Closing remarks by Dr Dimitrij Rupel, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia at the Bled Strategic Forum
Ministers,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear friends:
During the last two dayswe have jointly undertaken a critical assessment of both the multiple opportunities which the Caspian region is offering in economic and strategic terms, as well as the various challenges the region is confronted with.
In our discussions it has become clear that within the overall aim of diversification of energy resources,the Caspian basin represents an increasingly important energy partner for Europe. Within this context, political stability and democratic governance in the countries in the region, including the South Caucasus, is a prerequisite for enhancing economic cooperation between Europe and the region. The Caspian region is still facing a multiplicity of challenges, ranging from terrorism and organized crime, drug trafficking to the need for further strengthening the rule of law and capacity building of the public administration. Here, the European Neighbourhood Policy has been conceived in order to empower the countries to efficiently tackle these challenges that, if not successfully and timely overcome, can ultimately also mean a security threat to Europe itself.
Our panel discussions have shown that while the ENP represents a good framework, there is still room for improvement in terms of coherence, strategy, consistency, and above all, impact. At this stage, the ENPstill does not offer any membership perspective to the South Caucasus countries, which in a way also suggests that an essential incentive for implementation of political and economic reforms is lacking. Yet, at the very end, the responsibility for successful implementation of the reform agenda and hence also rapprochement to Euro-Atlantic structures lies in the hands of the countries themselves.
During the last two days, we have collected many interesting ideas and proposals on how to improve cooperation between the Caspian and the EU, whichSlovenia will further explore in preparation for the upcoming EU Presidency in the first half of 2008.
This leads me to my final point: When we came up with the idea of establishing the Bled Strategic Forum, our intention was to create an informal set-up where high level participants from different backgrounds gather and discuss solutions on present and pertinent challenges confronting Europe. I think we’ve succeeded in achieving this goal.
The last two days have sufficiently demonstratedthat the concept behind the Bled Strategic Forum works. My thanks go to distinguished panelists and efficient moderators. I would like to thank all of you for your dedicated input and effort. I want to also thank our generous donors. Without them, this forum would not have been possible. Special thanks alsogo to the organizers of the Forum, which have worked hard over the past months so that we could be here today in this format.
Dear Friends, I look forward to seeing all of you again here in Bled in 2007.
Safe travels and goodbye!