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POLAND’S SECOND RETURN TO EUROPE?

POLAND’S SECOND RETURN TO EUROPE?

Author(s): Paweł Świeboda / Language(s): English

Keywords: Weimar Triangle; Donald Tusk;

Donald Tusk, the new Polish Prime Minister, wants to bring Poland back to the heart of Europe, rebuilding ties with Germany and France to create a ‘Weimar Triangle’, lessening tensions with Russia, and trying to make the country a genuine player in European foreign policy. The new Government will try to rebalance ist relationship with the United States, slowing down the move towards missile defence and withdrawing its troops from Iraq. Although there will be a change of style on contentious issues like Russia, the new government will still be an ‘assertive partner’ opting out of the Charter of Fundamental Rights; unlikely to join the euro; and likely to put up a fi ght against reform of the EU budget.Co-habitation with President Lech Kaczyński will create tensions but the government has the constitutional powers and the moral clout to set the agenda.

Forerunners or scaremongers? Germany to abandon nuclear power

Forerunners or scaremongers? Germany to abandon nuclear power

Author(s): Anna Kwiatkowska-Drożdż / Language(s): English

Keywords: Germany; nuclear power

The German government’s final decision to abandon nuclear power as of 2022 has been expected for months. However, instead of calming the waters, providing solutions and answering the question ‘What next?’, it has only fanned the flames. Even the adoption of legal amendments enforcing the government’s decision by the German parliament (both the Bundestag and the Bundesrat) in late June and early July has not calmed the situation. It is more than apparent that these decisions have been made under emotional pressure: there was not enough time for accurate calculations to be made and consideration to be given to the consequences of Germany abandoning nuclear power. Chancellor Angela Merkel has so far been unable to fully convince the public that the ‘energy shift is a huge opportunity’ and that this process will be carried out on condition that ‘the supplies remain secure, the climate protected and the whole process economically efficient’. German economic associations have warned against a politically motivated, ill-judged and irreversible abandonment of nuclear energy. They are anxious about an increase in electricity prices, the instability of supplies and environmental damage. The government believes, however, that green technologies will become a new driving force for the German economy and its main export commodity. Before that happens the industry will have to increase its use of electricity produced from fossil fuels, mainly natural gas imported from Russia. This may be exploited by Gazprom which will try to strengthen its position on the German market, and thus in the entire EU.

IDEAS Report: Towards a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian Security Community. From Vision to Reality

IDEAS Report: Towards a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian Security Community. From Vision to Reality

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

Keywords: Euro-Atlantic Security Community; Eurasian Security Community

We are pleased to announce the release of the final report of the IDEAS project “Towards a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian Security Community. From Vision to Reality”. The report includes an assessment of the current strategic environment in and around the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian regions, proposes a set of guiding principles for the development of the strategic community, and offers concrete proposals for increased cooperation in three areas: security, economic and environmental, and the human dimension. The report was presented at the forum of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). IDEAS (Initiative for the Development of a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian Security Community) is a joint Track-2 project by the Centre for OSCE Research (CORE, Hamburg), the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique (Paris), the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM), and the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of the Russian Foreign Ministry (MGIMO), initiated by the ministers of foreign affairs of Germany, France, Poland and the Russian Federation. The PISM representative in the IDEAS Drafting Group is Łukasz Kulesa, the head of the Non-proliferation and Arms Control Project.

Political Leaders on Interethnic Relations and Regional Security in Central Europe: A Roundtable

Political Leaders on Interethnic Relations and Regional Security in Central Europe: A Roundtable

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

Keywords: Interethnic Relations;

TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface Introduction Recent Regional Developments The Consequences of The Madrid Summit Effects of the Problems in the Balkans A Romanian Model of Inclusion Reconstructing Bicultural and Multicultural Values Interethnic Relations in Slovakia The U.S. Role in the New Europe Ukraine and Moldova Conclusions List of Participants

Albanians and Their Neighbors: Moving toward Real Communication

Albanians and Their Neighbors: Moving toward Real Communication

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

Keywords: Albania; Western Balkans; interethnic relations;

