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The recent (post 1990) history of the western Balkans is deeply engraved by ferocious wars between the various nations that has created a deficit of co-operation and mutual understanding between different national, religious and social groups. Furthermore, the post WW2 history has left the region with a deep democratic deficit. However, the long term history of the region is probably one the finest examples of co-operation between nations in the overall European History.
In the light of the above background, in recent years, the countries of the Western Balkans have made considerable progress in stabilisation and reconciliation, internal reform and regional cooperation. These developments show that the people and governments of the region are seeking a better future in the mainstream of European political and economic life. The region has significantly moved forward in terms of achieving lasting macroeconomic stability and increasing its competitiveness but progress is uneven and much remains to be done. As progress is made on stabilisation and status issues are addressed, the Western Balkan countries will increasingly focus on the reforms needed to approach European standards. Hence, the major challenge in the region is to establish co-operation and mutual understanding and to return in the larger European family, overcoming the forced separation from it.
An important pre-requisite for promoting the above targets and for converging to the European standards and observing the European acquis communautaire, is to dramatically improve the concepts and infrastructure for information exchange and to strengthen the principles and practices of democracy and international co-operation.
In this context, a network of co-operation that exists and can be further developed and exploited in order to contribute to the democratic processes in the area is that of the local News Agencies in the region. Such network of co-operation will greatly enhance the present situation and can help address a number of challenges in terms of communication and public dialogue by overcoming present limits, such as:
- Information provided to the general public on current affairs concerning the overall region is hardly adequate.
- Communication within the Western Balkans is virtually non-existent.
- The promotion of activities undertaken by Western Balkans countries is usually confined at a national level.
Thus, the establishment of a Western Balkans Information point, built around the infrastructure of the local News Agencies, aiming at meeting the need to bridge the democratic gap in this region by disseminating the information throughout the public sector, the establishment of translational co-operation in the Western Balkans Region as well as the immediate exchange of information, appears to be critical for the Western Balkan Countries. |
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