"Błąd krymski" jako efekt myślenia grupowego? Polska wobec aneksji Krymu w 2014 roku

Author(s): Agnieszka Orzelska-Stączek / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 39/2015

The ease with which Russia managed to surprise the political elites of the West with the events of early 2014 is dumbfounding. On the eve of the annexation of the Crimea, no one in the public space in Poland warned against the upcoming turn in the policies of Moscow. Representatives of the highest Polish authorities responsible for the security and foreign policy were clearly surprised with the developments. Undoubtedly, the “Crimean error” indicates that information that had been flowing from Russia for a long time was ignored as it did not fit into the policy adopted by the Polish authorities. From today's perspective, multiple signals can be indicated about the upcoming profound changes in the immediate environment of Polish security.When examining why the Polish authorities did not notice the upcoming shift in the politics of Russia, we should take into account the group thinking syndrome, described by Irving Janis. In this approach, group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation of alternative viewpoints. This term has gained popularity in social psychology, but has also provided important research tools for the analysis of foreign policy, treated as a separate area in the context of international relations.

"Bleiburg" and the British Treatment of Croatian Collaborators 1945-48

Author(s): Bernd Robionek / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

This article highlights ways in which British military and political personnel acted towards Croatian refugees fleeing the Communist takeover in the final stages of World War II and thereafter. Although events relating to the surrender o f various pro-German and anti-Communist forces at Bleiburg, a town in south Austria near the border with Yugoslavia, and the following quarrel over "war criminals" from Yugoslavia is a complex affair, this contribution examines sources shedding light on British perspectives on the Croatian part, notwithstanding that the developments and problems treated here also affected Serbian, Slovenian and (ethnic) German nationals. As a result of this study, the changes in the intentions of the decision makers in London as well as the principal-agent problem become transparent.

"COFOLA INTERNATIONAL 2016. Resolution of International Disputes Public Law in the Context of Immigration Crisis

Author(s): Klára Drličková,Anita Garnuszek,Slavomir Halla,Miloslav Kabrhel,Silvie Mahdalová,Ľubica Martináková,Aleksandra Orzeł,Mária Pastorková,Kateřina Remsová,Iva Šimková,Lucie Zavadilová,Ivan Cisár,Tomáš Kozárek,Ivan Puškár,Martin Švec,Pavel Loutocký,Dóra Bogárdi,Gergő Kocsis,Soňa Ondrášiková,Eszter Lilla Seres / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2016

The conference “COFOLA = Conference for Young Lawyers” is annualy organized by the Masaryk University, Faculty of Law from 2007. The main aim of this conference is to give floor to the doctoral students and young scientists at their early stage of career and enable them to present the results of their scientific activities. Since 2013 COFOLA has been enriched by special part called “COFOLA INTERNATIONAL”. COFOLA INTERNATIONAL focuses primarily on issues of international law and the regulation of cross-border relations and is also oriented to doctoral students and young scientists from foreign countries.

"Depoi špijuna i terorista". Saveznički logori za "raseljene osobe" u Italiji, Austriji i Njemačkoj

Author(s): Marica Karakas Obradov / Language(s): Croatian / Publication Year: 0

Immediately after the end of World War II, Western Allies organized refugee camps in their occupation zones in Austria, Italy and Germany which existed until early 1950s. Foreign citizens, such as forced laborers and prisoners of concentration camps, who had been found mostly in Germany and Austria after the collapse of the German Reich, were placed in those camps, as well as military and civilian post-hostilities refugees fleeing from the Red Army and partisan-communist forces from Eastern, Central and Southeastern Europe. A great number of persons were extradited to their countries of origin on charges of war crimes. Among them were many Croats, primarily members of the Croatian armed forces and the Ustasha movement. The remaining refugees are displaced around the world especially in countries of South and North America and in Australia.

