Context Analysis & Chronology of the Security Sector Reform in Albania 1991-2009

Author(s): Arjan Dyrmishi,Besnik Baka,Mariola Qesaraku / Language(s): English

This study analyses the context in which the Security Sector Reform (SSR) has taken place in Albania since the fall of the communist regime. It has been conceptualised in three main periods, based on the social, political and economic perspectives that featured each phase during the process of Security Sector Reform. In this perspective, the beginning of the first period coincides with the collapse of communist regime in 1991 and ends with the 1997 crisis. Although Albania was never involved in the armed conflict and border reshuffle that featured the Former Yugoslav countries during the 90s, it largely suffered from backwardness and isolation, a legacy from the Cold War. This period was mostly characterised by the establishment of first generation reforms: the establishment of new institutions, structures, and chains of responsibility for the security sector. Nonetheless the process of first generation reform was not nalised, due to the crisis in 19971 which led to the collapse of the government. This represents the beginning of the second period: from 1997 to 2000. The third and final period efforts, namely the period from 2000 until 2009, seem to be more benefiting and realistic for the country considering the pace of SSR, contributing in the consolidation of the security sector institutions and governance.

PROBLEMY OCHRONY PRAW CZŁOWIEKA W AFRYCE

Author(s): Grażyna Michałowska / Language(s): Polish

Za jedno z największych osiągnięć społecznych drugiej połowy XX wieku uznać można instytucjonalizację systemu ochrony praw człowieka i nadanie im wyróżnionej roli w stosunkach międzynarodowych.W Polsce stan badań nad prawami człowieka w krajach pozaeuropejskich prezentuje się dość skromnie ze względu na kłopoty z dostępem do materiałów źródłowych, egzotykę niektórych zjawisk i związane z nią ryzyko niewłaściwego rozpoznania istoty problemów. Książka ta jest unikatową, pionierską pracą w tej dziedzinie. Omówiono w niej całościowo funkcjonowanie praw człowieka w Afryce, odnosząc się do najważniejszych ich aspektów: od standardów wypracowanych w ramach ONZ i Unii Afrykańskiej, do dyskusji oryginalnych rozwiązań sądownictwa afrykańskiego. Sporo uwagi poświęca Autorka sytuacji kobiet na kontynencie.Grażyna Michałowska przedstawia w klarowny i uporządkowany sposób poszczególne zagadnienia w układzie problemowym, ujmując kontynent całościowo, ale nie ignorując jego wewnętrznego zróżnicowania. Analiza stanu przestrzegania praw człowieka w Afryce uwzględnia specyficzną perspektywę kulturową, bez której nie sposób pojąć procesów zachodzących w tej dziedzinie. Dzięki rozważaniom zawartym w tej książce łatwiej zrozumieć trudne i budzące protest obrońców praw człowieka afrykańskie praktyki dotyczące kary śmierci, stosowania kar cielesnych czy stosunku do kobiet. Wielkim jej atutem są bogate i aktualne materiały źródłowe.

Srpsko pravo i međunarodne sudske institucije

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

Pressed By a Double Loyalty. Hungarian Attendance at the Second Vatican Council, 1959-1965

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

The history of the Second Vatican Council and the history of the policy of openness towards the East-Central European Communist countries, that is, the so called Vatican “Ostpolitik,” were looked at until now as two separate topics of research. The virtue of András Fejérdy’s work is to demonstrate, at the end of a thorough-going study through various available archives (first of all of the party and state, but also ecclesiastical ones), that it is not like that, but in reality the two topics are closely linked. Analyzing the history of the Hungarian presence at Vatican II in the context of the Hungarian Church policy and the evolution of the relations between the Holy See and Hungary, the book reveals that in consequence of the interests of the Holy See and the Hungarian party-state related to the Council—from the perspective of Hungary—Vatican II was not primarily an ecclesial event, but it remained closely joined to the negotiations between the Holy See and Hungary. During the Council, Hungary became the experimental laboratory of the Vatican’s new eastern policy.

Planificare integrată şi cercetare interdisciplinară pentru dezvoltarea urbană durabilă şi competitivă a României

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

Lucrarea reuneşte consideraţii teoretice şi exemple practice legate de planificarea integrată şi cercetarea interdisciplinară din domeniile urbanismului şi amenajării teritoriului pornind de la experienţa cercetătorilor români din ţară şi diasporă.

