Teamwork can boost security in Balkans
IN THE wake of their parallel expansions, both the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) and the European Union (EU) face the challenge of securing their new frontiers. A priority is the western Balkans, a region synonymous with instability for the past decade.
The issues are daunting. The western Balkans is a focal point for international organised crime and trafficking. Illegal smuggling routes starting in and around central Asia and the Far East have spread, and are perpetuated by porous borders, corruption and weak state institutions.
These channels are shared by an amalgam of criminal groups, including Albanian and Russian syndicates that trade in everything from drugs to human beings.
The trafficking threat is magnified by the spectre of regional terrorism. Groups such as al-Qaeda are using the western Balkans as a staging area and, increasingly, a recruitment ground. Especially affected is Bosnia, which has been penetrated by radical Islamic elements. All this suggests a sinister synergy between terrorism, organised crime and trafficking and alarming potential for weapons proliferation.
Such a volatile mix is clearly what the Bush administration had in mind in its 2002 national security strategy, which urged active countermeasures against the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
Since then, the US has pursued this goal in various ways, foremost being the Proliferation Security Initiative. At the same time, the US is cranking up bilateral military co-operation with vital allies.
One such effort is the Pentagon's Caspian Guard initiative to bolster security in central Asia and the Caucasus via partnerships with countries such as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. In turn, regional states have benefited from substantial military financing and heightened diplomatic co-ordination with Washington.
Until now, the countries of the Balkans have had little to do with these efforts. Gradually, however, regional policy makers are recognising the need for a broader framework for Euro-atlantic stability.
Such a contribution starts with border security. Substantial investment in border protection and more co-operation in regional intelligence sharing are crucial to stop transit of illegal goods and supplement similar EU efforts under way.
Border security should be just the start. A serious effort to stop weapons of mass destruction from entering the Balkan region requires action against trafficking further afield. Building on the security initiative framework, regional states should start maritime patrols and seizures in trafficking hotbeds like the Adriatic and Black seas.
Balkan nations can also bring something else to the table. Balkan proliferation is largely land-based, built around trafficking routes through Bulgaria and Romania. So the region is uniquely situated to draw on the local Nato presence and, working with Romania and Bulgaria, supplement existing efforts by land-based interception.
Such initiatives would give a vital confidence-building measure to EU members uneasy, in the wake of expansion, about the commitment of the western Balkans to European security. The US and EU share a vested interest in helping the Balkan states come of age in terms of regional security. When they do, both sides of the Atlantic will be safer for it. Financial Times
Berman is vice-president for policy at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington. Grgic is nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington.
May 18 2004 07:10:52:000AM Ilan Berman and Borut Grgic Business Day 1st Edition
