THE BALKANS
Major international efforts to stabilize the Balkans are starting to pay off, making it a successful
model of conflict resolution. After years of turmoil, the Balkans are now making steady progress
towards democracy and reform. There is now broad international consensus on a vision for the
region, of integrating it into Euro-Atlantic institutions and values. A coherent international
framework is in place—with the active participation of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo
(UNMIK), NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR) and Stabilisation Force (SFOR) for Bosnia, and the
Office of the High Representative—for the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement and
the Stability Pact, and for the involvement of other institutions such as the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe and international financial
institutions. G8 members are major contributors to these efforts. In recent years, the European
Union has assumed increasing leadership in the region, particularly through the Stabilization
and Association Process, which bodes well for the future.
Despite these positive developments, the Balkans remain of particular concern to the
international community because of the lingering potential for instability. Due to the intensity of
past conflicts and the importance of the Balkans to Euro-Atlantic security, the region has been a
priority on the recent military, diplomatic and development assistance agendas of all the G8
members throughout the turbulent events of the last decade. All the G8 countries have invested
heavily in the stability and recovery of the region and are determined to ensure that they
complete the tasks.
Continued monitoring and discussion by G8 members add impetus to the work of international
institutions in the Balkans, and add pressure on local leaders to pursue further economic and
political reform. As in previous years, therefore, the Balkans are expected to be part of the G8
Foreign Ministers’ discussions at Whistler. But in contrast to recent meetings when the focus
has been on Kosovo, the foreign ministers are likely to deal with broader regional matters, good
governance and democratization.
What the G8 has done
During the Kosovo conflict in 1999, when no consensus was achievable in the UN Security
Council (UNSC), Germany seized the opportunity of its G8 chairmanship, and the presence at
the Cologne Summit of both Russia and major NATO allies, to negotiate an end to the crisis.
As a result, the G8 was able to help broker a solution that led to UNSC Resolution 1244, which
provided the framework for an end to the conflict. The strengthened partnership that emerged
among G8 Foreign Ministers was also instrumental in addressing the remaining sources of
instability (the Milosevic regime and the continued violence in Kosovo, for example), and in
seeking compromises where major differences of views persisted within the international
community. More recently, the G8 has assisted in the transition of the Former Republic of
Yugoslavia by providing important humanitarian and technical assistance programs and by
supporting the generous debt-rescheduling terms agreed to by the Paris Club last November.
An official level G8 Working Group supports the work of the G8 Foreign Ministers on the
Balkans.
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