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From Macedonia to Northern Macedonia: How (not) to Solve the Macedonian Name Dispute

Author(s): Zhidas Daskalovski / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In the early 1990’s Greece blocked the international recognition of the Republic of Macedonia under that name and is currently blocking accession of this country to NATO and EU demanding name changes which the government of Skopje refuses to adopt. The Macedonia name dispute is a clash over historical narratives and the right to claim origins of the Macedonian ethnic group and nation today and in the ancient past. For Greece, the key element is winning the argument over the legitimacy of ancient Macedon as a Greek state and not having the name Macedonia used by its northern neighbour. For the Republic, the intricacies of the ancient history are only instrumental to the recognition of the country under its constitutional name and the unblocking of the Euro-Atlantic integration. An Agreement between the governments of the two countries has been reached to “solve” the dispute. In the agreement Macedonia gives up on the name Macedonia and leaves ancient history of Macedon as a Greek patrimony. A political solution was reached with the Macedonian government essentially giving up its position in the dispute for the Euro-Atlantic integration. EU conditionality has worked in the case of Macedonia although the internal stability might have been endangered for a long period as a result.

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Европейската перспектива на Западните Балкани: приносът на София

Author(s): Antoniy Galabov / Language(s): Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

Sofia will continue to be the largest and the fastest growing city on a regional scale in the upcoming decades which will have an increasingly significant impact on the western and part of the southern Bulgarian border areas. The existing expertise and the growing economic potential of Sofia play a decisive role in the realization of the goals of the European cohesion policies and the improvement of the quality of life for the local communities, including in the border regions.

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The EU Western Balkan Strategy: Enlargement Perspective or Unrealistic Expectations

Author(s): Hristina Runcheva-Tasev / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The much-awaited Western Balkans Strategy entitled “A credible enlargement perspective for and enhanced EU engagement with the Western Balkans” comes eighteen years after the introduction of the Stabilisation and Association Process for this region. The Strategy aims to provide a credible enlargement perspective for the Western Balkans besides the fact that still the candidate countries are far from membership. The paper gives critical explication of what “credibility of enlargement” actually means in practice and if there is a realistic perspective for membership of the candidate countries of the Western Balkans by the projected year 2025. There is a disagreement among the EU foreign ministers over the projected year of integration, but the front-runners according to the Commission's assessment are Serbia and Montenegro, while Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia could join later. The Strategy does not leave a lot of space for optimism because it detects the key issues that have to be targeted, such as poor rule of law performance, organized crime and corruption at all levels of government and administration, etc. Besides that, it emphasizes on the non-functioning market economy among “Western Balkan Six”. And last but not least is the key issue of adopting binding solutions for bilateral disputes prior to their accession, which means that the Greek-Macedonian name dispute should be solved before the accession, without offering involvement of any EU Member States. The Strategy fails to address the idea of grouping countries of the Western Balkans as a whole and offering a package for membership, but instead, it favors individual accession of countries. Besides the good opportunity for the Balkans, the Strategy does not spread much optimism for the region.

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„It Is Not Only The Economy, Stupid“ – The Importance of National and European Identity for the Future of Europe

Author(s): Eckart D. Stratenschulte / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The European Union has always been a political project, using the economy as instrument to reach the political goals. Therefore, a European identity is of utmost importance for the success of the European integration process. European identity is not the contrary of a national identity but the result of the combination of national identities. The French philosopher François Jullien recommends replacing identity differentiation, which is always exclusive as well as inclusive, with the concept of distance. According to this concept, differences in cultures are certainly taken into account, but they are not used for exclusion, but to construct a greater common whole.

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Миграцията като лакмус: Общата европейска система за убежище и бъдещето на ЕС

Author(s): Ildiko Otova / Language(s): Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

This paper presents the recent and emerging challenges to the Common European Asylum System. The author pays special attention to the circumstances related to the wave of people seeking protection and asylum in 2015 and presents the genesis of the European asylum system dating back in the ‘70s. the article discusses institutional issues as well as vulnerabilities of the Common European Asylum System. The research concludes that although being an attempt for joint solidarity efforts, the Common European Asylum System was dominated by the national interests and, in some cases, might have led to accelerating populist trends.

