At Tuesday's Foreign Affairs Symposium event addressing the current situation in the Balkans, General William Nash from the Council on Foreign Relations and Serbian ambassador Ivan Vujacic spoke on the prospect of long-term stability in the region.
Nash, a retired military officer who has been involved in the Balkans since the early 1990s, argued that, although the European Union maintains a large presence in the Balkans, continued American involvement is still important.
"This is a place where the U.S. needs to be extremely supportive," he said. "It's not a place where the U.S. needs to be out in front, but it needs to lead in certain areas."
Nash identified three critical places of interest in the Balkans, the first of which is Bosnia. He cited increased economic activity as a sign that progress has been made in the country, but warned that Bosnia's government is still highly inefficient.
Nash also mentioned troubles in Serbia, stating that the 2003 assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic put the country on a dangerous track and created a major setback for the Serbian government.
Finally, Nash identified Kosovo as an area still in need of U.S. help, contrasting Kosovo with the stabilizing situation in Bosnia.
"The Serbs, Croats and Bosnians had a begrudging respect for one another, after having fought with each other for four long years," he said. "In Kosovo, I found that fear and hate dominated every discussion."
Nash argued that Kosovo needs to find a way to resolve the differences between the various groups in that country, and must determine the nature of its future government.
Vujacic, who is the ambassador for Serbia and Montenegro to the U.S., continued the discussion by addressing the problems he saw currently plaguing the Balkans. Vujacic expressed an optimistic view of the future of the Balkans, which he agreed that most people do not share.
He said that there were three hopeful developments in the Balkans: all of the region's governments are currently democratically elected, in transition to a market economy and share the goal of joining the European Union.
"There is no real divergence of goals. We're not in the middle of a Cold War superpower game anymore," he said. "We are cooperating as a region more than we ever have before."
Vujacic predicted that, ultimately, all of the former Yugoslavian states would be members of the European Union. With other countries in Eastern Europe slated for membership in the near future, Vujacic argued that it is inevitable the EU will eventually accept the Balkan states as well.
However, Vujacic claimed that the Balkans needed help from other nations in order to progress.
"They need to be helped to be brought in, but the EU is reluctant right now. They are dealing with their own problems," he said.
Vujacic added that the international community's reluctance to help the Balkan countries is part of the reason why they have not progressed substantially in the past few years.
As an example, he cited the actions of NATO's Partnership for Peace program, a branch of the North American Treaty Organization designed to reduce conflict throughout the North Atlantic.
Three generals of the former Yugoslavian regime under ousted dictator Slobodan Milosevic have not yet been captured and have consistently been able to evade authorities. Because of this, NATO has not allowed the Balkan states into the PFP.
"This is not really fair," Vujacic said. "Three guys are holding hostage three countries who are trying to improve."
Both Nash and Vujacic agreed that the Balkan states would ultimately succeed in integrating into the EU.
"Eventually, Kosovo, Serbia, Bosnia, all of these states will be invited into the European Union," Nash said. "While the next immediate steps which need to be taken are not quite clear, everybody involved in the Balkan region agrees that membership in the EU is inevitable, and also the only way to truly settle the differences which exist."
