Stability Pact supports its own critics through a grant to Balkan activist group - By Pavel Antonov Photo: REUTERS  WEATHERING CRITICISM: Most parties agree that it was right to rebuild the Ottoman-era bridge that was destroyed at Mostar, however some Stability Pact projects have stirred controversy. He who pays the band chooses the music. This popular saying, which can be heard in any Balkan country, could be interpreted to mean that one shouldn't complain against one's source of income. But with the help of the REC, a group of environmental activists is doing just that. They're serving as public critics of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe — the actual funder of their work. The Stability Pact is an initiative of the European Commission and international financial institutions designed to return normalcy to the Balkans. However, citizens' organisations from all over the Balkans have said that the activities of the pact do not sufficiently focus on civil society. At a 2002 conference in Stubicke Toplice, Croatia, NGOs stated: "Our goal is to put the environment high on the agenda of regional reconstruction processes such as the Stability Pact and to ensure civil society participation in the decision making at all levels." Kety Medarova, a 22-year-old activist with Bulgaria's environmental NGO Za Zemiata, affirmed that stance: "The Balkans have seen enough of war, demolition and corruption, so we decided to make sure that at least the reconstruction is environmentally sound, equitable and transparent." Za Zemiata, Bosnia's Young Researchers of Banja Luka and the CEE Bankwatch Network took it on themselves to act as a civil society watchdog for the reconstruction work in the Balkans. Their project, Public Participation in the Stability Pact, won a EUR 20,000 co-operative NGO grant in a call administered by the REC. The grant money came from GTZ, a German government agency dedicated to assisting emerging economies. The grants were focused on strengthening civil society in the Balkans as part of the Regional Environmental Reconstruction Programme for South Eastern Europe (REReP), said Entela Pinguli, a grants manager at the REC. REReP itself part of the Stability Pact. The activists implementing the project call their initiative "Stability Pact Watch." That title graces the cover of their regular bulletin of news, analyses, and case studies that point up shortcomings of the reconstruction process. They can be found on the Web at www.stabilitypactwatch. info. The group has talked to national and European authorities about the environmental impact and social consequences of the pact's projects. The group identified several significant problems, with the main ones involving funding and credit for huge, expensive and unprofitable infrastructure projects. These projects benefit mostly foreign consultants and corporations, the activists claim, while less support goes to micro-credit and small and medium-sized businesses that directly benefit the region. International assistance should focus on building self-sustaining economies, as envisioned by the Stability Pact, they argue, adding that failure to do this might push the Balkans into the same debt trap as the developing world. The Balkan countries are not sufficiently involved in taking decisions about their own economic development and stability, Medarova claims. She sees the push for more transport infrastructure as an example. "Highways do not create permanent jobs, often destroy nature, and take years to bring profit, so they are clearly not a priority interest for our countries," Medarova said. The NGOs want clear information about the investments in the region, a bottom up instead of top down approach, and more investments in environmental projects. They stand for participation by NGOs and all other interested parties and for the integration of environmental principles into all sectors of regional reconstruction work, in line with EU principles. The project has succeeded in providing information and publicising critical views in some cases. But more needs to be done to strengthen NGOs' lobbying and campaigning skills throughout the Balkans. In the long term the project strengthens public involvement in decision-making about the reconstruction process and brings environmental and social issues higher on the regional reconstruction agenda. — Find all REC cooperative grants for South Eastern Europe and all funding opportunities for civil society at www.rec.org

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