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National Interests in the EU Eastern Enlargement – Key Lapse in the Academic Literature

Author(s): Mirela Veleva-Eftimova / Language(s): Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

In February this year, the European Commission presented a Strategy for reliable perspective of enlargement and enhanced engagement of the EU to the countries of the Western Balkans. In this way, the European Commission (EC) formalized the inclusion of the topic of enlargement in the Union's agenda, which was not foreseen at the beginning of its mandate. From the content of the strategy, it becomes clear that for some of the countries from the Western Balkans, the progress on the path to EU membership depends not only on the implementation of the pre-accession conditionality, but also by the emergence of favorable circumstances. Kosovo has the opportunity ... to accelerate its progress on the way to the EU, when objective circumstances are present. This formulation was the logical result of the resistance on the part of EU countries which do not recognize Kosovo’s independence and therefore the inclusion of the country in the perspective of enlargement. The unequivocal refusal of Greece to agree to the name of Macedonia, which for a long time predetermines the impossibility of opening membership talks with Skopje, illustrates the fact that the emergence of favorable circumstances is of critical importance for the European prospect not only of Kosovo. In both cases, the positions of the EU Member States in question are determined by the specific national interests. In short, the European perspective of the countries of the Western Balkans highly depends on the national perspectives of the EU countries, both regarding the degree of prioritization on the agenda of the Union, as well as the formulation and implementation of the specific strategic approach.

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Политиката на разширяване на Европейския съюз в контекста на „Европа на различните скорости“

Author(s): Emilia Georgieva / Language(s): Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

The report examines the history and future of the enlargement of the European Union in the context of the "multi-speed Europe" idea. The experience gained during the previous enlargements of the EU (including its Eurozone) is summarized as a main point of reference, especially after the enlargement with the countries from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Southeast Europe (SEE) as it was found that not all of them "participate in the same levels of integration". The European Union is very much expected to face the same problem in the next accession of new countries from the Western Balkans region, especially given the fact that they significantly differ in their political and socio-economic development; the speed at which they progress; the desire to overcome the legacy of the past and finally resolve their disputes.

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The “Multi-Speed Europe“ – a Reality, Solution and to Discontent of Some – a Necessity

Author(s): Dorin-Mircea Dobra / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The 1990s are the years that bring about a possible differentiated integration. The new waves of EU membership put European decision-makers in the position of thinking about future integration efforts. Those who can do more and want this will not be able to wait for those who still have to solve nuances of social and economic references. The multi-speed Europe already exists but the domains will multiply, besides the “Euro zone” and “Schengen”. “The multi-speed Europe” represents a necessity of evolution, it can even represent a solution to European problems, although it may also deepen existing discrepancies.

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Бъдещето на европейската езикова политика в контекста на Брекзит

Author(s): Dimitar Pehlivanov / Language(s): Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

Brexit will not have a direct and immediate impact on European language policy - the power, the influence and the momentum of the English language, which had began long before this process, are too strong, fueled by powerful factors both inside and outside Europe, to anticipate a rapid change. The EU will be in the paradoxical position of having a leading official language that is not an official one in any of the member states. The process of imposing a new European Lingua Franca is rather long, and no language currently has the capacity to take the place of English, and further to that the influence of a language is evolving according to rules which cannot always be legally regulated. However, the UK's inability to influence the use of English will accelerate the already initiated development of its specific variant, called Euro-English.

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Комуникиране на Българското председателство на Съвета на Европейския съюз

Author(s): Gergana Radoykova / Language(s): Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

Bulgaria has concluded its first Presidency of the Council of the European Union. It is quite logical for politicians and analysts to being their attempts to summarize and evaluate the presidency as each group brings a different nuance to the vision and interpretation of this key for our country period. There is another view, however, which is in fact the most important in the whole picture - how citizens perceive the processes that are taking place, what is their assessment of the many events hosted by our country.

