Keywords: Centre for Advanced Study; CAS; CAS-Sofia; Newsletter; CAS Newsletter; CAS Newsletter 2006
Articles, pictures and interviews can be reprinted only with the consent of Centre for Advanced Study Sofia (CAS - Sofia). Any citations should be duly acknowledged.
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Undoubtedly, the process of ownership transformation is central to economic reform. Without it, Bulgaria can not become a functioning market economy. Privatization (or restitution) is therefore a political process. Its successful outcome guarantees the future and stability of democracy in the country.Privatization, however, has become one of the fields of opposition between the political forces. The course of ownership transformation has been delayed, which has created the danger of it becoming an endless and fruitless discussion, giving fruit to political struggles, but leading to a deepening of the economic crisis.The fact that privatization, land re-establishment and restitution had to start in an unstable political environment, accompanied by economic recession and lack of interest on the part of foreign investors, created a dangerous tendency to defame them.In the context of a strong political confrontation, the interests of political forces are moving ahead with economic arguments. In such a situation of chaos and instability in institutions, state and municipal bureaucracies are more likely to hamper privatization rather than cooperate because they have no interest in losing the monopoly on property.
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Keywords: North Macedonia; international relations; diplomacy; EU integration; negotiations;
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Keywords: refugees; second language; Italy
The need to provide second language courses for those who migrate to European countries requires a specialization process in the language teaching sector in migratory contexts. In spite of this, the states of the European Union organize language courses and exams which still do not seem appropriate for this type of users. Also for what concerns the specific case of refugees, migrants who often. They are passing through a state, there are few initiatives that attend really to your linguistic needs.
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Keywords: Estonia; cyber attacks; Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS); government; malicious network traffic; security;
In April and May 2007, Estonia became the target of a coordinated cyber attack. Over a three-week period, government and parliamentary portals, ministries, news outlets, internet service providers, major banks, and small businesses were all targeted, predominantly by a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS). The cyber attack coincided with the Estonian government’s decision to relocate the ‘Bronze Soldier Memorial’ in Tallinn, which led to significant civil disturbance in both Estonia and Russia. The vast majority of malicious network traffic was of Russian-language origin and had indications of political motivation. The Russian government denied any involvement; however, the cyber attacks were accompanied by hostile political rhetoric by Russian officials, unfriendly economic measures, and refusal to cooperate with the Estonian investigation in the aftermath of the attacks, all of which likely encouraged the perpetrators. The attacks caused some disruption and economic cost to Estonia. Perhaps more importantly, though, they exposed Estonia’s vulnerabilities, and demonstrated the potential of cyber attacks to cause far more lasting damage if intended. However, the incident also demonstrated Estonia’s capabilities and resilience in countering the cyber attacks. Ultimately, the shock caused by the cyber attack led to a significant strengthening of cyber defence capabilities, institutions and legislation in Estonia, the European Union, and NATO.
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Keywords: European Union; Europe's future; energy policy; economic crisis; economic policy; labour mobility; EU Institutional Reform; foreign policy; social policy; social welfare; climate changes; environmental policy;
It is my great pleasure to introduce myself as the new Chairman of CEPS. Let me start by thanking my predecessor, H. Onno Ruding, who assisted CEPS’ management in growing the organisation to the globally recognised institution that it is today, while preserving its integrity and reputation for insightful and constructive ideas. I intend to continue in that tradition, bringing my expertise to the work of CEPS on some of the core issues on the European agenda in 2014. In particular, the complex arrangements to establish a Single Resolution Mechanism will be of major importance. CEPS will follow the work of the intergovernmental conference that is fleshing out the agreement, providing input and acting as a sounding board for its proposals.
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Keywords: European Union; policy making; eurozone governance; economy; economic policy; economic development; energy; climate change; environmental policy; international relations; foreign policy; trade; security;
At a time when nearly everyone has an opinion on the challenges facing Europe, CEPS is proudly continuing its 30-year mission of providing sound policy advice built on rigorous research. Our researchers help to shape policy by bringing academic discipline to the policy debate. We tackle the big, long-term questions and not just what’s fashionable at any given moment. At a time when many policy-makers are forced to focus on the immediate challenges, this is more important than ever. The European Union is in the midst of setting policy directions for years to come – on the future architecture of bank supervision, on eurozone governance, on migration. Our research is crucial in ensuring that policy builds on solid evidence.
