THE DANGER IN THE HEART OF TIRANA On page 2

Today: the names of 219 people who will be provided with a telephone by the Durrës Telecommunications Directorate On page 19

A super-speedboat is seized in Orikum and taken to Sazan On page 3

opinion By Xhorxh SOROS The fall of Yugoslav President Slobodan Millosheviç cannot heal the political wounds of the Balkans. On the contrary, they are becoming even more acute. Yugoslavia has disintegrated, but the disintegration is not complete. Many problems remain unresolved, such as relations between Serbia and Montenegro and the status of Kosovo (not to mention the province of Vojvodina, in northern Serbia). Any solution, any suggestion for change, would unleash a series of new conflicts because of clashing claims to sovereignty. Although the initial impulse is to untangle this knot by revising borders or creating new entities, in fact the way out of the impasse lies beyond the context of sovereignty. Such a commonly used solution would only perpetuate the problems of the Balkans. A new solution is needed, under which the EU would have to use the opportunities of European integration as a means of encouraging regional integration. The European Union can act as a magnet to bring the countries of the region closer together, bringing the region as a whole closer to Europe. Only the European Union can make this idea, widely favored by all the peoples of the region, a reality. After NATO’s intervention in Kosovo, European leaders made this possibility the cornerstone of their vision for the Balkans, which was later enshrined in the Stability Pact, signed at the Sarajevo Summit in July 1999. But the Stability Pact itself is a framework that needs to be filled in. The opportunity to do so will come at the Zagreb Conference on 24 November, convened by France, which currently holds the EU presidency. This is the moment for the European Union to propose a three-point plan for the Balkans: 1- Establish a Customs Union, which for a one-year period will have preferential status in relations with the EU. The existing Turkey-European Union customs union could serve as a model. Reaching such an agreement with the EU for all countries would automatically lead to the development of free trade throughout the region. Implementing the agreement is a lengthy process, but from the outset the European Union should send a positive signal by unilaterally opening its borders to imports from the region. This opening cannot endanger any EU interests, because the countries in question account for far less than 1 percent of the EU market. 2- For a two-year period, establish a regional VAT to replace the loss of customs revenue. Continued on page 5

IOM TO WORK IN ITALY List of the names of people who will be interviewed On page 18

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