Turkish Daily News Apr 22 ... - Rsvps Neglected By Black Sea Ministers - Resort
Bulgaria and Romania, for instance, want to extend the EU's cooperation schemes to the region. But there is still hope to rescue it,” said an official from the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Despite the enthusiasm manifested at the beginning, the eastward expansion of the European Union and of NATO has overshadowed the performance of the BSEC. Even the foreign minister of Albania, which took up the presidency of the organization, did not show up for the meeting in Kiev. Founded in 1992 following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the BSEC comprises the Black Sea littoral states of Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, as well as neighboring Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Greece, Moldova and Serbia. It started with the ambitious aim of enhancing economic cooperation between member states with the expectation that improvements in the economic field will be followed by improvements in the political field by facilitating progress in solving political problems. Prior to Ukraine, Turkey held the presidency and organized a summit last June in Istanbul to mark the organization's 15th anniversary. The political problems among member countries, such as the Azeri-Armenian problem or tension between Russia and Georgia, have played a major role in preventing regional cooperation. They also want involvement of the United States in the region, which further complicates matters,” he told the Turkish Daily News. We might seek close cooperation with Albania to give it a new impetus. We still believe in the benefits of the BSEC,” said an official from the Turkish Foreign Ministry.