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South-East European Cooperation Process | |
---|---|
Headquarters | Sarajevo (RCC) Sofia (SEECP PA) |
Type | Intergovernmental organization |
Membership | Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Greece North Macedonia Romania Serbia Turkey Croatia Moldova Montenegro Slovenia Kosovo |
Leaders | |
• Chairmanship-in-Office | North Macedonia |
• Secretary General of the RCC | Majlinda Bregu |
• President of the SEECP PA | Constantine Tassoulas |
Establishment | |
• SEECP Established | 1996 |
• RCC established | 2008 |
The South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) was launched on Bulgaria's initiative in 1996. At the Bulgaria-chaired meeting in Sofia, the Southeast Europe (SEE) countries laid the foundations for regional co-operation for the purposes of creating an atmosphere of trust, good neighbourly relations and stability.
A special characteristic of SEECP is that it is an original form of co-operation among the countries in the region launched on their own initiative, and not on the initiative of some other international organisation or countries. In that regard, the SEECP seeks to define itself as an authentic voice of SEE, complementary to the Stability Pact, Southeast European Cooperative Initiative or the Stabilisation and Association Process.
The basic goals of regional co-operation within SEECP include the strengthening of security and the political situation, intensification of economic relations and co-operation in the areas of human resources, democracy, justice, and battle against illegal activities. It is the intention of the SEECP to enable its members to approach the European and Euro-Atlantic structures through the strengthening of good neighbourly relations and transformation of the region into an area of peace and stability.
The SEECP is a regional non-institutionalised process co-ordinated by the presiding country. The SEECP presidency lasts for one year and is rotated among the members. The presiding country presents the Process at international meetings and hosts the annual meeting of heads of state and government, foreign ministers meeting and a number of annual meetings of political directors. Depending on the situation, the presiding country may call extraordinary meetings. Representatives of the current, past, and future SEECP Chair-in-Office form a Troika to ensure the continuity of activities. [1]
The Regional Cooperation Council was established at a 2008 meeting of foreign affairs ministers from the SEECP. The organization was founded by SEECP participants and is funded in part by the European Union to further promote European integration and cooperation. The RCC is led by a Secretary-General, currently Majlinda Bregu and consists of 46 participants. Participants are made up of the SEECP countries, along with other countries and supranational organizations who are interested in the stability and development of the region. [2] A major project of the RCC is the development of the Regional Economic Area (REA), to better integrate South East European economies. The status of the REA has been uncertain with competing integration projects like the 2019 Open Balkan initiative. [3] However on 2 July 2023, Albanian prime minister Edi Rama stated the Open Balkans project is over and the countries will revert back to the Berlin Process. [4]
Presiding country is changed each year on 1 July:
The Balkans, corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the whole of Bulgaria. The Balkan Peninsula is bordered by the Adriatic Sea in the northwest, the Ionian Sea in the southwest, the Aegean Sea in the south, the Turkish straits in the east, and the Black Sea in the northeast. The northern border of the peninsula is variously defined. The highest point of the Balkans is Musala, 2,925 metres (9,596 ft), in the Rila mountain range, Bulgaria.
The Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) is an international trade agreement between countries mostly located in Southeastern Europe. Founded by representatives of Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, CEFTA in 2006 expanded to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and the UNMIK.
Europe, the westernmost portion of Eurasia, is often divided into regions and subregions based on geographical, cultural or historical factors. Since there is no universal agreement on Europe's regional composition, the placement of individual countries may vary based on criteria being used. For instance, the Balkans is a distinct geographical region within Europe, but individual countries may alternatively be grouped into South-eastern Europe or Southern Europe.
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical sub-region of Europe, consisting primarily of the cultural region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of the region, due to political, economic, historical, cultural, and geographical considerations.
The Central European Initiative (CEI) is a forum of regional cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe, counting 18 member states. It was formed in Budapest in 1989. The body was developed on the basis of earlier experiences with The Alps-Adriatic Working Group. The CEI headquarters have been in Trieste, Italy, since 1996.
The Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe was an institution aimed at strengthening peace, democracy, human rights and economy in the countries of South Eastern Europe from 1999 to 2008. It was replaced by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) in February 2008. The RCC replaced it because it is more "regionally owned" than the Stability Pact, which was driven more by outside partners such as the EU.
