The recent violence in Kosovo was not unexpected by those who monitor the situation and had discerned the gathering storm clouds. Those on the contrary who were completely absorbed with developments in Iraq and the fight against international terrorism, thought that the problems in the Balkans had been more or less resolved.

The resurgence of violence was unavoidable in Kosovo, a country with unclear legal status, ravaged by the bombardments, under UN administration since 1999, lacking strong democratic institutions, plagued by criminal networks trafficking in women, guns and drugs, and comprising two communities -Albanians and Serbs- divided by implacable hatred.

Killings, burned churches, burned mosques: the events of recent months have forced us to review, seriously and comprehensively, what is happening in our neighbourhood. In Serbia, Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, who was regarded as pro-Western, was assassinated in March 2003. In the elections of December people who have been accused of war crimes were re-elected to Parliament. In Croatia, the electorate restored to power the same nationalist party of which the leadership had undertaken the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia ten years back. A similar grey picture in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Dayton Agreement did put a stop to the killings in 1995, but led to a weak government, two deeply divided communities, three nationalities, ten cantons in one half of the country, and three armies. There is talk of an "Albanian Question" in the Balkans.

Very quickly, it has become apparent that building peace and democracy is much harder than starting a war. This worrying situation in the Balkans led some of us, a month ago, to initiate new discussions -in the context of a forum including a photography exhibition on the subject of the Mostar bridge- about peace, reconciliation, and the European prospects of the Balkan peninsula.

"I am a Bosnian and a Moslem. I do not hate anyone". So said Haris Siladjic, former Prime Minister of Bosnia (1993-96), upon signing the Olympic Truce in Zappion, Athens. At least 150,000 men, women and children were killed in the war in Yugoslavia. More than two million former Yugoslavs were driven out of their homes by other former Yugoslavs. In this former country, the terrible sight of burned-out, plundered, devastated villages has become commonplace. Out of this complex mosaic of national, linguistic, religious, historical and political divisions, newspapers and TV reports focus on a few obvious images: mutilated bodies, old women crying, abandoned mosques, churches and towns in rubble. In reality, you'd need a book to explain each single piece of the story.

There is no doubt that the future of the Balkan nations will depend on the resolution of the terrible problems created by the war. Europe can not be peaceful and secure when violence, national hatred, and conflict exist within its borders. Greece has supported unconditionally the European orientation of the Balkan peninsula. The European Council at Thesaloniki (June 2003) declared that "it is ready to fully and effectively support the European prospects of the West Balkan countries, which will become an integral part of the Union as soon as they fulfil the criteria".

In other words, the Balkan countries are called upon to establish functional, durable democracies. This requires the creation of new social bonds and the advancement of dialogue and citizen participation to create societies sharing a common vision and respecting personal and social rights, the equality of the sexes, the principles of law and order, the rights of minorities, and national, religious, or sexual diversity.

The developments in the Balkans affect the vital interests of our country. PASOK has rendered Greece and active geopolitical player and a factor in favour of peace in the region. We shall have to wait and see whether New Democracy will follow the course set by Simitis and Papandreou.

* MEP, www.karamanou.gr

 Newspaper ELEFTHEROTYPIA- 23/03/2004