EU-DIGEST

Raising Balkan antagonisms & the energy nexus- by Ioannis Michaletos

A mark of our age is the interconnectivity of the political, social and economic global units, based on the expanding networks of telecommunications, transportation and in the case of the current article; energy. The future of the Balkans and the developments to occur in issues such as Kosovo, strongly depend on the emerging landscape shaped by the antagonisms of the stronger nations and based on the effective control of energy routes. Those include oil & natural gas pipelines and the electricity networks between the states of that region. It has to be noted though, that politics and business sometimes might differentiate, and that further complicates any assessment, especially in a traditionally turbulent region such as the Balkans.

Labels: Balkanization, EU, Russia

In an interview with William Bourton, the French political scientist Jean-Yves Camus expresses his fear of separatist movements in Europe. "The question is not whether there is a collective identity. That is irrefutable in the cases of the Basque country, Catalonia and the Flanders region. The question is whether or not these distinct identities can live with others. Basically, do we want to apply the principle of one land, one people, one language, one state? ... The Catalonia example is striking, with non Catalan-speakers being treated as second class citizens, forbidding them, for example, jobs in the public service. There is a risk of balkanisation in Europe, with each ethnical group wanting its independence. This is a paradox in view of globalisation. The balkanisation prevents the emergence of a European power and plays into the hands of the American super-power. It complicates the integration of people from immigrant backgrounds, fuelling 'ethnicism' and racism."

Labels: Balkanization, EU, Unity