Page 423 - 100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International_V-Petrovsky_private special edition

Bringing the Concept to Life

Of these. let us first look at the Central European Initiative which dates
back to November 1989 when Austria, Hungary, Italy and Yugoslavia gathered
in Budapest to establish an organization aimed at European integration, and
supporting member countries which are not yet EU members. In seven years it
grew from 4 to 16 members: Albania, Austria, Belarus. Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy,
Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and
Ukraine.

Secondly the Baltic Sea Initiative which began in 1992 as a Danish and
German initiative. It's currently made up of 12 member states: Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia,
Sweden and the European Commission. Its aim is to overcome past divisions
in Europe by providing a forum for regional cooperation and supporting
members' democratic and economic development. Its Copenhagen
Declaration established a traditional model of intergovernmental cooperation
based on the principles of the UN charter.

Thirdly, the Black Sea Economic Co-operation Pact was started in 1992
with the aim of ensuring that the Black Sea would become “a sea of peace,
stability, prosperity, encouraging friendly and good neighbourly relations.” Its
eleven members are: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia,
Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. This
organization, whose founding declaration is based on the principles of the
UN Charter, has been granted Observer status to the UN.

The process of institutionalization in Europe is continuing as new sub-
regional organizations are continuing to emerge. The CIS, for example, is a
wide-ranging Institution which embraces both Europe and Asia. Elsewhere,
such as in the Mediterranean and the Caucuses, new sub-regional alliances are
beginning to develop.

NATO

There is, of course, one institution which is central to the issue of
European security which I have yet to mention, and that is the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization.

During the Cold War the UN had a restricted role to play in European
Security which was then dominated by the NATO-Warsaw pact stand-off.

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