by: ALEKSANDAR NIKOLIC PISAREV
(Link to PART ONE)
FAMILIAR ANALOGY
An analogy can be seen between his ideas and the “Open Balkans”. During those moments, certainly it had been very hard to recognize what form of state and nations would take the place of the Ottoman Empire. That is why Rhegas’s idea was farsighted, and from the perspective of today’s Balkan and European developments, again very prevalent and acceptable.
While carefully reading some parts of his “Balkan Constitution”, the provisions of today’s very current European Constitution of the EU are clearly recognizable.
It really is a pity that the work of this intelligent man is not closer to today’s creators of the “Open Balkans”, but maybe they are close. At the moment, we cannot go into the mindset of the three leaders who on July 29 signed the agreement for the “Open Balkans”, but according to what is signed and according to the open calls to other countries of the Western Balkans, there are many analogies that go in favour of Rhegas’s idea.
From what can be concluded from the political works of Rhegas, he wanted to create a federation that would include all people of the Balkans, Asia Minor, Western Turkey, and even Egypt and Malta, which at the time were also under the Ottoman rule. Here, there is also an analogy. In the signed agreement between the three leaders, the Prime Minister of North Macedonia and Albania, Zoran Zaev and Edi Rama, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, an invitation is sent to all countries of the Western Balkans to join the idea based on equal basis and on jointly making all decisions.
In Article 7 of the Constitution that Rhegas wrote, it says that: “The sovereign people consists of the entirety of the inhabitants of the kingdom: Greeks, Bulgarians, Albanians, Turks and all others, without religious or linguistic distinction”. He proposed this with the purpose to inspire and motivate people to accept his ideas.
Article 3 of his human rights charter outlines that “all people, Christians and Turks are the same and are naturally equal. And the law should apply solely and equally to everyone on the territory”. It, the law, does not make a difference between the rich and poor. Furthermore, guided by the idea of the French Revolution, Rhegas says that we all have an equal right to express ourselves as we wish and to express our opinion. He propagated freedom of speech and public peaceful gatherings. Free travel and exchange of opinions.
WHAT IS THE EU COPYING FROM RHEGAS?
If we make a parallel between today’s Constitution of the EU and Rhegas’s Balkan Constitution and the documents announced by the three leaders, there are many analogies and coincidences. In Article 7 he says: “The religion of the Christians, Turks, Jews and of all others is free and guaranteed by the government. Should any of these rights be denied, then it is clear that it is a matter of tyranny, which we, the people, reject”.
In his charter, he raised two, in that time, very progressive ideas: first, that education is not only a right but also an obligation, as well as that both men and women have equal right to education. He says: “Everyone, without exception, has an obligation to be literate. Our republic (Balkan) must found schools in every village for children to be educated– both boys and girls, French and Italian language must be taught in the bigger cities”.
In his farsightedness for a state administrative organization in the Balkans, he went quite beyond the idea of the French revolution for freedom, fraternity, equality, and even suggested, seen from today’s perspective, a strong local self-government, saying that all decisions should be made at the local level in the interest of the local community and that all citizens should participate in that decision making. He imagined the administration of each local community as an assembly, from where representatives to the assemblies at the level of provinces, regions and national level would be delegated. (Wonderfully imagined parliamentary democracy with a strong local self-government). Within such an organized parliamentary system, Rhegas suggested for every citizen to have the right to be elected to any public service at any level in the Balkan community.
In his Balkan Constitution, which even nowadays all regional academies of science and arts study, Article 5 of his Constitution was particularly elaborated, in which he says:
“Every citizen has the right to work in the state service in the Balkan institutions”. Strengthening the capacity of the citizen and the civil sector, he says that free nations do not recognize other preferences than intelligence and competence. And here we find an analogy with, in the signed agreement on the “Open Balkans” where harmonization of regulations at the level of the state signatories is mentioned, free exchange of labour and recognition of the qualifications in all states, easier regulation of residence and so on.
The domestic tasks for regional cooperation that are coming from the EU are as if they have been drawn from Rhegas’s ideas.
STIRRED BALKAN POND
Many scientists and politicians have spoken with great respect and still speak about Rhegas and his vision of an open Balkan: A free, peaceful and tolerant Balkan region, a free, tolerant and peaceful Balkan federation. The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Art and a dozen more extraordinary scientific world institutions, with the help of top classical philologists, even these days interpret his thoughts and present them to politicians and political science students.
Perhaps this is where we should seek the origin of the inspiration for creating an Open Balkans.
