prijava
SARAJEVO, October 5 (FENA) - The Regional Academy for the Development of Democracy has drafted the Regional Agenda 2030, a document that proposes more than 400 measures for governments in the region and decision-makers in the European Union for the democratization of the region.
The strategic document is the subject of the work of current and former MPs, officials, ministers, activists and experts from the region and represents a kind of response to the alleged non-paper proposed by Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, offering new ethnic divisions in the region.
The Regional Agenda 2020-2030 is a project aimed at developing common regional policies that would lead to the solution of the most important common problems.
The project is led by ADD and supported by the Swiss Embassy in Belgrade, the Olof Palme International Center and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
The recommendations set out a set of tasks for the governments of the region to become truly democratic, modern and humane societies built on the principles of democracy, rule of law, independence of institutions, respect for human rights, equality, freedom, progress and reconciliation in the region.
The document states that changes in the region's borders between countries, especially along ethnic lines, are absolutely unacceptable, although they believe that different territorial arrangements are possible within the countries themselves, but only within existing borders, and not between different countries.
"All attempts, initiatives, ideas and proposals of new ethnic divisions must be unequivocally rejected and condemned by all political actors. The ideas of great nation-states and ethno-territorialism must remain in the past century where they belong and should be replaced by a common vision of states," are the views of the organizations that drafted the document.
It was also stated that the regional transformation into democracies is crucial for economic, political, financial, democratic, cultural and any other development.
"There must be absolutely no substitutes for full membership in the European Union for all countries in the region. No regional cooperation or initiative, be it political, economic, cultural, financial, institutional, fiscal, infrastructural or any other framework or forum of cooperation, can serve as a substitute for the accession of all countries into the EU," it is stated in the document.
It was pointed out that a credible and real perspective of membership is more than necessary, and the accession process should be transformed and adapted to new circumstances, both in the region and in the EU.
The European Union and the United States also need to impose targeted sanctions on individuals and organizations that undermine democracy, the rule of law and democratic institutions in the region, as well as those who violate human rights, incite inter-ethnic hatred, call for armed conflicts, promote warfare and glorify war crimes and war criminals, deny war crimes and disregard decisions and judgments of courts and international war crimes tribunals.
"Sanctions must be applied to individuals and media that spread hatred, participate in incitement to wage wars and conduct orchestrated campaigns against officials and citizens of other countries. All victims of wars and their families must receive justice," it was pointed out.
Also, all parliaments in the region must adopt resolutions condemning war crimes and paying tribute to all victims. Any denial, relativization and promotion of war crimes must be sanctioned and condemned.
The highest officials of the countries in the region must be committed to regional cooperation and refrain from provoking conflicts, using old and open wounds to gain political points and nurture a system in which exploiting ethnic and other differences is the easiest way to mobilize voters and gain popularity, it is stated in the Regional Agenda.
(FENA) S. R.
