The European Union’s Southeast Enlargement

Prospects and Challenges

Abstract

And, as Christopher Patten, External Relations Commissioner stated: the choice in this case is very clear: either we export stability to the Balkans, or the Balkans export instability to us. I know which I would prefer. There is one more lesson I take from the Balkans today: never, never, never give up. Because what is happening in this region today shows how it is possible to turn failed states into successful states, how it is possible to fashion hope out of despair, how it is possible to make a difference. We have a long way to go in the Balkans: but we are getting there. “The age of national states has come to an end. Everyone must feel that a change has taken place, that an era has vanished and that a new age is dawning in which men will look beyond the borders of their own country and work in fraternal co-operation with other nations for the true aims of humanity… “ Konrad Adenauer, End of Nationalism, 1955