Срби у Темишвару

Author(s): Mirjana Pavlović / Language(s): Serbian

This book is dedicated to the customs, culture and way of life of Serbs in Timisoara. The emphasis is on the strategies of constructing and achieving community and layered identities (national/ethnic, dual, regional, local) within a historic discourse. The data presented in this book has been gathered through various means. Aside from archival material and statistical data on the life of the community, as well as relevant theoretical approaches in the study of ethnicity, the most important data was acquired through fieldwork. The research began in 2002, and took place over a series of short-term visits to the city in 2002, 2003 and 2005. The method of participant observation was applied to many everyday as well as festive situations in the family and social lives of Serbs in Timisoara. I have attended numerous liturgies, weddings, christenings, choir and folklore association rehearsals and performances, family and social celebrations and sporting events. Interviews, surveys and informal conversations were conducted with members of the community encompassing both sexes, all ages and varying social status, political and religious affiliations. Among my informants there were people whose connections to the church weren’t strong, as well as people from mixed marriages. Aside from this, I had tried to gather data on the lives of Serbs between the World wars or earlier indirectly – through the narratives of their descendants.

Cybersecurity in Finance. Getting the policy mix right!

Author(s): Richard Parlour,Sylvain Bouyon,Simon Krause / Language(s): English

With the inexorable rise of e-commerce comes the inexorable rise of the e-criminal. Cybercrime is now the world’s fastest growing crime. It has leapt to number two of the top ten business risks worldwide, from not even appearing in that list five years ago. For certain countries, cyberattack is now the risk of greatest concern. Gone are the days of concern about a low level hack of a website by a script kiddie. Today’s attackers are multi-faceted and increasing in sophistication, ranging from advanced persistent threats, corporate espionage, organised crime and ‘hactivists’ to cyberterrorists, ever more competent, and ever better funded. Cybersecurity has moved from being a technical issue to a political and boardroom issue. Financial markets are particularly important as they oil the wheels of all member state economies.

The EU’s Role in Implementing the UN Global Compact on Refugees. Contained Mobility vs. International Protection

Author(s): Roberto Cortinovis,Sergio Carrera / Language(s): English

The Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), adopted in December 2018 by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, expresses the political will of UN member states and relevant stakeholders to foster responsibility sharing for refugees and their host countries. Among GCR key objectives is that ofexpanding mobility and admission channels for people in search of international protection through resettlement and ‘complementary’ pathways of admission. The GCR provides a reference framework to critically assess European Union (EU) policies in relation to two main issues: first, the role and contribution of the EU and its Member States towards the implementation of the GCR in ways that areloyal to the Compact and EU Treaties guiding principles; second, and more specifically, the main gaps and contested issues of existing resettlement and complementary admission instruments for refugeesand would-be refugees implemented at the EU and Member State levels.

№54 Russia and the Common Space on Freedom, Security and Justice

Author(s): Olga Potemkina,Raül Hernández i Sagrera / Language(s): English

EU-Russia cooperation in the framework of the Common Space on Freedom, Security and Justice, launched almost a decade ago in 2003, has borne fruit more in the security aspects than the justice and liberty-related policy areas. This study assesses the uneven cooperation onjustice and home affairs between the EU and Russia, while delving into the intersection between cooperation on justice, liberty and security and the promotion of human rights, democracy and rule of law in EU-Russia relations. The study concludes by proposing a set of policy recommendations to the LIBE Committee for playing a more active role in this important field of cooperation between the EU and Russia.

№65 The Political and Judicial Life of Metadata: Digital Rights Ireland and the Trail of the Data Retention Directive

Author(s): Sergio Carrera,Elspeth Guild / Language(s): English

This paper examines the challenges facing the EU regarding data retention, particularly in the aftermath of the judgment Digital Rights Ireland by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) of April 2014, which found the Data Retention Directive 2002/58 to be invalid. It first offers a brief historical account of the Data Retention Directive and then moves to a detailed assessment of what the judgment means for determining the lawfulness of data retention from the perspective of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: what is wrong with the Data Retention Directive and how would it need to be changed to comply with the right to respect for privacy? The paper also looks at the responses to the judgment from the European institutions and elsewhere, and presents a set of policy suggestions to the European institutions on the way forward. It is argued here that one of the main issues underlying the Digital Rights Ireland judgment has been the role of fundamental rights in the EU legal order, and in particular the extent to which the retention of metadata for law enforcement purposes is consistent with EU citizens’ right to respect for privacy and to data protection.

№88 A European Border and Coast Guard: What’s in a name?