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Keywords: European Union; populism; fake news; political manipulations; economic policy; jobs; human resources; energy; climate changes; governance; economic development; policy making; security;
Populists usually don’t have much use for complexity. They prefer to build their proposals on the basis of simplistic ideas about the pluralism of our societies and the definition of their electoral platforms. Moreover, we are in the midst of a period when “fake news” competes with reality in an attempt to attract the support of citizens or to manipulate their understanding of what is actually going on. Nowadays, the role of think-tanks is more important than ever before in exposing and countering these trends and providing authoritative analysis to policy-makers and other stakeholders. Based on rigorous analysis of the relevant literature, facts and data, think tanks make an essential contribution to the decision-making process by increasing the awareness of the new challenges and providing educated insights. Their findings and recommendations are instrumental in the design of effective policies, capable of achieving viable outcomes.
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Keywords: Conference report; Feminism; Gender equality; Leadership; Activism;
Na regionalnoj konferenciji je učestvovalo gotovo stotinu mladih žena, aktivistkinja i feministkinja i učestvovale su u historijskom trenutku, jer je ovo prvi put u dva desetljeća da su se mlade feministkinje iz regije okupile na konferenciji ovog tipa i dogovarale daljnje korake zajedničkog utjecaja na prostore u kojima žive i rade. Na dvodnevnoj konferenciji sumirano je ono što su mlade feministkinje i aktivistkinje radile u bliskoj prošlosti, kao što su se i prisjetile uspjeha svojih prethodnica. Sudionice su također razgovarale o fokusima današnjeg feminizma i aktivizma, ali i o problemima i potrebama s kojima se nova generacija feministkinja i aktivistkinja susreće. Djevojke su izašle sa konferencije sa konkretnim kriterijima za buduće aktivističko djelovanje, bez velikih utopijskih stavova, te sa konkretnim vizijama koji je fokus djelovanja i održivosti mladih aktivistkinja i feministkinja.
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Keywords: Armenia-Turkey relation; genocide of Armenians;
No single topic poisons relations between Turks and Armenians more than the 1915 destruction of the Armenian communities of Anatolia, and the question of whether it constituted genocide. For Turkey, the fight against genocide recognition on the international stage has been a central goal of foreign policy. For Armenians, the genocide and the resulting loss of a traditional homeland is a defining element of their national identity. At present, the two countries have no diplomatic relations. The border between them remains closed. In recent times the first signs of a rapprochement have appeared, with the political leadership on both sides making conciliatory gestures. For a normalisation of relations to take place, however, both sides will have to overcome some deeply entrenched prejudices. || Today is a critical period for both countries. Restoring diplomatic relations and opening the border, though only first steps towards reconciliation, would marginalise extremist voices on both sides, enabling a more reasonable and measured debate to go forward. Turkey should stop trying to stifle discussion of the Armenian genocide both at home and abroad – and avoid over-reacting if, as might well happen, any more of its allies recognise the events of 1915 as genocide. For their part, Armenians must accept that recognition of the genocide will never pave the way for challenging a territorial settlement that has stood for nearly a century.
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Keywords: Democratic institutions; Transnistria conflict; capacity of administration; juridical system; economic reforms; foreign trade; social development; human traffic; migration; border control;
The reports in the "Euromonitor" series aim at independent and objective monitoring of the implementation process of the Republic of Moldova - European Union Action Plan. The actions adopted and implemented by both signatories of the Plan will be monitored quarterly. The action plan is a complex document, structured in 7 chapters, which provides for the implementation of about 300 actions, some defined more or less precisely, others very ambiguous. Unable to monitor such a complex document, the authors of "Euromonitor" focused on priority actions, identified in the Action Plan itself.
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Keywords: international business; international economics; international management; international marketing; international finance
The volume has 22 chapters organized in four thematic parts: the first part includes elements related to the world economy system in the context of international economic relations, international organizations and global governance. The second part looks at the international environment and how this influences the international activity of a company. The third part focuses on the organization that operates at international level and how specific activities are conducted (negotiations, contracting, management, marketing, foreign trade operations, risk management and others). The last part, the fourth looks at recent challenges in the internationalization, such as innovation, technology, intangible economy and lobby.
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Keywords: economy; agrarian policy; land market; property relations; agricultural association and cooperation; rural economy; rural development; land consolidation; Romanian agricultural economics; agricultural
The volume "Agricultural Policy Issues. Points of view" brings together the opinions of specialists in the field, that reflects the current situation and the stage of evolution of the romanian agricultural sector, as well as the problems encountered in achieving and implementing the economic and productive legal framework of great interest for agriculture and its modernization. This book is a broad scientific event, which treats responsibly the defining segments of the economy and agricultural policy, with emphasis on issues related to the architecture of ownership and exploitation structures, property relations, involvement of the agricultural sector in association actions and cooperation under the influence of new modernization and development strategies subject to the area of scientific debate of the academic and university personalities present at the event. The present research focuses on the perimeter of economics and agricultural policy, addressing important strategy points, which capitalize on the scientific knowledge of specialists and decision-making bodies that forms the pyramid of romanian society, whose opinion completes a set of synergistic actions for efficiency and development of agriculture in Romania. The indisputable value of the scientific materials included in the volume can be recognized by the very essence of the debate – the involvement of the act of knowledge in finding solutions and opportunities for solving problems that affect the natural economic course of agriculture.
