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Balkans: Pilotto, Trieste is their 'western gateway'

'Let's establish ad hoc university in the old free port'

26 April, 15:08

(ANSA) - TRIESTE - We host here below a speech written by Stefano Pilotto, professor of History of International Relations at the University of Trieste, entitled ''Trieste: a look towards the Western Balkans''. Pilotto recently spoke on this subject at a meeting organised by the Serbian Youth Cultural Association, and he underlined that the city of Trieste ''should increasingly act as the western gateway to the Balkans''.

''The Western Balkans cover an area which includes five sovereign countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia). Kossovo, which self-proclaimed itself independent in 2008, is very often included among these countries. Its independence has not been recognised by the entire international community, since Kossovo is not a member of the United Nations Organization. Therefore, it is even more correct to consider it an autonomous province of Serbia temporarily ruled by the United Nations. The summit of the European Union which is to be held in Sofia (May 17, 2018) should give a new impetus to the EU's enlargement to the Western Balkans, but the diplomatic position that three countries (Spain, Romania and Cyprus) will probably take facing this summit is quite interesting: Madrid, Bucharest and Nicosia will not attend the summit if Kosovo will be invited to participate.

Kosovo, in fact, is considered by Serbia as a sacred area of its national territory (the province of Kossovo and Metohia), the land of churches and monasteries, the land where the vestiges and the most important documents of Serbian civilization were kept, the land where an epic battle was fought (1389), which sealed the definition of the Serbian nation and its historic establishment. This area was invited by the European Union to participate in the enlargement process of the Union as if it were a sovereign country, although five EU-member countries have not recognized its independence (Spain, Slovakia, Romania, Greece and Cyprus). This example shows that, apart from the numerous projects of economic and political integration for the Western Balkans area promoted by the European Union (Berlin Process for the Western Balkans), it is necessary, above all, to effectively and definitively deal with issues related to political problems within this area, such as the issue of the Kosovo status, the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the state architecture and the complete independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

As for the role that the city of Trieste could play for the stabilisation of the Western Balkans, it seems that the current period is very favourable to support a growing activity on the part of the city of Trieste and the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region towards the Western Balkan region: both the development of the port of Trieste as a European end of wide-ranging plans (such as the new silk road from China), and the commitment of the future new regional government of Friuli-Venezia Giulia to cultural exchange and with the area of the Western Balkans, along with the implementation of initiatives in the field of youth education can boost this role, favoured by the city's geopolitical location. In fact, the city of Trieste should increasingly act as a western gateway to the Balkans and local institutions should aim to reach this strategic goal with coherence and unity. An initiative that could align itself with this project is the establishment of a Balkan university in the area of the old free port of Trieste, with cultural exchange programmes such as an Erasmus programme for the Balkans, which will allow Western youth to learn more about youth from the Balkan countries, fostering a cultural communion to enhance processes of peace, stabilisation and cooperation with the Balkan area. Culture, in other words, should precede politics and politics should precede economy''. (ANSA).

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