Relations between Albanians and their neighbors dominate politics in the Balkans and pose a continuing problem for European and Euro- Atlantic stability. More than a decade after the wars in ex-Yugoslavia first erupted, the so-called “Albanian Question” remains unresolved, with interethnic struggles in Kosovo, South Serbia, and Macedonia. The series on Albanians and Their Neighbors, launched by the Project on Ethnic Relations (PER) in 2000, is a unique regional undertaking that brings together almost every significant ethnic Albanian political actor from the Balkans with non-Albanian counterparts from Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Greece, and the international community. This is a report of the fourth gathering, which took place in Lucerne, Switzerland in May 2004. (Three earlier meetings took place in Budapest and in Athens in 2000, and in Lucerne in 2002.) These PER meetings provide the venue where many of the most critical high-level discussions and negotiations take place between Albanians and their neighbors—as well as with key players from the international community. Since 2000, PER has also convened regular follow-up roundtables in Kosovo, Macedonia, and Montenegro, with the aim of promoting practical measures toward interethnic accord. (Reports on these PER efforts are available at www.per-usa.org.) The May 2004 roundtable was noteworthy for the participants’ newly constructive approach to the question of Kosovo and positive reports on interethnic accommodation in Macedonia and Montenegro. The roundtable also made possible an additional PER effort: a face-to-face meeting in Pristina the following month between Kosovo Albanian and Serb political leaders, their first since the violence in Kosovo in March 2004.

Kosovo 2005: Assuring Security for the Neighborhood

Kosovo 2005: Assuring Security for the Neighborhood

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

Keywords: Kosovo conflict 2005; Western Balkans Security;

In the late summer and fall of 2004 the news from Kosovo was dominated by the run-up to the province’s parliamentary elections, which were held in October, and the question of whether the Kosovo Serbs would take part. While Serbian president Boris Tadic encouraged Kosovo’s Serbs to participate in the elections (though at the very last moment), prime minister Vojislav Kostunica, arguing that Kosovo’s provisional government had failed to protect the Serb community, strongly urged a boycott, and, in the event, on October 23 less than one percent of the Serbs living in Kosovo turned out to vote. On the heels of this development, which seemed to promise continued difficulties in the relationship between Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo, the Project on Ethnic Relations (both through its Princeton headquarters and its Center for Central, East, and Southeast Europe in Bucharest) together with the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, organized a roundtable meeting on “Kosovo 2005: Assuring Security for the Neighborhood.” The meeting, which was held in Bucharest, took up issues of Kosovo’s political dynamics, including Serb participation in Kosovo’s provisional institutions of self-government, implementation of United Nations standards for Kosovo, ways to approach the issue of Kosovo’s status, relations between Belgrade and Pristina and the impact of developments in Kosovo on regional security. At the time of the meeting Kosovo’s new coalition government had not yet been formed, and neighboring states sought a chance to communicate with leaders from both Pristina and Belgrade about how resolution of the province’s political status might move forward, and how the open issue of Kosovo affects a region that is eager for increased stability and, ultimately, European integration.

New Majorities and Minorities in the Changing Balkans

New Majorities and Minorities in the Changing Balkans

Author(s): Livia Plaks / Language(s): English

Keywords: interethnic relations in the Balkans; interethnic government; multiethnic Kosovo; mother-countries and diasporas;

During the last decade in the Balkans new interethnic dynamics have been created by various regional settlements. Many of these settlements not only changed the dynamics but created new ethnic ma-jorities and minorities. Overnight former ethnic minorities became majorities. This new set of circum-stances requires changes in the way these societies are governed. This is especially true for Kosovo, the status of which the international community is determined to resolve in 2007. These factors and the timing prompted the Project on Ethnic Relations (PER) to organize in cooperation with the Hungari-an Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with the support of the U.S. State Department through a USAID grant, in Budapest on December 2-3, 2006, a regional roundtable of political leaders from Southeastern Europe. This regional roundtable discussion, the eighth such endeavor organized by PER between 2000-2006 was titled New Majorities and Minorities in the Changing Balkans. The meeting brought to-gether political leaders, decision-makers and officials from the region, the U.S. State Department, the European Union, the Council of Europe, and OSCE to discuss the changing dynamics of interethnic rela-tions in the area as the international community prepares to resolve the issue of Kosovo’s status. One of the main purposes of the roundtable was to encourage the region’s policy makers to think construc-tively about the new reality that is being created in the region during the last decade by various Balkan settlements and about changes in policies that this new reality requires.

