Towards Stability and Legal Order: What is Serbia going to be?

On 24 September 2000, Voijslav Kostunica won presidential elections in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, defeating Milosevic and his loyalists. Kostunica’ s coalition (DOS) represented moderate nationalism and the necessity of change and reform in the whole country. Of course, his success had been celebrated by international media and by political leaders all around the world. He had been considered as the “new leader”, entrusted with the “democratic transition”. It was not an easy task: Kostunica inherited a country, governed and directed by illegal forces. After Yugoslavia’s breakdown, Milosevic suffered political and economic isolation from international system and found it difficult to contain ethnic fragmentation and guerrilla claims , especially in the Albanian Kosovo. Like his predecessors, he had exploited the Serbian national model – in its political and economic components – as a mean of wealth and of power support. Then, especially after UN sanctions, illegal drug and weapons trade – which flourished along the Balkan Route – became his unique option. The result was an altered state system, in which corrupted institutions were combined with extremely productive crime activities. Kostunica is expected to change this balance of power in the country, re-establishing security, democracy and economic well being. Anyway, the new leader cannot success on his own. On 10 June 1999, in Cologne, the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe was adopted, a political declaration of commitment and a framework agreement on international cooperation to develop a common strategy among more than 40 countries and organisations. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was excluded from the activities of the Stability Pact, as long as the political leadership in Belgrade was in contrast with its principles. After presidential elections and the “democratic transition”, on 26 October 2000, the country had been invited to be a participant. The Pact wants to achieve stability and growth in South Eastern Europe, through three key sectors: a secure environment; sustainable democratic systems; promotion of economic and social well being. We focus our attention on the “Working Table III”, concerned with Security Issues ( with also two Sub-Tables: Security and Defence and Justice and Home Affairs ). Belonging to the guideline principle, the Balkan stabilization, based on democratic reforms and economic development, needs an acceptable level of internal security. For this reason, it is essential to fight against organised crime in its most important activities and sites: the Pact provides the adoption of policies, strategies and specific legislation, such as the “customs project”, developed to reduce trade costs and carriages, defeating smuggling and corruption through frontiers. Together with these measures, there are plans for the development of regional infrastructure, with international financial aid ( EIB, FMI, EBRD ) and local investments. This paper tries to explain how legal measures and economic plans, developed by Western countries, could manage the difficult situation in the Balkans, transforming illegal order and corruption system in its core region: Serbia. It is, once again in history, the crucial pebble in the Balkan mosaic: a prosperous and democratic Federal Republic of Yugoslavia represents the first step towards a stabile region, free from crime activities and ethnic conspiracies. The country is now in a transition process, in which the European Union is expected to play a leading role, moving from the present situation to the perspective of full integration.