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Civil Society and the Preparation for the Presidency of the Council of the EU in Romania. The “EU-RO 2019” Forum

Author(s): Miruna Andreea Balosin / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Employers’ organizations, trade unions, academic and professional organizations, as well as other civil society formats or associations of local authorities can play an active role in the process of preparing and implementing the EU Council Presidency. In this context, strengthening the dialogue and cooperation between the government and the non-governmental environment holds particular importance. Romania is trying to find the best method to reach the European topics of interest. The use of a Forum, to verify those topics of interest, represents a new challenge for the Romanian Government that still dreams of a method that can bring together, under the same roof, all the above-mentioned actors and express their views regarding not only the national, but also the European issues.

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Behavioral Insights in EU Policy Making – Innovation in Government

Author(s): Ljubinka Andonovska / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This paper aims at analyzing the application of behavioral insights to the policy of a supranational regulating body and the way in which the opportunities, challenges and approaches are similar or different in terms of the interpretation in individual governments around the world. Dual process theory is examined in respect to its usefulness in informing policy and an analysis is made regarding policy areas where it might exhibit most effectiveness. Examples are presented of behavioral insights principles and instruments built in specific policy and regulatory documents. Finally, concerns are raised in relation to the libertarian paternalism approach, transparency and ethics of the policy initiatives informed by behavioral insights.

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Преосмисляне на следващите седем на Европейския съюз

Author(s): Ingrid Shikova / Language(s): Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

Попитан от млад журналист какво може да провали правителствената програма, британският министър-председател Харолд Макмилън (1957-1963 г.) отговорил кратко: “Събитията, скъпо момче, събитията!” Наистина събитията, които връхлитат непредвидено, създават най-сериозните проблеми. Според календара 2020 г. трябваше да бъде празнична година за Европа - 75 години от разгрома на нацистите във Втората световна война, 70 години от декларацията на Робер Шуман, която постави началото на сегашния Европейски съюз, 35 години от подписването на Шенгенското споразумение за свободното движение и създаване на Европа без граници.

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Пораснали ли сме за следващите седем?

Author(s): Rumyana Grozeva / Language(s): Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

The first 7 years are the most important. But is that enough? Undoubtedly, the future of our planet, the “greening” of thinking and action is very important. But should it be done this way? EU policies must not be an absolute end in itself. Staring at “mantras” - too. The future of a community of 27 different cultures, mentality, history, goes through constructive communication and cooperation.

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Демократичен дефицит или демоикратична легитимност? Към нова понятийна рамка на Европейския съюз

Author(s): Svetoslav Malinov / Language(s): Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

„Democratic deficit” is used as an umbrella concept covering a wide range of criticisms against the European Union (EU) as undemocratic or insufficiently democratic. The article reveals the logical unsustainability of the concept by demonstrating that it is a result of the so called “fallacy of false analogy”; in our case it is due to a wrong analogy between the EU and the modern democratic state (MDD). This rejection opens the debate about the necessity to create a new vocabulary for describing the functioning of the EU since the available one is deeply entrenched in the theory of the MDD. Several elements of this new conceptual framework -- demoicracy, policy-politics, output legitimacy etc., -- are introduced and applied.

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Towards а Disintegrated Europe: A Literature Review in аn International Context

Author(s): Svetla Boneva / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The objective of the research is to summarise and present the main visions, notions and attempts for construction of theoretical frames of the contemporary disintegration processes in the European Union which are evident in the pre-Brexit and Brexit periods. The research methods used in the study involve elements of retrospective analysis, induction and deduction, analysis and synthesis, comparative and content analysis, table presentation and generalization of the main ideas of key research works on European disintegration. This is a conceptual study and a posteriori research approach has been followed for its development. The result of the research is an overview of the recent literature sources and major studies on the topic of EU disintegration in a comparative plan. The main conclusion of the research is that there are many different reasons for dissatisfaction from the European Union among its member states. Unquestionably it’s difficult to always find the best balance and the right crossing point between all countries economic, political, social and environmental interests. Many authors find the growing dissatisfaction from the EU as the ground for future EU disintegration.