Collective Defence in the Age of Hybrid Warfare

Collective Defence in the Age of Hybrid Warfare

Author(s): Benjamin Tallis,Michal Šimečka / Language(s): English

Keywords: Hybrid warfare; Donbas Conflict; Crimea annexation;

Over the past two and half years, ‘hybrid warfare’ has turned from an academic fad into an article of conventional wisdom. Russia’s March 2014 annexation of Crimea and aggression in the Donbas – and, even more importantly, the lessons collectively inferred from the conflict by US and European policy-makers – has fashioned a new lens through which security in Europe, particularly the Eastern flank of NATO, came to be imagined and pursued. This is despite the lack of either an agreed-upon definition or a consensus on the manifestations of hybrid warfare. This discussion paper provides a (critical) reflection on hybrid warfare – as both a concept and a practice – in the context of collective security in Europe, and discusses the role of the institutions and policies of NATO, the EU, and Member States. This introductory section presents an overview of the state of play. It outlines the core challenges of hybrid warfare for collective defense in the post-2014 context, especially regarding the Eastern flank of NATO, as well as the strategic assumptions that underlie them.

Macedonian Diplomatic Bulletin 2006/02

Macedonian Diplomatic Bulletin 2006/02

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Keywords: Igor Ilievski; North-Macedonia and NATO; Lazar Elenovski; Aleksandar Gencov; EU integration; Report of European Commission; United Nations;

Macedonian Diplomatic Bulletin 2007/08

Macedonian Diplomatic Bulletin 2007/08

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English,French

Keywords: North Macedonia; reforms; European Union; accession talks; EU integration process; rule of law;

Macedonian Diplomatic Bulletin 2008/13

Macedonian Diplomatic Bulletin 2008/13

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Keywords: North Macedonia; economic activities; international relations; diplomacy; bilateral economic relations; foreign direct investments;

Macedonian Diplomatic Bulletin 2013/72

Macedonian Diplomatic Bulletin 2013/72

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Keywords: North Macedonia; international relations; diplomacy; EU integration; European Commission Spring Report; High Level Accession Dialogue; Global Security Forum;

Macedonian Diplomatic Bulletin 2015/97

Macedonian Diplomatic Bulletin 2015/97

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Keywords: North Macedonia; international relations; diplomacy; diplomatic relations; Western Balkans Summit; EU integration; stabilization and accession process; OSCE;

Macedonian Diplomatic Bulletin 2015/101

Macedonian Diplomatic Bulletin 2015/101

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Keywords: North Macedonia; international relations; diplomacy; diplomatic news; 20 years of diplomatic relations;

An Analysis of the Instance Character of the Decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia in the Constitutional Appeal Proceedings

Analiza instancionog karaktera odluka Ustavnog suda Republike Srbije u postupku po ustavnoj žalbi

Author(s): Radomir Zekavica / Language(s): Serbian

Keywords: Constitutional Court; Serbia; court decisions; constitutional appeal; protection of human rights; public law;

Constitutional appeal has become an effective tool for protection of human and minority rights and freedoms by the Constitution of Republic Serbia in 2006. Since than, he Constitutional court has the opportunity to review the individual legal acts in the constitutional appeal procedure. However, from the outset, the question arose as to whether this power of the Constitutional Court also implied the possibility of reviewing court decisions; does it include the right of the Constitutional court to annul court decisions if it found that they had been violated a constitutionally protected right. In its jurisprudence, the Constitutional court overturned court decisions in such situations, which led to controversy and latent conflict in the relationship of this court to the ordinary judiciary, esspecialy to the Supreme Court. Since 2013, the Constitutional court's ability to overturn court decisions in proceedings on constitutional appeal has also been confirmed by a Constitutional Court decision declaring a legal provision under which it had no right. To date, the Constitutional Court has overturned 3,867 court decisions, which is not an insignificant number. The key question is whether he assumes the authority and role of the classic courts of the ordinary court. An analysis of the case-law and the views of the Constitutional Court shows that it does so in two basic cases - when there is obvious arbitrariness in the application of the law of ordinary courts and in the case of an insufficiently reasoned court decision. In both cases, the Constitutional Court often finds itself in slippery ground, because by its interpretation and argument it often delves into the sphere reserved by the regular judiciary.

