant states. It is within our power to demonstrate the SEECP's viability and, thus, to confirm our commitment to the objectives of European and Euro-Atlantic integration. This is one more reason why our countries have to assume regional leadership and regional ownership, as current instruments of activity within the SEECP. Those were the guidelines that structured Romania 's activities during its mandate as Chairmanship-in-office of SEECP.

    Excellencies,
    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    We meet this year in a special political context from the perspective of European integration process of the South-East European countries:

    • Romania and Bulgaria finalized negotiations with the European Commission and signed the Accession Treaty on April 25 this year;
    • the European Council of December 2004 stated the readiness to initiate EU accession negotiations with Croatia and Turkey ;
    • the EU approved the Feasibility Study for Serbia and Montenegro to begin negotiations for a Stabilization and Association Agreement; similar prospects are awaited for Bosnia and Herzegovina, by virtue of the important progress achieved within its internal reforms, especially pertaining to police restructuring.
    • the progress of Albania in concluding the Stabilization and Association Agreement.
    • the good prospects for our Macedonian friends to begin accession negotiations at the end of this year.
    These accomplishments confirm our attachment to a common set of values. By its nature, the SEECP is meant to be an institutional vector through which these common values of democracy can be converted into efficient common actions, subsumed to common objectives.

    I am sure that President Pârvanov and Prime Minister Karamanlis will agree with me in underlining the importance of continuing the internal reforms and developing common projects meant to share our experience of the accession negotiations in order to advance the current integration processes in the Western Balkans. We are convinced that the European and Euro-Atlantic integration is the only viable option to stabilize and secure the region.

    To move on, SEECP acts in a rapidly evolving environment, changing our objectives and our ways of cooperation. In the tectonics of international relations, the Balkan region is caught up between the “European block” and the wider Black Sea area.

    The wider Black Sea area has a great cooperation potential for our countries, but also represents a source of menaces that add up to the existing tension points in the Western Balkans. As I have previously stated on several occasions, a comprehensive strategy is needed in order to build up democracy and security in the wider Black Sea region.
    As SEECP members, we are in the position to contribute, based on our own experience, to the development of democratic and stable societies in the Black Sea states. In this respect, Romania 's direct interest in the developments taking place in its eastern neighborhood and in the Black Sea region is as legitimate as the interest shown by France and Spain , as EU members, for their Mediterranean vicinity.

    As future EU members, the Balkan states are not able to achieve their goals without acting in a united manner or without contributing to the establishment of a secure and predictable environment eastwards.

    The year 2005 signifies also increased regional responsibilities for the Balkan states. In the next period, the evaluation of standards in Kosovo will be presented and we will hopefully witness a positive outcome of negotiation on the future status of the province.

    Regardless of the solution identified for Kosovo future status, its impact on the region cannot be underestimated. Nor can we ignore the possible irradiation effects in the Black Sea region or our eastern neighborhood. It is up to the states of this region to find a common answer to this security challenge, according to the Charter on good neighbourly relations, stability, security and cooperation in Southeastern Europe (signed in Bucharest , in 2000).

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    During the ministerial meeting, you have been informed in detail, by the Romanian Foreign Minister, Mr. Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu, about the achievements the SEECP has made during the Romanian Chairmanship-in-office. As you know, three major dimension guided Romania 's initiatives and actions:

    • the political and security –related dimension;
    • the Justice and Home Affaires dimension;
    • and the European dimension.
    Let me also recall the three major priorities of the Romanian Chairmanship-in-office:
    • assuming full responsibility in solving the regional problems, as an expression of “regional ownership” and “regional leadership” concepts;
    • consolidating SEECP's legitimacy, as “voice of the region” and as a platform for the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of its constituent member states;
    • raising the visibility of the SEECP in relation with the European Union and NATO.

    From a political standpoint, we salute the consolidation of the SEECP by the full-fledged participation of the Republic of Croatia and by the acceptance of a new observer State – the Republic of Moldova . I trust that the progress made by the Republic of Moldova in the last year qualifies her for achieving full-fledged membership during the forthcoming Chairmanship. I also trust that our Hellenic colleagues will share this vision
Albeit these considerations, we believe that the integrated approach of the Justice and Home Affairs dimension was the main success of the Romanian Chairmanship. The special accent put, during our mandate, on this dimension is fully justified by our desire to affirm the SEECP as a platform for the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of its constituent member states and as the main interlocutor of EU and NATO in South-East Europe .

    A concrete result of our concerns is the launching, in May last year, of the SEECP Common Campaign on Fighting Organized Crime and Corruption. This was an important step meant to consolidate the regional cooperation in the field, being the first implementation mechanism proposed, beside the classical “declarations of intent” in this sense. The work of the SEECP Consultation Group on Fighting Organized Crime and Corruption stands proof that regional cooperation in this field does matter and bears efficient results.

    Another of our initiatives focused on the necessity of ratifying the UN Convention against Corruption among the SEECP Participating States. Having realized the importance of speeding up the process of harmonizing the national legislative and institutional framework with the standards set forth in the UN convention, Romania was the first country in the region to ratify it.

    Before passing on, I would like to dwell on a JHA-related area, namely the fight against organized crime in all its aspects and, particularly, the one regarding the activities of the SECI Regional Center for Combating Trans-border Crime, located in Bucharest . Taking into consideration the efficiency of its activity, we are directly interested to endow it with all the institutional and functional attributes needed in order to allow it to develop common actions with the specialized organisms of the European Union (EUROPOL and EUROJUST). Thus, we consider that we are drawing near EU expectations - to fight the risks arising in the proximity of its present or future borders that can affect its security climate.

    Intensifying the economic exchanges between our counties represents an increased dimension of the cooperation within the SEECP. Progress made towards carrying out several initiatives of major impact on the region such as: creating a Free Trade area in South-East Europe and of an Energy Community, as a final point of the Athens Agenda.

    We expressed our common interest for enhanced cooperation in order to develop the transport infrastructure and to connected to the European corridors network and we underline the importance of the project promoted by Bulgaria regarding the development of the regional infrastructure.

    We will continue to promote the development of our cooperation in unexplored or insufficiently explored areas such as: the protection of the environment – a European level priority – social protection, education and tourism. These are several fields of real interest for all of us, having a potential beneficial effect also in our relations with the countries situated at the Eastern borders of Romania .

    We let you decide at what extent we have drawn near the ambitious objectives that marked out our mandate as Chairman-in-office of the SEECP.

    Excellencies,
    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    We have a common destiny and we face mostly the same challenges, whether conventional or non-conventional, from terrorism to illegal trafficking and organized crime.
    In this very moment, Romania is one of those countries directly affected by terrorism, as you well know the situation of the three Romanian journalists kept captive in Iraq.

    Under these circumstances, I request your support for insuring the return of our citizens, as well as to use all the means that we have at our disposal to fight this scourge of the world we live in.
    Thank you.