Partnership for Peace Information Management System (PIMS) is a US Department of Defense Bilateral Cooperative Development Program started in 1996 to enable collaboration and communication between Partnership for Peace (PfP) countries and the NATO community.
The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynasty. The Principality, under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire, de facto achieved full independence when the very last Ottoman troops left Belgrade in 1867. The Congress of Berlin in 1878 recognized the formal independence of the Principality of Serbia, and in its composition Nišava, Pirot, Toplica and Vranje districts entered the South part of Serbia.
The establishment of a Balkan Federation has been a recurrent topic among the peoples of the Balkans. The concept of a Balkan federation emerged in the late 19th century among left-wing political forces in the region. The central aim was to establish a new political unity: a common federal republic unifying the Balkan Peninsula on the basis of internationalism, socialism, social solidarity, and economic equality. The underlying vision was that, despite differences among the Balkan peoples, the historical need for emancipation was a common basis for unification.
The Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI) is a multilateral regional initiative that has been initiated by the European Union, the United States of America and the countries of Southeast Europe within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) as a support to the implementation of the Dayton Accords in December 1996 at the inaugural session at Geneva on the basis of Final Points of Common EU-USA Understanding.
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non-profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. The organization aims to create a bridge between international media activities and the media developments in the region. It has headquarters and national committees in several countries. In total 33 member states or territories are included in SEEMO: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan
Fatmir Besimi is a Macedonian politician and economist of Albanian ethnicity. He currently served for Minister of Finance in North Macedonia, He also served twice as Minister of Economy then Minister of Defence and after that he was Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia in charge of European Affairs. In 2010 he was selected as one of the top European Ministers in the group of Young Global Leaders by World Economic Forum.
The Summit of Ohrid 2013 was a planned meeting of political leaders of countries in South Eastern Europe as well as representatives of the United Nations and the European Union that would be held on 1 June in the Macedonian city of Ohrid. On 29 May the President of the Republic of Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov in a press in the President's residence Villa Vodno made a statement that he would cancel the international meeting because of the forgive mixing of Balkan nationalism and prejudices.
Macedonia has acted fully in line with the SEECP regulations. Unfortunately, old Balkan prejudices and complexes have surfaced in the run-up to the summit and I will not let Macedonia pay the price. We have been preparing for this summit all year and we have done everything to bring all leaders from the region to the same table.
Conference of Western Balkan States was a 28 August 2014 conference of heads of states and governments of Western Balkans region initiated by German chancellor Angela Merkel. An idea for organization of conference came in light of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I. It is the first conference in this framework and organizers expressed their desire to continue it in future with Vienna and Paris mentioned as a potential next hosts after Berlin. Günther Oettinger confirmed at conference that event will be organised annually with Vienna as a host city in 2015 and Paris in 2016.
The 2015 Western Balkans Summit was the second annual summit of heads of states and governments of Western Balkans. It took place in the Vienna, Austria, following the 2014 Conference of Western Balkan States that took place in Berlin, Germany. This summit forms part of the Berlin Process, a five-year process marked by yearly summits in order to underline the commitment to Future enlargement of the European Union towards the Western Balkans region. Official date of summit is 27 of August 2015. After 2014 conference Günther Oettinger confirmed that the event will be organised annually with Vienna as a host city in 2015 and Paris in 2016.
The Berlin Process is an intergovernmental cooperation initiative linked to the future enlargement of the European Union.
The 2019 Western Balkans Summit in Poznań, Poland, was the sixth annual summit within the Berlin Process initiative for European integration of Western Balkans states. Heads of government, foreign ministers, and the ministers of economy from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia attended, as well as two existing EU member states from the region - Croatia and Slovenia. In addition, other EU member states including Austria, France, Germany, and Italy, as well as representatives of the European Union and the International Financial Institutions, attended to the summit.
The Open Balkan is an economic and political zone of three member states in the Balkans, those being Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia. The zone has a total area of 131,935 km2 (50,940 sq mi) and an estimated total population of almost 12 million located in Central and Southern Europe. The official languages are Albanian, Macedonian and Serbian. Its administrative centres are the cities of Belgrade, Skopje and Tirana. With the establishment of the zone, all three member states aim to increase trade and cooperation as well as improve bilateral relations.