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A report recently released by the International Commission on the Balkans calls for the European Union (EU) to speed up the accession of Balkan states. The commission concluded that speeding up the accession process would foster economic and political stability across Europe.

The report, The Balkans in Europe’s Future, provides a regional framework, a process and a set of benchmarks for EU accession for Serbia and Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia.

The Mott Foundation awarded $150,000 to the German Marshall Fund of the United States in 2004 and a grant increase of $55,000 that same year to support the work of the international commission. Funding for the commission falls within Mott’s Civil Society program, which supports democracy-building efforts in Central/Eastern Europe. In addition to the German Marshall Fund, the commission's other supporters include the Robert Bosch Stiftung and The King Baudouin Foundation.

Walter Veirs, Mott’s program officer for the Balkans region, said the recommendations in the report are based on interaction with local leaders and activists.

“The commission is important not only because of the far-reaching recommendations in its report, but also because the commission is made up 18 distinguished leaders and experts from the region as well from the rest of Europe and the United States,” Veirs said. “During four study tours to the region, commission members met with more than 300 civic and political leaders, students, journalists, and activists from the region.”

The report also calls for a more active role for the U.S. government in the region and says a coordinated U.S.-EU strategy will be essential.

“Stability, peace and economic growth in the Balkans is a must for the security of Europe and has implications for the entire Mediterranean and Black Sea regions and indeed the United States,” said Giuliano Amato, former prime minister of Italy and chair of the international commission, in a German Marshall Fund press release. “The commission concludes that a new contract between the Balkans and the EU is essential to international security.”

The International Commission on the Balkans was established in early 2004 to develop a vision for the integration of Southeastern European countries into the EU. The Balkans in Europe’s Future was presented to a number of EU and U.S. officials on April 14.