Author(s): Leonhard Den Hertog,Sergio Carrera / Language(s): English

This paper assesses the Commission’s proposal presented in December 2015 to set up a European Border and Coast Guard (EBCG), based on the responses made by the EU border agency Frontex to the ‘refugee crisis’ that began in 2015 and continues unabated. It explores the extent to which this proposed new body will be capable of remedying the EU’s short comings in meeting established border and asylum standards and related institutional needs on the ground and concludes that it is unlikely to do so. The paper argues that the EBCG proposal does not establish a true European Border and Coast Guard. Instead it would revamp Frontex into a Frontex + Agency. The EBCG would expand the current logic of national border guards to be committed to the Frontex Agency ‘pools’ and therefore does not solve the ‘dependency’ of Frontex on member states. More importantly, the EBCG would do too little to ensure that member states comply with EU border and asylum standards, which has constituted the central deficiency throughout 2015 and earlier.

№75 A Comparative Analysis of Regulations on Involuntary Loss of Nationality in the European Union

Author(s): René de Groot,Maarten Peter Vink / Language(s): English

This paper deals with loss of citizenship of the European Union (EU) due to the loss of nationality of an EU member state. Only the nationals of a member state possess European citizenship; the loss of nationality of a member state thus also implies the loss of European citizenship. Member states are in principle autonomous in nationality matters, which means that their rules on loss of nationality, and loss of EU citizenship, differ considerably. But member states must respect international law and the general principles of European law when dealing with loss of nationality. This report aims to provide a comprehensive and systematic comparative analysis of existing regulations and procedures in EU member states with regard to the involuntary loss of nationality.

№77 New Approaches, Alternative Avenues and Means of Access to Asylum Procedures for Persons Seeking International Protection

Author(s): Elspeth Guild,Cathryn Costello,Madeline Garlick,Violeta Moreno-Lax,Minos Mouzourakis / Language(s): English

This study examines the workings of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), in order to assess the need and potential for new approaches to ensure access to protection for people seeking itin the EU, including joint processing and distribution of asylum seekers. Rather than advocating the addition of further complexity and coercion to the CEAS, the study proposes a focus on front-line reception and streamlined refugee status determination, in order to mitigate the asylum challenges facing Member States, and vindicate the rights of asylum seekers and refugees according to the EU acquis and international legal standards. Joint processing could contribute to front-line reception and processing capacity, but is no substitute for proper investment in national systems.

Undocumented Immigrants and Rights in the EU. Addressing the Gap between Social Science Research and Policy-making in the Stockholm Programme?

Author(s): Massimo Merlino,Sergio Carrera / Language(s): English

Undocumented migrants are one of the most vulnerable groups in the EU. This report assesses the main findings and synergies of a selection of EU-funded research projects on irregular immigration and the status of undocumented migrants. It reveals that the results emanating from social science research contrast with the EU policy documents adopted in light of the forthcoming Stockholm Programme – the third multi-annua lprogramme on an Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. The authors argue that acknowledgement of the findings of independent research is lacking in EU policy, which continues promote a control-based approach to migration that has profound ethical and human rights implications. The report concludes with a set of policy recommendations aimed at overcoming the current inconsistencies in EU and national policies as well as in practices on irregular migration under the mandate of the Stockholm Programme.

Towards an Internal (In)security Strategy for the EU?

Author(s): Sergio Carrera,Elspeth Guild / Language(s): English

The European Commission published in November 2010 a Communication aiming at putting the EU Internal Security Strategy (ISS) into action. The Communication envisages five key strategic objectives for the EU’s internal security: disrupt organised crime, prevent terrorism, raise levels of security in cyberspace, strengthen external borders management and increase the EU’s resilience to natural disasters. This paper starts by critically examining the extent to which these objectives actually constitute shared common concerns in all EU27 member states andwhether they are based on independent and objective evidence. After demonstrating the contrary, we then argue that the ISS should be rather considered as an ‘Internal (In)security Strategy’ because of the lack of an accompanying solid rule of law and liberty strategy (model) focused on ensuring the delivery to everyone living in the EU (and who will be subject to increasing EU internal security policies focused on more surveillance, preventive measures and an intelligence-based approach) the twin rights of rule of law and fundamental rights.

