The strengthening of regional cooperation and European integration are parallel processes, the special coordinator of the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe, Erhard Busek, said on the second and final day of the conference.
He recalled that all Southeast European countries decided at a Stability Pact regional table in Belgrade in May to set up the Council for Regional Cooperation, and said it was now necessary to define the relationship between the Council and the Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP), decide about a financing system, a headquarters and the Council's precise mandate.
Croatia's national coordinator for SEECP Hido Biscevic said the prospect of membership in the European Union and NATO proved in recent years to be the only real incentive and guarantor of deep and lasting changes in the region.
Speaking of SEECP, which pools a dozen different states with different international positions, Biscevic said it was a unique, even strange group pooling EU and NATO members and countries on the road to membership. He added that despite the different international standing of SEECP countries, the general Euro-Atlantic orientation gave the entire process a positive dynamic.
US Ambassador to Croatia Robert Bradtke said there were problems everywhere in the world and that Southeast Europe should not be viewed separately from the rest of the world, but added that the region's countries must assume responsibility and had a huge potential to do so.
The answers can no longer come only from outside, he said, adding that the Stability Pact had a key role for the security of the region. He also said the United States did not see regional cooperation as a replacement for Euro-Atlantic cooperation either.
When it comes to NATO membership, the countries must show the same patterns of cooperation in the region that they also need in NATO, said Bradtke.
According to the European Commission Delegation in Croatia, the readiness of the region's countries for EU membership should be evaluated individually, but their cooperation in the region is an important condition.
A state's capability for regional cooperation is a test which will show if it can deal with the challenges of the EU and existence in the EU family, said Delegation chief Vincent Degert.
The EC is willing to participate in financing the Council for Regional Cooperation but only on the basis of co-financing. Degert said it was necessary to initiate the appointment of a secretary-general, find a headquarters and clearly define the Council's mandate.
The two-day conference on the challenges of regional cooperation and the strengthening of the region's voice was organised by the Suedosteuropa Gesellschaft foundation and Croatia's SEECP presidency.
Also today, more than 150 participants from all SEECP countries, international organisations and foundations addressed the SEECP's legacy and the regional approach to trade, investment and infrastructure as key components of the region's economic development.