Athens, 6 May 2011

“Thank you Mr Chair and thank you for the invitation.

I think it’ s a very important event, a very timely conference, and also the idea of trying to see what have been and what still are the experiences of Central and Eastern Europe and also of the Balkan countries, to compare them and to draw experiences and lessons for the transition process we are finding ourselves in, or which we are witnessing now in the Arab world. This is I think a very timely thing and congratulations also to those who had the idea, who organized this and especially to Minister Mladenov.

I will try to be very brief in order to save time, because I think it’s always much more important and interesting to get into interaction. I am sure that there will be a lot of valuable contributions and questions from the audience. I would like to start by stating maybe the obvious: that developments in Northern Africa and the Middle East are still on-going and nobody can foretell the final outcome. I think we have to keep this in mind and I think it is a pity somehow that especially developments in Libya are now short of overshadowing developments in Egypt and Tunisia.  

And I think we also have to bear in mind that the situation in each Arab country is definitely a separate case. So I don’t think that we can have a patterned roadmap, if you want, for state institutional modernization, especially for the region and the Arab world. and I think we also have to be clear about this: that no change can be properly implemented unless it fulfils two key preconditions, and these two key preconditions for me are first of all the respect for the peoples’ individual identity and culture and the second thing is that we need the genuine support of the societies themselves. I think that without those two preconditions it will not be possible to have real institutional modernization and real transformation of the region into what we hope and want to see: genuine democracies.

Let me briefly turn to the Balkan experience, since this is also the idea behind this conference. I think it is of particular significance in our discussion. And Greece as an immediate neighbor of the region of the Balkans has followed the transition period very closely, and I dare to claim that Greece has also contributed substantially to the stabilization of the region and to the reform process which is still under way in many countries of the Balkans.

The important element here – and I think we have to stress this – is that we had a key driving force behind all those reform efforts in the Balkans. This is nothing less than the vision of EU membership. I think we all agree that this vision – a very concrete vision – for EU membership was a driving force for the Balkan countries to undergo the necessary reforms and still they are in this process.

And I have to say, since we are also here in Bulgaria, in the Balkans, that remarkable progress has been done in all the countries of the Western Balkans, but still there is quite a way to go. We should not forget this, and we should also not forget that within the EU we are facing some short like the famous word “enlargement fatigue”, which also in the context of the economic crisis that we are facing internationally and globally.

We should not underestimate the impact of this enlargement fatigue within the EU, and I am saying this only in order to mention here in our discussion the initiative that we have taken in the past one and a half years, the “Agenda 2014”, in order to give new political momentum to and revive the EU accession process for the Balkan countries.

So this perspective of joining the EU as a driving force is certainly not available for the Arab countries undergoing political transitions. This is something we have to bear in mind. We don’ t have such an instrument or mechanism, if you want, that gives those countries this driving force, something to look to, up to, but this brings me to the point that we need also – as the EU, and I know that there will be another panel that will focus on this in the afternoon, but I think we cannot  let this out also from our discussion – as the EU we need to develop a new partnership, if you like, with our southern neighbors. We need a visionary, all-inclusive political and economic package, to give again more impetus to the revolution that is going on in our southern neighborhood, in Northern Africa and the Middle East, and we need to work out and make available what I would like to call a European Marshal-type plan for the region.

This could be the true European contribution to the region, the developments of the region, and I am saying this also in a spirit, so that there are no misunderstandings, because when you are dealing with the Arab world certainly sometimes there is the feeling from the Western world that we are coming there to impose certain things on the Arab world, to dictate things. I think it is very crucial to clear up such kind of misperceptions, and we, as the EU have to be very clear on that: that when we are talking about as I have called it “a European Marshal-type plan” for the region, it is not in the spirit of “We are coming to help, to assist also in economic terms.”

We have also as Europeans and the EU to see this as an investment for ourselves, because we are talking about creating peace, real stability in the region. Peace, real stability in the region means also peace and stability for the EU. We want to create economic growth in the region. Economic growth in the region means also economy growth for the EU. And we are talking also about taking measures, preventive measures, if you want, to address issues that are already a challenge for Europe and, in my view, will be an even higher challenge for Europe in the immediate future, and this is about the migration flows from this region. So if we invest in the right way in a preventive manner in the region, we can also prevent such kinds of developments being seen in the immediate future.

So this is my point, a “Marshal-type plan” by the EU to support the region, to help the region, but also this as an investment by the EU itself. There are a lot of detailed sectors that need to be supported. Again Europe has know-how on all critical areas of the democratic process, especially with a view to the consolidation of democratic political parties and trade unions, for the reform of the media, for instance, the security sector reform. All those are things that need to be supported, technical knowledge is necessary, consultancy and training courses, if you like, are necessary and they could also be delivered through established local NGOs, which also need to be supported by us.

And I am coming to a final point, and again allow me to put my country, Greece, at the center. When we are talking about democracy and emerging democracies or transitions to democracy and thinking of giving the necessary aid and support – but again not dictating, cooperating with the forces there – I think that Greece can play a specific role, more in symbolic terms if you like, and in such kinds of transition periods and we are talking about revolutions, as you mentioned very clearly and very correctly.

Symbolism plays a huge role, and this is why in Greece, we are thinking of establishing what we call a “center for democracy” for the region. Having this in mind, that Greece, Athens, specifically, being the birthplace of democracy can – and Greece being part of the immediate region, with traditional relations, historic relations of mutual understanding and respect with the Arab world – that Greece can play a role by establishing such a center for democracy, or we could invite those young people, those young politicians from the region, to cooperate with those from Europe and other countries who have the experience, being trained, being assisted in this difficult task they have in front of them.

Thank you very much.”