"Naš odnos do Italijanov naj bo miren in dostojen, toda nič več". Nekateri vidiki razpetosti med nacionalnim in internacionalnim med slovenskimi komunisti na Primorskem

Author(s): Bojan Godeša / Language(s): Slovenian / Issue: 1/2000

The paper deals with the activities of the Slovene communists in Primorska during the Second World War, where the Communist Party of Slovenia often faced the dilemma of how to reconcile the national interests of its struggle with international ones. The most burning issues for the Slovene communists concerned their relations with the Italian population, the status of Trieste and their cooperation with the Communist Party of Italy in Primorska.

"Prima companie austriaca de naviga?ie cu piroscafe pe Dunare" in porturile romanesti (1829–1938)

Author(s): Cristian Constantin / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 30/2020

The times between the Treaty of Adrianople and World War II were favorable to the Danubian navigation growing within the Romanian area, except for some breaking intervals. The international commerce of the Danubian hinterland, mainly through the agency of foreign shipping companies, was characterized during the 19th century by a diplomatic war among the great European powers. Russophobia that London chancelleries kept internationally up during the second quarter of the 19th century was for the public opinion a subject as topical as controlling of any epidemics on the continent. The two British contractors John Andrews and Joseph Prichard had got in 1829 an exclusive privilege being allowed to navigate steamboats on the Danube, for three years. It was the context of “The First Austrian Steamboat Shipping Company on the Danube” (Erste österreichische Donau Dampfschiffahrts Gesellschaft – D.D.S.G.) coming into being. The steamboat “Francis I” made the test way between Vienna and Budapest in September 1830, and revolutionized so the European navigation. Soon after the regular navigation between Vienna and Constantinopole would better connect the Oriental world with the Occidental realities in the “century of nations”. For the present study I have used besides a series of works preponderately published in West Europe, unplublished documents from the Diplomatic Archives of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bucharest, stock: Problema 68 (Societăţi de navigaţie fluvială, maritimă, aeriană: române şi străine). I might turn the readers’ attention to the fact that I won’t insist on the life and sociability on the ships that navigated on the Danube during the 19th century, however much exotic and captive would be such a subject.

"Riževi standard proti mesnemu standardu" (Elementi stereotipa o japonskem gospodarstvu pri Slovencih pred drugo svetovno vojno)

Author(s): Žarko Lazarević / Language(s): Slovenian / Issue: 2/2000

The stereotype image of the Japanese economy created by the Slovenian press before the Second World War was not based on its own experience, but was assumed from the western European press. This is understandable, given the very small trade exchange between the two countries at the time. This stereotype included elements, such as social and foreign-exchange dumping, a patriarchal system, a better organised and more efficient economy, and unfair competition.

"Soft Power" in the Service of Foreign Policy Strategy of the Russian Federation

Author(s): Jelica Kurjak / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

"The Enlargement of the EU to Balkans" – Policy Reports that shaped the policies and debate on European integration of Balkans

Author(s): Specified No Author / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2008

Today, western Balkans states are a long way from where they were at the beginning of the decade. The Stabilization and Association process, which has just started in 2000, is almost completed as all the states have negotiated and signed the Stabilization and Association Agreements with the EU, the EU is negotiating visa liberalization agreements and all states are entitled to the new pre-accession financial assistance IPA, designed to address the strategic needs of the region. This progress, apart from the persistent efforts of the national governments and the EU administration, is also partly due to the visionary policy reports and recommendations of people and organizations working on the Balkans. We are convinced that their commitment to the region and the ability to look beyond the limitations of the immediate political context for lasting solutions makes them an irreplaceable item on every reading-list of both those who wish to study the Balkan region and those who aim to produce similar such reports addressing the present dilemmas and challenges for the western Balkan states. “The Enlargement of the EU to Balkans” is a compilation of four reports on the Balkans published since 2000. They all concern the Balkan region and its prospects for the future – away from violent legacies towards peace, stability and European integration. As such, they are a valuable source for all those interested in and studying the recent political developments in this region, for these reports give an overview of the challenges that Balkans states faced on the start of their journey to European integration. We hope this collection of reports will become part of the curricula of schools and departments where Balkan politics, history and EU integration are taught. From the multitude of reports, books and other works written on the Balkans, the reports that follow were not chosen accidentally. Rather, we aimed to include the most influential reports, those which had the greatest impact on the EU and international community’s approach towards the Balkans, those with the most valuable recommendations concerning the features of EU’s policy towards the Balkans. The results of in-depth field research and analysis of diplomatic relations in the region, these reports provided the most credible assistance to the European and other policy-makers when faced with the dilemma ‘how to deal with postconflict post-Milosevic Balkans?’ By publishing their reports again, we also like to pay tribute to those people and organizations that made their most for Balkans to be found in EU integration map.