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Is Democracy the Only “Game in Town” in Post-Truth Europe?

Author(s): Lyubomir Stefanov / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Just a decade ago democracy was the sine qua non of the EU. Combined with rule of law and market economy it stood for the quintessence of the Union. However, post-truth politics struck recently the so-called democratic Euro-Atlantic community and everything changed literally overnight. People started wondering, especially in the aftermath of the economic crisis from 2008 whether their leaders and elites are underperforming or just collaborating to become richer by stealing from the states they govern. State-capture of unseen kind became the word of the day of numerous post-truth apologetics. Populism marched relentlessly across Europe, while authoritarianism and strong non-democratic leadership suddenly looked competitive to the long-deliberating and tolerant democracy. So, the question in mind is as following: is democracy just going through a period of self-actualisation and rediscovery of its virtues or it has become redundant in the eyes of the majority of the Europeans? Through broad and general comparative analysis, the paper will attempt to contribute to the ongoing debate of what is the nature of the crisis in the representative government model of modern-day democracy across Europe. By outlining some features in the existing models, it will give a perspective to the possible developments in the near future.

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Macedonian EU Perspective: Window of Challenge or Opportunity

Author(s): Hristina Runcheva-Tasev / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The paper analyses the Macedonian approach towards the EU integration process and the latest updates on EU enlargement. Namely, after a decade of positive recommendations by the European Commission for opening accession negotiations, the Macedonian EU perspective was encouraged by the Council that has finally decided to launched them in March 2020. During this period, for more than ten years, Macedonian authorities faced the challenge of maintaining a level of interest in the European prospects of the country without receiving many positive signals that the integration will happen in reasonable timeframe. Still Macedonian political reality is more than complex: Prespa Agreement was expected to accelerate the development of relations with the Union after the name dispute with Greece has been closed, but new challenges have been imposed for the country’s European future.

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Future of Europe. Between Remarkable Aspirations and Crucial Reforms

Author(s): Georgiana Ciceo / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The numerous challenges faced by the European Union today from Brexit or the rise in popularity of populist parties, to reinforced West-East as well as North South divisions or querying the democratic values, in particular the European ones, or a drift towards a kind of nationalism resistant to a deeper European integration have made necessary a new underpinning of the internal unity and solidarity. Against this background the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome was used as an opportunity to reaffirm the dedication to working together and open a continent-wide discussion on the future of the European Union. The idea of the form that the European Union will take in the near future has begun to emerge with the White Paper dedicated to this subject, launched by the European Commission. The 5 scenarios that represent the Commission’s contribution to the new European chapter were not a product of the imagination, but a highlight of the continuous reaffirmation of trust in the Union. They represent a commitment to further working together, albeit in some cases at a different pace, towards the advancement of European integration. This contribution aims to assess the state of the current debate on the future of Europe and to outline the main directions of the present discussion.

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Европейските избори през 2019: Ограничения в анализа на медийното съдържание онлайн в България

Author(s): Mariya Yurukova,Iglika Ivanova,Bozhidar Angueloff / Language(s): Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

The right to information is a fundamental right in any democratic state under the rule of law. From this point of view, the follow-up and analysis of the electoral campaigns of the candidates for members of the European parliament in social media and the coverage of online media where information spreads faster and with less stringent controls are of paramount importance. The 2019 European elections were accompanied with extra caution and with measures from the European Union concerning the information crisis identified in the last few years. This paper aims at presenting the limitations in the analysis of online media content in Bulgaria, and it gives specific recommendations classified according to their subject that could improve the conditions for online media analysis in Bulgaria. Here are the five tasks of the report. First, to present the research project. Second, to make a comparative analysis of the existing studies on this topic. Third, to define and classify the main limitations and the specifics in the analysis of media content online in relation to the 2019 European elections and in particular to: 1) define the criteria and model in the selection of the analysed media; 2) to follow and systematise the challenges concerning the access to media content and 3) to present the main limitations based on the juxtaposition between the media observed.

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