Publisher: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung e.V.

Actors without Society. The role of civil actors in the postcommunist transformation

Actors without Society. The role of civil actors in the postcommunist transformation

Author(s): Srđan Dvornik / Language(s): English

Keywords: post-communism; transformation; civil society

This study is primarily based on experiences during activist commitments and in my working with international foundations. The encouragement to undertake the study came from Dr. Azra Džajic´-Weber, the director of the Regional Office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Sarajevo from 1998 to 2007. The work was originally conceived as a collection and interpretation of the experiences of a broad variety of civic actors in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia. In the early stage, however, it became obvious that it was necessary first to examine, and even “deconstruct,” the fundamental concepts that have framed the original approach. Rather than assuming that building democracy and rule of law was already underway – as well as the development of civil society – it turned out that many problems lay in those very assumptions. The most important is the problem of overlooking the fact that in the postcommunist transformation, society itself had yet to be established. // Therefore, the work in its final outcome is mostly dedicated to the very meaning of the basic determinants of the postcommunist transformation, in order to fathom the civic actors’ place within the newly defined framework. They are not referred to as a “civil society” but as civil actors, because it is they who, together with other factors, develop a society as a complex of autonomous relations and transactions, as well as a field for civic commitment.

1st Letter from Serbia: Between East and West.

Pisma iz Srbije, broj 01: Između Istoka i Zapada.

Author(s): László Végel / Language(s): English,Serbian

2nd Letter from Serbia: Optimism at the Year’s End.

Pisma iz Srbije, broj 02: Optimizam s kraja godine.

Author(s): László Végel / Language(s): English,Serbian

4th Letter from Serbia

Pisma iz Srbije, broj 04

Author(s): László Végel / Language(s): English,Serbian

5th Letter from Serbia: Good and Bad Tycoons.

Pisma iz Srbije, broj 05: Dobri i rđavi tajkuni.

Author(s): László Végel / Language(s): English,Serbian

8th Letter from Serbia: Preventive Amnesia.

Pisma iz Srbije, broj 08: Preventivna amnezija.

Author(s): László Végel / Language(s): English,Serbian

9th Letter from Serbia: EU is far away – and Kosovo is nearby.

Pisma iz Srbije, broj 09: EU je daleko – a Kosovo blizu.

Author(s): László Végel / Language(s): English,Serbian

12th Letter from Serbia: The Belgrade Scales.

Pisma iz Srbije, broj 12:: Beogradske terazije.

Author(s): László Végel / Language(s): English,Serbian

13th Letter from Serbia: From Partocracy to Indifference.

Pisma iz Srbije, broj 13: Od partokratije do ravnodušnost.

Author(s): László Végel / Language(s): English,Serbian

14th Letter from Serbia: Coalitions and Fractions.

Pisma iz Srbije, broj 14: Koalicije i Frakcije.

Author(s): László Végel / Language(s): English,Serbian

15th Letter from Serbia: Balkan and Central-European Paradigms.

Pisma iz Srbije, broj 15: Balkanske i srednje-evropske paradigme.

Author(s): László Végel / Language(s): English,Serbian

Europe and Serbia. 16th Letter from Serbia

Pisma iz Srbije, broj 16: Evropa i Srbija.

Author(s): László Végel / Language(s): English,Serbian

17th Letter from Serbia: May 1st – Stalemate.

Pisma iz Srbije, broj 17: Prvomajski uranak – u pat poziciji.

Author(s): László Végel / Language(s): English,Serbian

18th Letter from Serbia: Dramatic Dance on a Wire.

Pisma iz Srbije, broj 18: Dramatični ples na žici.

Author(s): László Végel / Language(s): English,Serbian

20th Letter from Serbia: Return of the nineties?.

Pisma iz Srbije, broj 20: Povratak devedesetih?

Author(s): László Végel / Language(s): English,Serbian

21st Letter from Serbia: Champions of Antifascism.

Pisma iz Srbije, broj 21: Šampioni antifašizma.

Author(s): László Végel / Language(s): English,Serbian

Issue Paper on EU policy toward the Western Balkans – Regional Perspective: Case studies – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Kosovo

Issue Paper on EU policy toward the Western Balkans – Regional Perspective: Case studies – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Kosovo

Author(s): Eldar Sarajlić,Vladimir Pavićević,Vedran Horvat,Venera Hajrullahu / Language(s): English

Keywords: Western Balkans and EU; Ethno-politics; conditionality;

There is no doubt that the states of the Western Balkans belong to the European Union. However, their road to the EU is by no means an easy one. The entire Western Balkan region is not only encumbered by the maladies related to its communist past, but also by the problems the region has more recently experienced due to the horrors of war. Many of the ethnic tensions have not yet cooled down. The EU is more sceptical of further enlargement now than it was prior to the large-scale enlargements that brought in the states of Central and Eastern Europe in 2004 and 2007. The current EU-27 finds consensus more difficult to reach among states that are more different politically, economically and culturally than ever before. The EU, therefore, is not hastening the next wave of enlargement. It would be a big mistake, however, for the EU to close its doors to the states of the Western Balkans. The promise of EU accession is the most reliable driver of reform and stabilization for these potential new members. One of the foreign policy priorities of the Czech EU presidency was indeed continuing accession talks with the Western Balkan states. // In this publication we offer you an overview of the situation from the perspective of experts from four Western Balkan countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo and Serbia. You are about to read a text which is in many ways significantly critical both towards domestic conditions in these countries and towards EU policy on the Western Balkan region, thanks to which you will have the opportunity to probe deeper into the problems of this region, which decidedly should not remain in the background of our interest.