"Zdravo je biti Amerikanac": Rana hrvatska imigracija u SAD, prakse na otoku Ellis i stvaranje hrvatske dijaspore

Author(s): Tanja Bukovčan / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 29/2006

From 1892 to 1954 more than 12 million immigrants entered the United States through its famous gateway, Ellis Island. They were processed through immigration procedure and majority of them, from that period, were allowed to enter the US and become the citizens of their choice. Poverty, scarcity and hard field labour forced many Croats to seek better life in America. Almost four millions of them went through the Ellis Island in the period from 1880 to 1930. Very young, of average age not more than 22, most of them single males, together with all other steerage passengers, underwent the quick medical examinations, "six seconds physicals" through which they were checked for signs of infectious diseases, insanity, "feeblemindedness" of physical defects. To avoid the trap of being too easily critical 100 years after Ellis Island happenings, it has to be said that they were a practical solution to immigration admission. The number of people entering the US through Ellis Island could reach 5000 up to 11000 people per day during America's peak immigration years from 1890-1924. However, Ellis Island practices legitimatized and deepened the division between the ethnically desirable (North and Western Europe immigrants) and less desirable (South-Eastern Europe and Asia). Furthermore, they provided a mass demonstration of power and political practices, which used health as an instrument of separation between those who were eligible to become the members of a politically stable, healthy labour force, and those who were not. This paper tries to examine in what way did such "segregatory" practices, which already at the entrance to the New World, defined Croats and other immigrants as possibly unhealthy, insane or inapt, influence the formation of Croatian Diaspora in North America as a culturally distinct ethnic group. It also raises the question as to how will the newly emerging medical borders affect notions of ethnicity and the ways in which dispersed/displaced peoples construct their identities in the time of "global ethnoscapes" (Appadurai) The fact that this first "legalized" segregation on the basis of a six-second medical examination was going on under the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, shows to what extent it was assumed as "scientifically" reasonable and politically correct, and explains the existence of its current practices of creating medical borders. Who remains on the other side of the medical border? The ethnical and cultural "Others", or, just "the ill"?

"Територіальне питання" у відносинах між Японією і Росією та спроба його вирішення в 50-60-х роках ХХ ст.

Author(s): Sergiy V. Reznichenko / Language(s): Ukrainian / Issue: 2/2010

Author, drawing on scientific researches of domestic and oversea historians, materials of press, exposes essence problems of "norths territories", process of its origin and position of the USA in its decision.

