Establishment of an International Commission on the Balkans

Press release - April 14, 2004

On the initiative and with the support of the Robert Bosch Stiftung (Germany), the King Baudouin Foundation (Belgium), the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (US), the new International Commission on the Balkans held its first meeting on April 15 in Brussels.

The International Commission is chaired by the former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato, and its members are 17 internationally renowned decision-makers from different countries of Europe and the United States. Among them are the former Presidents of Germany Richard von Weizsacker and of Macedonia Kiro Gligorov, the former Prime Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt, of Belgium Jean-Luc Dehaene, of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zlatko Lagumdzija, and of Albania Ilir Meta; two current foreign ministers, Mircea Geoana of Romania and Goran Svilanovic of Serbia and Montenegro; the future Slovenian EU Commissioner Janez Potocnik. The International Commission also includes distinguished opinion makers from the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Hungary, Croatia, Greece and Turkey.

The objective of the International Commission is to develop a vision for the integration of the countries of South East Europe into the European Union and other international structures highlighting the progress made to date, supported by recommendations for action to the governments of the region and to the international community. As Chairman Amato pointed out, "We intend to be helpful both to the decision makers and to the societies in South East Europe as well as to the incoming European Commission."

The International Commission plans to undertake three study tours to the region over the course of the next 8 months. The efforts of the Commission will result in a final report by the early spring of 2005.