Minister Pusić in Beijing delivers lecture on South-Eastern Europe: From Conflict to Cooperation

Minister Pusić began the second day of her official visit to China with a lecture on South-Eastern Europe: From Conflict to Cooperation at the University of International Relations in Beijing

Minister Pusić continued the second day of her official visit to China with a lecture on South-Eastern Europe: From Conflict to Cooperation at the University of International Relations in Beijing. She opened the lecture with a definition of Southeast Europe and the countries it consists of today, adding that in the last couple of centuries several empires had defined the future course for this area, from the Ottoman Empire to the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. The history of the Balkans is one of conflict, said Pusić, and as opposed to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the democratic changes of late ‘80s have not led to a peaceful parting of ways but to wars, and have slowed down the processed of democratization and transition. The European integration process is a process of building state institutions, but in our case it was a process of normalizing relations and building good neighbourliness, Pusić said.  

Speaking of instability and insecurity, Pusić mentioned the example of her own family in which five generations of women, in spite of having spent their lives in the same city, were not born in the same country they have died in. That kind of instability and insecurity disrupts all social relations and processes. She underlined that the countries in the region had the responsibility to ensure their own stability and security as no one else would do that for them, and to recall at the same time the ideas promoted by the founders of the European Union – cooperation and open borders, which actually mean elimination of conflicts.

The attendees wanted to know how Croatia was coping with meeting the commitments stemming from the EU membership, when and if would it join EMU, how the Croatian citizens perceived Yugoslavia and its breakup now, as well as how further enlargement would impact the countries undergoing the process and the EU itself.

After the lecture, Pusić is scheduled to meet with Fu Ying, Chairwoman of the National People's Congress’ Foreign Policy Committee, and then later on with members of the Croatian community in Beijing.

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