Concluding their summit near Thessaloniki at the weekend, the 15 leaders of the European Union and its 13 prospective members met another group of states preparing to take the long road towards EU accession. The five Western Balkan States - Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia and Albania - were assured that "the future of the Balkans is within the European Union".
A joint declaration proclaimed that "we all share the values of democracy, the rule of law, respect for human and minority rights, solidarity and the market economy". Given that these states were at war with each other so recently over the break-up of Yugoslavia, it is astonishing that they can meet together and pledge such undertakings. If this bold experiment is to succeed over the next decade, a huge effort will be needed by the countries concerned. For its part, the EU has agreed a comprehensive stabilisation and association process with the five states. Over a six-year programme from 2000 to 2006, at least €4.6 billion is being spent in EU aid there.
The EU's External Relations Commissioner, Mr Chris Patten, argues strongly that this EU approach is right in political and moral terms - and is also in Europe's long-term interest. Geographically, the Western Balkans are definitely part of the European jigsaw, he says, especially when Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey are already included in it. The term Balkan is problematic culturally, having often functioned as a definition of civilised Europe's "Other" when the Ottoman Turks ruled the region. The break-up of the Hapsburg and Romanov empires after the first World War popularised "Balkanisation" as a term of abuse to describe fragmentation and backwardness, assumptions revived by the 1990s wars.
But the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, in his speech at the summit ceremony, said correctly that while "it is a fact that the Balkans has an unfortunate history of instability . . . there is no region of Europe destined by some force of nature to permanent instability and economic stagnation". Mr Patten points out that to exclude these states would not only risk creating a new Iron Curtain, but also create tremendous pressures from illegal immigration and organised crime. Overcoming these by an intensive engagement will be a critical test of the EU's aspiration to bring peace and stability to the Balkan region through European integration.