1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,240 Thirteen years after declaring its independence from Yugoslavia and just over a year after 2 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:12,440 applying for EU membership, Croatia is waiting to hear if they have been accepted into the 3 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:16,560 fold. The country has worked hard to reach this stage. Tourism revenue is boosting the 4 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:22,920 economy and inflation is low. But for some international observers, Croatia still has 5 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:29,200 a lot of work to do before they enter a stable and peaceful EU. Zagreb continues to be criticised 6 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:35,400 for the slow return of Serb refugees to their homes in Croatia. Nearly a decade after the 7 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:39,920 Balkan conflict, Croat and Serb are still challenged to find ways to live together in 8 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:46,520 Croatia. Knin, a town in the Krajina region, made headlines during the conflict. The Serb 9 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:51,480 majority in the Krajina, although a minority nationally, declared the area an independent 10 00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:56,880 state in 1991 with Knin as its capital. Croats were driven from their homes and villages 11 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:03,320 destroyed. Then in 1995, the Croatian army retook Knin and Serbs fled into Bosnia and 12 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:13,160 Herzegovina. Dragan Katic, a Serb, returned to his home just outside Knin in 1997. The 13 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:18,400 surrounding houses lie empty, formerly occupied by family members. They remain in Serbia and 14 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:27,480 Bosnia, fearful of return. When we returned in 1997, it was obviously hard to find a job. 15 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:34,920 It's difficult now, so you can imagine what it was like five, six years ago. A job is a crucial 16 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:40,320 way to ensure returned refugees stay. Dragan's solution was to set up a greenhouse. He's 17 00:01:40,320 --> 00:01:45,320 expanded his business and now makes a good living supplying food to Knin's green market. 18 00:01:45,320 --> 00:01:51,960 Reconstructed after the war with EU funding, both Serb and Croat meet and work together here. 19 00:01:51,960 --> 00:02:01,400 We can agree or disagree as much as we want, but we are condemned to be together and we have to 20 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:06,160 live with each other. I don't have to say good afternoon, but we are neighbors. We're here and 21 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:11,640 we live together. But to say someone is more threatening than the other, I don't want to say 22 00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:16,960 that. In my opinion, it's very difficult for everybody, but it is in everyone's interest in 23 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:26,000 Knin to move forward, especially with the economy. From communist times and up to the war, this screw 24 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:31,880 factory employed over four and a half thousand people. Now there are only about 80. The manager 25 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:37,720 explains that be they Croat or Serb, the person who can work the old machines is the person who gets 26 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:49,080 the job. There is no alternative, first to return of all refugees to their homes and second to give 27 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:56,120 them the new opportunities. We should give them a clear perspective and clear future and the 28 00:02:56,120 --> 00:03:03,320 government is considering already a package of measures in order to enhance them to go there. 29 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:09,960 Replacing conflict with business is slowly taking hold in Knin. A business center is being built by 30 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:18,600 the local authority, national banks and the EU. It will employ up to 70 people. Croatia has already 31 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:23,920 received millions of euro in support of its journey into Europe. Knin alone has so far 32 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:30,680 received over 2.3 million euro in EU assistance. There are serious reasons to believe that economic 33 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:37,600 growth will help Serb and Croat communities come to reconciliation. For the time being, talk of 34 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:42,920 economic growth and reconciliation means nothing here. It will be years before anyone even returns 35 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:49,160 to live in some of the villages of Zadar County. Despite their shortcomings, the Zagreb government 36 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:54,320 continues to remind the international community that Croatia could play a key role of stability 37 00:03:54,320 --> 00:04:02,120 for the entire Balkan region. It is up to the EU to decide whether or not Croatia should join 38 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:10,480 the EU, but I'm quite sure that by sending clear signals towards Croatia that also our neighbors 39 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:17,720 will get a clear perspective and I'm sure that the sooner Croatia becomes the EU member, the 40 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:23,440 sooner Serbia will become, for instance, or other countries in this region will become members of 41 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:30,120 the EU. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the other Balkan country applying for EU membership, 42 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:36,880 is only too aware that membership will boost an ailing economy. The least developed of the 43 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:41,760 former Yugoslav republics, the pace of economic growth was seriously undermined by the ethnic 44 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:49,120 Albanian insurgency in 2001. A power-sharing agreement has resolved those issues. Since 1991, 45 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:55,000 the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has received close to 650 million euro from the EU 46 00:04:55,000 --> 00:05:01,640 to support reforms and integration. One of the key areas to receive funding has been agriculture, 47 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:06,760 a sector which has no future unless the country can develop strong markets within the European Union. 48 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:17,160 Given that we've inherited an unregulated situation with problems in production and 49 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:23,000 export, the reforms that we have begun are the real solution to the problems Macedonian 50 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:32,840 agriculture is facing. One of the most basic reform programs in receipt of EU assistance is 51 00:05:32,840 --> 00:05:37,920 a scheme that will count and identify the country's cattle herd, ensuring their produce 52 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:44,880 is traceable and safe is a first step towards a European standard. Paki Dmiri, a dairy farmer in 53 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:50,200 Macedonia, is convinced that improving his farming practices is the only way to improve 54 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:58,200 his family's standard of living. As far as the registration is concerned, we think it'll be 55 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:04,480 better for us. It means we can export across the border and it will be better. Here the price is 56 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:10,520 very low, it takes our whole day working and there's no return. It remains to be seen whether 57 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:16,040 farms like Dmiri's can develop sufficiently to realistically compete with well-established 58 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:21,760 agricultural producers across Europe. And the situation is about to get more complex. The 59 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:27,120 addition in May of large agrarian economies to the EU will further change the face of European 60 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:33,960 agricultural production. It will make Dmiri's task all the more difficult. Perhaps Boven Winery in 61 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:40,680 southern Macedonia is an example of the way forward for Macedonian agriculture. A marketing 62 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:45,560 strategy of niche quality production may provide the country's farmers a place at Europe's table. 63 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:52,880 The EU has sent the signal that the Western Balkans cannot remain a political vacuum within 64 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:58,280 its borders and that the journey towards membership of the Union will be supported. At local, 65 00:06:58,280 --> 00:07:03,080 national and at regional level, the carrot of economic and political stability promised by the 66 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:07,480 European vision may be the way to ensure harmony for the people of this region.