WESTERN B ALKANS 2004. Assistance, cohesion and the new boundaries of Europe. A call for policy reform

WESTERN B ALKANS 2004. Assistance, cohesion and the new boundaries of Europe. A call for policy reform

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Keywords: Western Balkans; EU-Accession;

As the period of reconstruction and stabilisation draws to a close, the Western Balkans is facing a looming crisis of social and economic dislocation which puts at risk some of the European Union’s most important interests in this strategic region. The crisis is emerging just as existing European assistance is being scaled down, and just as the countries of the region find themselves excluded from the European enlargement process. If the region is not to become an island of instability within the European project, existing European policy instruments need to evolve into a genuine and long-term commitment to address the region’s chronic economic and social problems. The European Union should send a strong signal to the countries of the Western Balkans that the promise of Europeanisation is not an illusion.

The political barometer of Craiova municipality

Barometrul politic al Municipiului Craiova

Author(s): Bruno Stefan,Călin Roșu / Language(s): Romanian

Keywords: administrative issues;trust in political leaders;voting intentions;

The survey was conducted between December 6-11, 2019 on a sample of 1102 adults living in the city. He measured how the population perceives the involvement of the mayor’s office in various administrative issues, trust in local political leaders, voting intentions in local elections, the perception of local party organizations.

Protector of the Constitution as a positive Legislator – Pros and Cons

Ustavobranitelj kao pozitivni zakonodavac – za i protiv

Author(s): Ljubomir Ožegović / Language(s): Bosnian

Keywords: BiH; Constitutional Court;

This paper which seeks to give an answer to the question whether the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina should be deciding as a positive legislator by normative regulation of local elections for Mostar, showcases the ambient, from the doctrinal and practical aspect, which seeks arguments for the justification one of the two possible answers and solutions. As is usually the case in many other dilemmas, in this matter there are arguments in favour of both answers as well. In an effort to find an appropriate solution, the author pays special attention to the constitutional judiciary in general, its role and function in a democratic society, competences of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and legal effects of its decisions in the field of normative control. Upon a review of the factual and legal situation of this case, by analysing the arguments, the author gives the answer to the central question of the paper whether the Constitutional Court can reasonably take over the role of the positive legislator in the current circumstances.

When can Disparate Treatment be Justified? Exceptions to the Principle of Equal Treatment in the Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the light of Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the Rights of the European Union

Kada se različito postupanje može opravdati? Izuzeci od principa jednakog postupanja u pravu Bosne i Hercegovine u svjetlu jurisprudencije Evropskog suda za ljudska prava i prava Evropske unije

Author(s): Vanja Kovač / Language(s): Bosnian

Keywords: BiH; law; disparate treatment; justification; EU legislation; ECHR;

