Representatives of 21 Strategic and Research Centers from 9 Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey) met in Ankara, Turkey between 9-10 June 2005 with the aim to establish a "Balkan Communication Network between the Strategic and Research Centers”.
The Founding Conference, i nitiated by the Center for Strategic Research ( SAM ) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey and its Romanian and Bulgarian partners set the general framework for the establishment of the Balkan Communication Network which aims to enhance the cooperation among Balkan Strategic and Research Centers and to create a platform providing the Member Centers with an opportunity for sharing information about their activities, researches, publications and identifying and pursuing joint projects.
The participants agreed that The Balkan Communication Network, which will be open, under certain conditions, to other Balkan Strategic and Research Centers , will have a “Web-site” where the activities of the Network will be displayed. The participants are grateful to Bilkent University Computer Center in Ankara for generously providing their facilities, hosting and maintaining the Web-site. Participants hope that the Network Web-site would provide a regular, comprehensive and interactive framework for the exchange of information between the Member Centers and the mechanisms of the Network, as well as to making their activities visible.
The participants also discussed the mechanisms to be established within the concept of “Balkan Conflict Prevention, Crisis Management and Peace-Building Processes” and assessed the prospects of setting up a “Balkan Wise-persons Group” within the Network. The participants emphasized the importance of making efforts towards joint risk analysis and prevention of new crises and conflicts, and settlement of the existing ones; promoting the participation of the civil societies and their contribution to sustainable stability and security, as well as peace building processes and promoting a security culture in the Balkans. The overall aim would be to establish, develop and strengthen transparency, good governance, human rights and democracy according to European and Euro-Atlantic standards in the Balkans.
Finally, the participants acknowledged the need to cooperate within the international and regional organizations and initiatives, and thus concluded that a “Balkan Contact Group” should be established with the purpose to follow the current issues concerning the Balkans and disseminate information and experience. The aim of this group would be to enhance the international community's interest and attention, thus avoiding fragmentation of efforts and policies as much as possible.
The participants agreed that the next conference would take place in Bulgaria in 2006.
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