The Cost of Non-Europe in the Area of Legal Migration

Author(s): Sergio Carrera,Julia Guerin,James Dennison,Meena Fernandes,Nadzeya Laurentsyeva,Zvezda Vankova,Lina Vosyliūtė / Language(s): English

This Research Paper is a contribution to a wider cost-of non-Europe assessment in the Area of Freedom Security and Justice requested by the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties that can be found here. The research takes stock of the state of play in European Union cooperation in the area of legal immigration. The Research Paper identifies gaps and barriers of current sectorial and fragmented EU legal immigration acquis. It assesses their economic impacts and impacts at individual level in terms of fundamental rights protection and non-discrimination laid down in international, regional and EU human rights and labour standards. The research highlights the need for ‘more EU’ in upholding equal treatment standards between third country workers with EU nationals in relation to working and living conditions. The Research Paper elaborates on the potential benefits, cost drivers and feasibility of different policy options for the EU ranging from: better enforcement, to the gradual extension of EU legislation towards other labour market sectors or bringing back to the idea of a Binding Immigration Code. The research concludes that EU internal market, national administrations as well as EU and Third Country Citizens would benefit from more homogenous policy approach in the area of legal migration.

Ignoring Dissent and Legality. The EU’s proposal to share the personal information of all passengers

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

In February 2011, the European Commission published a proposal for a new Directive on theuse of passenger name record (PNR) data for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crimes. This proposal replaces an earlier draft of 2007 for a Framework Decision on the use of PNR data for law enforcement purposes. The new proposal does not seem to allay the earlier concerns of important stake holders with regard to the 2007 proposal. Its content contradicts not only important principles of data protection as described by the Commission in November 2010, but also the principle of proportionality underlying EU law.

The EU’s Dialogue on Migration, Mobility and Security with the Southern Mediterranean. Filling the Gaps in the Global Approach to Migration

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

Recent events in North Africa and the Mediterranean have had consequences in terms of human mobility, and are putting the foundations and components of EU’s migration policy under strain. The forthcoming European Council summit of 23-24 June 2011 is expected to determine ‘the orientations for further work’ under the Polish Presidency and the next JHA Trio Presidency Programme for the EU’s policies on cross-border migration in the Mediterranean and internal mobility within the scope of the Schengen regime. This paper constitutes a contribution to current and future EU policy discussions and responses on migration, mobility and security. It provides a synthesised selection of recommendations in these domains resulting from the research conducted by the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Section of the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) during the last nine years of work.

IRAN’S PROXY WAR IN YEMEN: THE INFORMATION WARFARE LANDSCAPE

Author(s): Mariam Fekry,Can Kasapoglu / Language(s): English

The Yemeni conflict has been witnessing essential information warfare and propaganda front. Since the beginning of the conflict, the Houthi movement has been aware of the importance of the internet. Notably, they avoid adopting an aggressive sectarian lexicon on social media. Instead, following drone and missile strikes, the Houthi-associated accounts frequently emphasize IRGC-assisted game-changing military capabilities. This focus seems to follow Iranian priorities in Yemen, namely promoting the militarized political movement and portraying it in a less sectarian but more patriotic and battle-hardened fashion. This approach likely emanates from the different characteristics of the Shia faith in Yemen compared with the rest of the Middle East.

Cross-Border Cooperation between Slovakia and Ukraine: Volume IV: Perceptions of local and regional actors

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

This publication is the latest of a series of four publications that present the findings of the research project titled the “Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine and Cross-border Cooperation between Slovakia and Ukraine: Implications and Opportunities”. The research project was implemented by the Institute of Political Science at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Prešov and supported by the Slovak Research and DevelopmentAgency over the period of 2016 ‒ 2019 (project no. APVV-15-0369). This fourth publication presents the results of empirical research focused on perceptions, preferences, motivations and strategies of regional and local actors on both sides of the border. The book entitled Cross-BorderCooperation between Slovakia and Ukraine: Volume IV: Perceptions of Localand Regional Actors, co-authored by Michal Cirner, Martin Lačný, Anna Polačková and Gabriel Székely, consists of two extensive scientific studies.The first one provides interpretation of the empirical research results at the local level, and is divided into nine sub-chapters, focusing on different sets of issues from the structured questionnaire for local CBC actors: migration and social interaction; identifying barriers to interaction and cross-border cooperation; perceptions and ideas about the residents on the other side of the border; evaluation of cross-border cooperation policies; the expected impact of cross-border cooperation; expected impacts of the EU AssociationAgreement with Ukraine. The second study, presenting interpretationof empirical data obtained at regional level, is structured according to thestructure of the questionnaire for regional CBC actors and thus similarly to the study at local level, but includes one extra sub-chapter, tracking a set of questions focused on types and levels of mutual economic interaction. The final part of both studies consists of the interpretation of correlation analysis results and the final commentary in the form of policy considerations.