Tillbaka på Balkan – en evaluering av efterkrigstidens Balkan

Av Carl Bildt

Fd. Statsminister och FN sändebud

November 15, 2002

Utdrag ur Veckobrev

Jag kom i går kväll till Belgrad. Här skall vi tala om hur den europeiska och atlantiska integrationsprocessen påverkar förutsättningarna för fred i denna plågade del av Europa. Men utöver detta blir det självfallet diskussioner om vart utvecklingen egentligen är på väg.

Jag är oroad. För något år sedan skrev och talade jag om att vi hade en andra chans att få till stånd en mer stabil ordning i regionen efter det att först Tudjman försvann i Kroatien och därefter Milosevic försvann i Serbien. Regionens politik var plötsligt öppen, och det fanns möjlighet att påverka.

Budskapet var inte bara mitt. Det var samma budskap som FN:s generalsekretare Kofi Annan i diskreta papper gav till säkerhetsrådets medlemmar.

Men av detta blev i stort sett ingenting alls. Eftersom det inte var någon akut kris, ansågs det inte finnas anledning att göra någonting. Och hur som helst var frågorna lite för svåra för att man på allvar skulle våga ta itu med dem. Bekvämare då, tycktes man mena, att inte göra någonting och hoppas att det hela förr eller senare skulle ordna upp sig.

Problemet är att det inte gör det. Medan världens uppmärksamhet koncentreras på annat går den politiska utvecklingen i denna del av Europa mot fortsatt disintegration och söndring. Akuta konflikter står knappast för dörren, men det långsiktiga trycket håller snarare på att öka än att minska.

Samtliga de val som hållits här nere under denna höst har inneburit framgångar för de olika krafter som ses som mer nationalistiskt inriktade i förening med en tilltagande politisk apati.

Lördagens lokalval i Kosovo innebar att de mer militanta partierna PDK och AAK vann på mark på bekostad av det som något mer moderat sedda LDK, även om detta fortfarande dominerar. De olika valen i Bosnien gav samma bild av en förstärkt ställning för de klassiska gamla nationalistiska partierna SDA, HDZ och SDS. I Makedonien var det en framgång att val kunde hållas i fredliga former, men på den albanska sidan gick stödet till det nya parti som satts upp med basen i förra årets väpnade insatser. I Montenegro segrade tydligt presidenten Djukanovics mer tydliga självständighetsagenda. Och i de två omgångar i det serbiska presidentvalet som slutade i ett misslyckande i och med att valdeltagandet sjönk under 50 % lyckades ultranationalisten Seselj plötsligt erövra inte mindre än 24 % av rösterna.

Tendenserna är således tydliga. Det sjunkande valdeltagandet kan ses som ett tecken på att man inte tror på möjligheterna att komma ur den ekonomiska och sociala misär som ett årtionde av krig och konflikter har medfört för regionen. Och det ökande stödet för de mer nationalistiskt inriktade krafterna kan ses som att deras budskap nu åter börjar finna en resonansbotten. I det ligger inte bara en resignation inför vad mera reforminriktade krafter kan förmå, utan också ett element av reaktion mot de olika internationella insatserna.

När jag för i mitten av 1990-talet var verksam i Bosnien, och den officiella politiken var att freden skulle vara säkrad inom ett år efter det att kriget var slut, med s k exit-strategier i fokus, brukade jag predika att vi inte behöva exit-strategier från regionen, utan i stället “entry strategies” för regionen in i den europeiska integrationen.

Då höjdes ett och annat ögonbryn, men i dag är detta av alla omfattad liturgi som uttalas ständigt. Utmärkt. Men problemet är att det inte finns mycket konkret kontakt mellan den faktiska verkligheten i regionen och denna till luftpastej reducerade formulering om den europeiska integrationen. Intill dess att vi förmår att med konkret politisk och ekonomisk strategi knyta ihop verkligheten i dag med visionen för i morgon kommer nog, fruktar jag, utvecklingens tendenser att snarast gå åt fel håll.

Men detta är lättare sagt än det är gjort. Vi måste lösa Kosovo-frågan. Entusiasmen för att ta i denna heta potatis är dock intill ytterlighet begränsad och det alldeles oavsett om man tar upp saken i Bryssel eller i Washington. Man tittar på varandra, hoppas att den andra kommer att ta ett initiativ, men har alls inget intresse av att självt göra någonting. Intellektuellt inser alla att vi sitter med skägget i brevlådan – politiskt finns det ingen som vågar eller vill göra någonting åt det.

Problemet är, att så länge vi inte vet hur de politiska strukturerna i denna del av Europa kommer att se ut, kommer det att gränsa till det omöjliga att börja integrera dem med det övriga Europa.

Kommer vi att ha en löst sammanfogad statsbildning av Serbien, Montenegro och Kosovo, på det sätt FN:s säkerhetsråd utgår från i sin resolution 1244 omedelbart efter Kosovo-kriget, eller kommer vi att splittra upp i tre olika stater på det sätt separatister i alla tre vill?

Och vilka konsekvenser kommer det i så fall att få? Är det möjligt att i framtiden tänka sig två Albanien – ett med huvudstad i Pristina och ett med dito i Tirana – går mot separata medlemskap i den Europeiska Unionen? Och vilka konsekvenser får fritt fram för separatismen i detta område på möjligheterna att långsiktigt hålla ihop Bosnien eller Makedonien?

Frågorna är svåra, och svaren långt mer så. Ändå kommer vi inte att komma runt nödvändigheten av att förr eller senare ge dem ett svar. Vi missade en möjlighet i början av 1990-talet när det gamla Jugoslavien började att falla sönder, och vi missade sannolikt en andra möjlighet omedelbart efter skiftena i Belgrad och Zagreb. Nu fruktar jag att utvecklingen håller på att göra det svårare.

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