TWENTY YEARS AFTER. Post-Communist Countries and European Integration

TWENTY YEARS AFTER. Post-Communist Countries and European Integration

Author(s): Ilana Bet-El,Adam Krzemiński,Jiří Pehe,Veiko Spolītis,Werner Schulz,Nicholas Whyte,Vladimir Pavićević,Tihomir Ponoš,Ugo Vlaisavljević,Fraser Cameron,Beka Natsvlishvili,Jens Siegert,Juri Durkot / Language(s): English

Keywords: Post-Cold War EU-Enlargement strategy;

In the words of the Polish journalist and dissident, Adam Michnik, 1989 was Europe’s annus mirabilis. The peaceful revolution of that year was a miracle effected by the people in central and eastern Europe. Hardly any one (and certainly no western head of state or politician) had foreseen that a popular movement active in different countries would, in just a few months, topple socialist regimes and force the mighty Soviet Union to retreat behind the borders of Russia. There was Ronald Regan’s legendary call “Mr. Gorbatchev, tear down this wall!” made in June 1987 as he stood at the Berlin Wall but neither U.S. diplomats nor European governments took it seriously and some did not even want it: to them two Germanys was preferable to one.The contributors to this publication do not just look back with pleasure to those euphoric days when the people of central and eastern Europe overcame the continent’s division but they have also made sober assessments of the intervening period. What have been the results of 1989? How far have the expectations of the time been fulfilled and where have they been disappointed? What role has the example of the European Union played in the last twenty years? Where do the post-communist countries of central and eastern Europe as well as those of the Western Balkans now stand in Europe? What effect has all this had on “old Europe“, those members of the European Union whose historical experience took place on the other side of the Wall? In what way has the accession of post-communist countries influenced the European Union and its policies?

Greening the European Neighbourhood Policy. A Handbook to assess Implementation of the Action Plans in the Field of the Environment

Greening the European Neighbourhood Policy. A Handbook to assess Implementation of the Action Plans in the Field of the Environment

Author(s): Claire Dupont,Nathy Rass-Masson / Language(s): English

Keywords: environmental conventions; environmental ledislation; Kyoto Protocol;

This handbook is the result of the successful cooperation between the Heinrich Böll Stiftung and WWF and NGO partners in the neighbouring countries. It builds on the expertise gained and the work done in the context of the joint “Greening the ENP” project initiated in 2005. It is part of a process aiming to increase the capacity and involvement of NGOs in ENP implementation and monitoring. // Although focusing on the environment and sustainable development areas of the Action Plans, this handbook also seeks to provide a methodological contribution that could also be considered for adaptation to other areas covered by the Action Plans. hbs and WWF are pleased to share this methodology with other stakeholders, including NGO networks, research institutes, the European Commission and public administrations in the ENP countries. Contacts and exchanges have been established and cooperation should continue. Last but not least, the present methodology is to be seen as a flexible tool that may need further refinement. It has been tested in several countries between April 2008 and April 2009 by NGO partners and WWF offices in East ENP (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine). Their feedback and input have been crucial to ensure that this is and continues to be a living document.

To know that you are still alive. Children from Chechnya tell stories

Zu wissen, dass du noch lebst. Kinder aus Tschetschenien erzählen

Author(s): Klaus Bednarz / Language(s): German

Keywords: Chechnya-wars;

Herausgegeben von der Gesellschaft Memorial und der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. Edited by Foundations «Memorial» and «Heinrich Boell». Published in AUFBAU-VERLAG, Berlin 2006 Russian schoolchildren, like the vast majority of Russian society, know almost nothing about the history of Chechnya. And when a 15-year-old Russian schoolgirl asks the question, "I just want to understand why do we hate each other so much?" At the beginning of her reflections on Russians and Chechens, it may sound perplexed at first glance. But in truth it springs from the same spirit from which Heinrich Böll and Lew Kopelew once asked: "Why did we shoot each other?" Böll and Kopelew were finally able to state that there is no longer any hatred between Russians and Germans. To be able to say something similar about Russians and Chechens will probably remain a utopia for a long time to come. The statements gathered in this book by Chechen and Russian schoolchildren about war and peace between their peoples are a shocking document of contemporary history. But with overcoming speechlessness as the first step towards understanding, it creates hope at the same time. Maybe this generation has a better future after all.