Donošenjem Zakona o zabrani diskriminacije 2009. godine, Bosna i Hercegovina je napravila značajan iskorak u zaštiti ljudskih prava. Ovaj je zakon, najvećim dijelom prateći relevantne direktive Evropske unije, definirao standarde u oblasti zaštite od diskriminacije i predstavlja jedan od značajnijih uspjeha politike uslovljavanja Evropske unije. Pored činjenice da je diskriminacija u Bosni i Hercegovini (BiH) zabranjena Ustavom, kao i nekim drugim aktima, Zakon o zabrani diskriminacije, kao značajnu novinu, uveo je definicije svih oblika diskriminacije, te osigurao vrlo važne proceduralne mehanizme zaštite. Istovremeno, imajući u vidu da se član 14. Evropske konvencije o ljudskim pravima i osnovnim slobodama, kao i Protokol broj 12 uz Konvenciju, koji predviđa opću zabranu diskriminacije, prema slovu Ustava BiH primjenjuju direktno i prioritetno u BiH, to bi i u primjeni ovog zakona praksa Evropskog suda za ljudska prava trebala biti jedna od osnovnih vodilja. U skladu sa Zakonom o zabrani diskriminacije, diskriminacijom se smatra svako “različito postupanje, uključujući svako isključivanje, ograničavanje ili davanje prednosti utemeljeno na stvarnim ili pretpostavljenim osnovama prema bilo kojem licu ili grupi lica na osnovu njihove rase, boje kože, jezika, vjere, etničke pripadnosti, nacionalnog ili socijalnog porijekla, veze s nacionalnom manjinom, političkog ili drugog uvjerenja, imovnog stanja, članstva u sindikatu ili drugom udruženju, obrazovanja, društvenog položaja i pola, polnog izražavanja ili orijentacije, kao i svakoj drugoj okolnosti koja ima za svrhu ili posljedicu da bilo kojem licu onemogući ili ugrožava priznavanje, uživanje ili ostvarivanje na ravnopravnoj osnovi prava i sloboda u svim oblastima javnog života”. Međutim, ne predstavlja svako različito postupanje diskriminaciju. Zaista, ukoliko ne bi postojala mogućnost opravdanja različitog tretmana u ovom kontekstu, dešavale bi se apsurdne situacije. Tako je, npr., općeprihvaćeno da je za obavljanje određenih poslova potrebna odgovarajuća stručna sprema ili odgovarajuće vještine, te bi malo ko različito postupanje prema osobama koje nemaju takve kvalifikacije smatrao diskriminacijom. Isto se odnosi na uslove za zaključivanje braka ili uslove za stupanje u neke ugovorne odnose za maloljetnike, odnosno osobe mlađe od 15 godina, utvrđivanje prava iz oblasti zaštite majke i materinstva i druge. Zakon o zabrani diskriminacije definirao je pod kojim se uslovima različito postupanje neće smatrati diskriminacijom. U članu 5. Zakona o zabrani diskriminacije utvrđeni su opći uslovi za opravdanje različitog postupanja, kao i lista konkretnih izuzetaka od zahtjeva jednakog tretmana. Stoga bi u razmatranju svakog pojedinačnog predmeta, Institucija ombudsmana za ljudska prava BiH, sudije ili voditelji upravnog postupka morali utvrditi postojanje elemenata različitog tretmana, a potom i to da li bi takvo različito postupanje moglo biti opravdano u skladu sa članom 5. Zakona. Naš je zakonodavac odlučio utvrditi listu konkretnih izuzetaka koji ipak trebaju zadovoljiti dodatne uslove na strani legitimnosti cilja i proporcionalnosti primijenjenih mjera u odnosu na cilj koji se njima nastoji realizirati. Na ovaj je način Zakon ostavio široko polje diskrecione ocjene prilikom definiranja dodatnih elemenata opravdanja različitog tretmana. S pravom se, međutim, postavlja pitanje u kojoj će mjeri donosioci odluka u postupcima za zaštitu od diskriminacije imati potrebna znanja, odnosno relevantne informacije o pravilnoj primjeni člana 5. Zakona. Naime, koliko god da je ponekad izazov razumjeti sve pojavne oblike diskriminacije i utvrđivati postojanje njenih Zakonom utvrđenih elemenata, toliko je, ako ne i više, komplicirano razumjeti granice mogućeg opravdanja različitog postupanja. U tom kontekstu, osnovni je cilj ove analize ukazati na ključne pristupe razumijevanja izuzetaka od jednakog tretmana, odnosno opravdanja različitog postupanja u skladu sa dva, za Bosnu i Hercegovinu, značajna izvora prava: Evropskom konvencijom o ljudskim pravima i osnovnim slobodama i relevantnim direktivama Evropske unije. Analiza će prezentirati neke od izazova sa kojima su se susretali Evropski sud za ljudska prava i Evropski sud pravde u pokušaju da utvrde granice različitog postupanja u svojoj jurisprudenciji. Konačno, sugerirat će se i mogući izazovi u BiH u primjeni člana 5. Zakona, te će se ponuditi prijedlozi za daljnje djelovanje bazirani na naučenim lekcijama iz prakse dva evropska suda.

Civil capacity building in the Western Balkans - comparative analysis

Izgradnja civilnih kapaciteta na Zapadnom Balkanu – komparativna analiza

Author(s): Maja Bjeloš / Language(s): Serbian

Keywords: Peacekeeping missions;

In this text, we will present the current practices of sending civilians to peacekeeping missions from the countries of the Western Balkans, the shortcomings that need to be overcome in order to increase the involvement of civilians in international missions and organizations, as well as an examination of the potential of individual countries for building civilian expertise. The comparative analysis is based, first of all, on the analysis of the initial situation in the field of civil capacity building, which was carried out in 2014. The initial analysis of the state of civilian capacities was carried out in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Serbia, in cooperation with the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (Albania), the Center for Security Studies (Bosnia and Herzegovina), the Center for Peace Studies ( Croatia), the Independent Research Center - Analitika (Macedonia), the Alternative Institute (Montenegro), the Belgrade Center for Security Policy (Serbia) in cooperation with the Norwegian Institute of International Relations (NUPI). The research results were presented in an academic journal in English. The initial analysis was completed with data obtained during interviews and expert consultations with key government actors, as well as with the analysis of secondary sources, i.e. the results of research in this area.