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Keywords: ”religious beliefs”;”political values”;”voting intentions”;”trust in political leaders”;
The survey was conducted between March 30 and April 11, 2021 on a national sample of 1420 subjects. He measured the state of religiosity of the citizens with the help of several indicators: faith in God, frequency of prayers, church, fasting, confession, observance of holidays, reading the Bible, etc. The survey also measured attitudes toward teaching religion in schools, same-sex marriages, faith in the horoscope, trust in priests, attitudes toward abortion, the pandemic, politicians, and voting intentions.
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Keywords: values;external politics;trust in political leaders;voting intentions;
The survey was conducted on May 1-7, 2020 on a national sample of 1545 selected people from 148 rural and urban localities in all counties of Romania. He measured the attitude towards the politics of some states, towards socialism and capitalism, confidence in political leaders, in the projects of political parties, in certain issues of public interest, voting intentions.
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Security remains to be the key for all of the Eastern Partnership countries, without exception. Frozen, simmering and hot conflicts are the distinctive feature of the region as a whole. If, after the Russian intervention in Georgia in 2008, the West failed to learn the necessary lessons, today such lessons are again taught by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Where is the place of the region in Moscow’s geopolitical integration projects? What instruments of a hybrid intervention does the Kremlin use in attacks, not only against Ukraine? Where will Rus¬sia’s expansionist efforts lead to? Sergiy Gerasymchuk is looking for the answers to these and other security issues. In April, with the risk of resuming the clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh, se¬curity issues become dominant for Armenia and Azerbaijan, where Russia sells military equipment to both sides of the conflict, while providing them with a platform for the diplomatic negotiations. The main question in the expert environment of Belarus was: Do the concessions in the security sphere appear as a price of the economic agreements with Russia? At the same time Georgia’s agenda in April was dominated by the debate over the changes to the Constitution. The main stumbling block is the new electoral system. The change in the parliamentary electoral system was the top issue of the disputes yet with no results in Moldova as well. These and other most important events of April in the Eastern Partner¬ship countries are discussed in the traditional review of the month. //// CONTENT: ARMENIA: SHARING SPOILS OF POWER // AZERBAIJAN: ECONOMY DECLINE AND RUSSIAN MILITARY SUPPORT // BELARUS: BALANCING FOREIGN POLICY AND REVIVING THE ECONOMY // GEORGIA: FIGHTING FOR THE NEW CONSTITUTION // MOLDOVA: INTERNAL POLITICAL DEBATES, AMBIVALENT ECONOMIC DECISIONS AND AMBIGUOUS FOREIGN POLICY AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF NATURAL DISASTERS // UKRAINE: POLITICAL SPRING BREAK, ECONOMIC DOWNTURN AND WAITING FOR // ANALYTICA: THE SECURITY SITUATION IN UKRAINE: LESSONS FOR THE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP NEIGHBORHOOD AND WIDER EUROPE
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Keywords: Armenian minority in Romania; Armenian culture; Christianity; Ethnic status;
The general objective of the present study has been to identify the internal structure of the ethnic group of Armenians which, in spite of their unitary ethnic status, are constituted by two compact blocks and by several subgroups. These subgroups create an internal field where the actors fight for the right to the legitimate representation of the minority, which coincides also with having the resources necessary for the community's cultural reproduction. The main objective has been to identify these actors and describe the discourse of legimitacy by presenting its the main topics as well.
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Keywords: Tatars; Dobruja; Ethnic minorities; Ethnic identity; Identity reconstruction;
The research is a descriptive analysis of the ethnic identity dynamics of Tatars in Dobruja. We tried to identify how the ethnic identity of the Tatar community of Dobruja, of Sunni Islamic faith was rediscovered and reconfigured after 1990. The research analyses the representative reorganization on ethnic basis that took place after the fall of the communist regime, emphasizing the ways of action and interaction of this organization in the community, through which ethnic and religious traditions, became important elements in the identity reconstruction of Dobruja Tatars during this period. We also followed the way the ethnic specificity articulates in the inner ethnic group, in different social contexts, in the religious life, in linguistic situations, in family relations and in economic contexts. From the methodological point of view, the research is based on the field research (interviews, participative observation) conducted in urban and rural communities of Tatars in Constanța county, where the largest Tatar communities of Dobrogea live.
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