site.btaSEECP Can Serve as Effective Platform for Regional Security - Expert

The South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) can serve as a productive platform for security in all its dimensions, Hristo Georgiev, Director of the Foreign Ministry's Southeast Europe Directorate between 2005 and 2008, said at the conference "Towards Shared Regional Security for Peace, Stability and Cooperation in the Balkans and the Black Sea" in Sofia on Monday. 

The event, organized by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Economics and International Relations Institute, is being held in connection with Bulgaria's Chairmanship of the SEECP. 

According to Georgiev, the European Union is increasingly moving towards strategic autonomy, and the countries of Southeastern Europe could become part of this trend, with regional dialogue contributing to the shaping of European policies. 

At the same time, he warned that delays in the EU accession process of the Western Balkan countries could become a challenge for Europe. He also pointed to growing nationalist sentiments in the region. 

Georgiev said the establishment of the SEECP and the adoption of the Sofia Declaration in 1996 reflected the political foresight of the Bulgarian government at the time and then foreign minister Georgi Pirinski. 

He noted that the initiative coincided with efforts to consolidate peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and received strong support from the international community. The Sofia Declaration set out the main principles and directions of regional cooperation with a long-term perspective, he added. 

The objective today should be to build on the SEECP's legacy, Georgiev said, stressing that the key concept is shared responsibility. In his words, multilateral political dialogue can serve as a form of soft diplomacy in an evolving global order.