It is as if the conference in Skopje stirred up the “Balkan pond”. Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina are still “weighting up” the whole idea, are (not) pulling the “handbrake”, but are also not supporting the idea openly.
“Whole is when there is everything”. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro are hesitating, and in the meanwhile each are developing “their own regional cooperation” and creating “open boundaries”, a better economic climate and a better perspective for its citizens and are “imitating” the Open Balkans.
Only four days after the Economic Forum in Skopje, where the Open Balkans was promoted, the Prime Ministers of Albania and Montenegro, Edi Rama and Zdravko Krivokapic, while opening the new joint border crossing between the two countries, stated that it was a big step towards promoting the relations between the countries in the region.
“This is important for the region and is comprehensive valorisation of the economic tourist resources of the two countries, as there is mutual trust and friendship, and most important is that citizens will no longer lose time waiting at the border for hours. This is confirmation of good-neighbourly relations and proof that together we can do a lot and that without each other we cannot” – said Krivokapic.
Rama, both in Skopje and in Montenegro, stated that all barriers in the region must be removed and enable free flow of people.
Somewhat earlier, an Economic Forum of Bosnia and Herzegovina was held in Sarajevo, where more than 2,200 participants gathered, mainly representatives of regional companies who have requested easier regulation of free business. And they emphasized that in that region, the economic space is divided, burdened with various regulations and that given the size of the market, it cannot be efficient.
EU Special Representative who attended this gathering had openly said that “they are here to help and to support the initiative, but that they cannot do it instead of them, they are not the ones who can ensure them economic progress”.
Is Turkey an integral part of European Balkans? Rhegas says yes. And the creators of the “Open Balkans” say YES. More than ever in recent history, Turkey nowadays is present in the Western Balkans and is carefully following the developments. The National News Agency of Turkey Anadolu reported the information from the Economic Forum “Open Balkans” in all languages.
Just five days after the Conference in Skopje, President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, and Turkish Ambassador to Serbia Hami Aksoy agreed for the Turkish company Teklas to take over an abandoned factory in Vranje and to employ 1,000 people from the Vranje region up to the border with Macedonia.
This investment is important for the Vranje region, because Teklas employees will have an average salary of 444 euro, which is an increase of 81 percent in relation to the average salary in this region. Vucic and the Director of the Turkish company Teklas, Nebia Anila, agreed for the Turkish company to take over the entire factory and to employ the people from the Pcinja region.
The Vranje region is “closest” to the “Open Balkans”, says Rade Novkovic for CIVIL MEDIA, who is an owner of a chemical industry and industry for adhesives for the shoe industry in Vranje.
“Not to say that we are the only one, but we are the biggest factory for production of adhesives and other by-products for the show industry. ‘Open Balkans’ for my factory means that a truck with goods from Vranje, without being held up at the border, will arrive in the Kumanovo, Stip shoe factories in one hour. Until now, there were times when we were held up at the border for seven-eight hours. I expect with open borders also free flow of goods in Albania. This is a perspective not only for my company, but also for all companies I work with, because better communication, exchange of experience and employment of qualified workers from the entire region will bring economic improvement and welfare”.
Goran Levkov, journalist and economic analyst, through specific data, for CIVIL MEDIA justifies the “Open Balkans” and says that the idea, if there is no hidden political agenda, should be supported and become more comprehensive, and include other countries of the region.
“With easier flow of people and quicker transportation throughout the three countries of the “Open Balkans”, their companies should save from one to two million euros daily on the basis of open borders. I base these rough estimations on the assessment of the time that transporters lose waiting in front of the border ramp to complete the procedures. At the border crossing Tabanovce, for example, an average of 30,000 citizens cross the border daily. If every one of them spends one hour waiting to complete all the necessary procedures, that means 30,000 hours. If we divide this by 22 working days, it turns out that every working day spent at the border costs 1,600 denars, or if we divide the working day into eight hours, then every hour spent at the border costs citizens 200 denars. For foreign citizens and transporters, where salaries and per diems are up to six times higher, this amount of wasting time at the borders across the Balkans grows up to half a million euros per day, without calculating the depreciation of vehicles standing in one place, spending fuel, grease, or each wasted hour at the border of a truck coming from the EU costs approximately 100 euros. Although transportation during Rhegas’s time was organized differently, he was a visionary in terms of how much savings bring open borders in the Balkans”.
Zaev, Vucic and Rama have thrown open cards at the “Open Balkans” conference in Skopje. It will either be the right path, towards final improvement of life in the region, or will end as material for some future academic debate at universities for political science.
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
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