Skopje meeting agrees on priorities for Environment and Security Initiative in south-eastern Europe

SKOPJE, 24 September 2004 - Specialists from international organizations and governments in south-eastern Europe ended a two-day meeting on possible risks to security from environmental issues by agreeing to focus on specific problems which transcend national borders in the region.

The meeting was organized by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Office in Skopje in co-operation with the OSCE and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

It was held under the Environment and Security Initiative (EnvSec), launched in 2002, which focuses on issues as food and water scarcity, environmental disasters and large-scale migration and develops projects to deal with identified threats.

Among the key areas participants agreed to concentrate on are:

 
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• the management and reduction of transboundary risks deriving from mining activities, as in the case of the Lojane Mine in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia which may affect Kosovo;




 
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• basin resources management of the Sava River, running through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia and Montenegro, and the Tisza River, running through Ukraine, Romania, Hungary and Serbia and Montenegro,




 
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• promoting sustainable water management of the Prespa Lake, which is shared by Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Greece, and;




 
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• enhancing transboundary bio-diversity management by setting up Peace Parks.

"The environment does not recognize administrative borders," said Ljubomir Janev, Minister of Environment and Physical Planning from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

"Transboundary co-operation for the purpose of preserving and respecting natural resources represents an obligation towards future generation."

Frits Schlingemann, Director of the UNEP Regional Office for Europe, said co-operation among countries on environmental issues was an effective tool to foster dialogue and build trust.

"Most environmental issues are transboundary in nature and only co-operative solutions will lead to change and improve stability in the region."

Marc Baltes, Deputy Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, said that the EnvSec Initiative report identifies several environmental hot spots.

"These hot spots become national security concerns when they are combined with high population density or urbanisation, socio-economic pressures, weak governance structures and tensions between communities," he said.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has recently joined the EnvSec Initiative as an associate partner and has launched several projects in south-Eastern Europe under the EnvSec umbrella.

"We are sure that the consultation will be a further step in reaching the goals of the EnvSec initiative and that other agencies will soon join UNDP, UNEP and OSCE in this effort," said Consuelo Vidal, UNDP Deputy Representative in Skopje.