Brussels, 19/04/2004 (Agence Europe) - The first meeting of the International Commission on the Balkans was held in Brussels on 15 April, chaired by former Italian prime minister Giuliano Amato. Established on by the Robert Bosch Stiftung (Germany), the Fondation Roi Boudouin (Belgium), the German Marshall Fund (USA) and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (USA), the Commission aims to develop a vision for the integration of the countries of South East Europe into the European Union and other international structures, an highlighting the progress made to date. It plans to undertake three study tours and publish a final report in the spring of 2005.
The Commission's members are 17 international renowned decision-makers from different countries, including former German president Richard von Weizsäcker, former Macedonian president Kiro Gligorov, former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt, former Belgian prime minister Jean-Luc Dehaene, former Bosnia Herzegovina prime minister Zlatko Lagumdzija and former Albanian prime minister Ilir Meta, two serving foreign ministers, Mircea Geona of Romania and Goran Slivanovic of Serbia, and the future Slovenian European Commissioner Janez Potocnik (who will work with Enlargement Commissioner Günther Verheugen).
At the meeting, Romanian foreign minister Mircea Geona outlined Romania's view of EU enlargement and the role of Europe in the world, briefing the meeting on Romania's preparations for membership of the EU. Mircea Geona highlighted the need for Romania to have an ambitious plan to respect the timetable established by the December 2003 European Council, despite the elections this year, and noting that there was a real chance of concluding accession negotiations this year, under the Dutch Presidency. He said that this would mean that Romania would be participating in the mid-term review (2005) of the Lisbon Strategy.
During his visit to Brussels, Geona had a meeting on 16 April with the new Social Affairs and Employment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, whom he briefed on the problems Romania has to face in the social domain. Mircea Geona intends to step up the fight against social exclusion, guarantee greater protection for workers' rights, take action in favour of the social inclusion of the Roma minority and continue to reduce poverty (poverty reduction has exceeded 5% in Romania in the last three years, according to a report by the World Bank, explained the minister).