# V4 2015: neľahké hľadanie odpovedí na európske výzvy

Author(s): Tomáš Strážay / Language(s): Slovak / Publication Year: 0

Vyšehradská skupina, tak ako napokon celá Európska únia, čelila aj v roku 2015 výzvam prichádzajúcim z vonkajšieho prostredia a v menšom meradle tiež takým, ktoré súviseli s jeho vnútorným fungovaním. Napriek pokračujúcemu rusko ukrajinskému konfliktu sa dominantnou témou vo vyšehradskom i európskom (nielen zahraničnopolitickom diskurze) stala migračná a utečenecká kríza. Postoj k nej ovplyvňoval tak vnútornú dynamiku Vyšehradu, ako aj jeho vnímanie v rámci EÚ. Vyšehradské krajiny čelili zhoršenej reputácii v očiach niektorých členských krajín Únie, ktoré kritizovali ich nesolidárny postoj v otázke redistribučných kvót. Prirodzene, značná časť vyšehradskej agendy sa niesla v znamení kontinuity, čo sa týka slovenského aj českého predsedníctva. Významnými oblasťami spolupráce tak boli naďalej napríklad energetika či bezpečnosť a obrana. Spolupráca s krajinami východného susedstva a západného Balkánu tvorili piliere formátu V4 plus, ktorý sa rozšíril o ďalších partnerov. Jedným z významných zadaní pre obe predsedníctva bolo vyvažovať spoluprácu s nevyšehradskými krajinami s vnútornou súdržnosťou V4. Potvrdilo sa, že vyšehradská spolupráca zostáva imúnna voči vnútropolitickému vývoju v jednotlivých krajinách. Hoci májové prezidentské i októbrové parlamentné voľby v Poľsku znamenali diametrálnu zmenu v oblasti poľskej vnútornej politiky, na vzťahoch v rámci V4 sa to neprejavilo.

#10 Smuggling in Southeast Europe. The Yugoslav Wars and the Development of Regional Criminal Networks in the Balkans

Author(s): Marko Hajdinjak / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2002

Smuggling in Southeast Europe analyzes and reviews the connection between the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and the growth of the trans-border crime in the region, and also looks at the related issue of corruption. The paper highlights the decisive impact the Yugoslav wars had on the development of the regional criminal networks, which were often set up and maintained not only with the knowledge, but even with active participation of the highest state officials. The research also represents a contribution to the study of conflicts in the Western Balkans. The majority of existing interpretations of causes, course and consequences of the Yugoslav wars try to provide the answers through ethno-political explanations. They unjustly ignore the importance that interweaving of interests of political elites, the organized crime groups, which appeared in this period, and the "mediating class" of corrupt state officials had in this process. The paper is divided in three parts: • An analysis of the causes and course of emergence of Balkan smuggling channels in the context of Yugoslav wars and international sanctions; • A review of the recent developments in trans-border crime in Southeast Europe; • An overview of prevention efforts, undertaken both by the regional governments and the international community’ The first part analyzes the emergence of officially sanctioned "state-building" smuggling in those parts of the former Yugoslavia, which were involved in the war. The intermediary role of Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Romania is also discussed. In these four countries, smuggling networks were not developed under open patronage of the governments, but the role of high-positioned politicians was nevertheless extremely important. The second part traces the evolution of the initial semi-official smuggling channels and their transformation into "classical" criminal networks. The so-called "suitcase trade," cigarette smuggling, smuggling of narcotics, and the trafficking in human beings are discussed in more detail.

#35 Situational Assessment of Extremist Trends

Author(s): Rositsa Dzhekova,Luděk Moravec,Pavlína Bláhová,Jan Ludvík,Libor Stejskal,Dia Anagnostou,Dimitris Skleparis,Nadya Stoynova / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2017

Violent extremism is one of the major challenges Europe is currently facing. The threat is both external as well as internal as indicated by the rise in home-grown Islamist terrorists, as well as of nationalistic and anti-immigrant movements and far-right aggression. An accurate picture of the spread, nature and trends in the extremist and terrorist activity and actors is paramount to formulating strategic policy approaches and effectively allocating available resources. This publication provides a methodological framework for the establishment of a viable mechanism for monitoring and assessment of the state and developments over time in extremist acts and actors on the national level. The situational assessment is an instrument for systematic collection and analysis of statistical data, open source data and intelligence information pertaining to extremist actors and activities, for the purposes of developing regular situational reports of the spread, nature and trends in extremism and violent radicalisms. Following the application of the situational assessment tool, the publication presents main findings on extremist trends and monitoring capacities in three countries from Central and Southeast Europe: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Greece.

#47 An Assessment of the Commission’s 2011 Schengen Governance Package. Preventing abuse by EU member states of freedom of movement?

Author(s): Sergio Carrera / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2012

The Schengen system has been at the centre of sharp controversy throughout 2011 and the early months of 2012 a rising from attempts by several member state governments to challenge the right to the free movement of persons and the abolition of internal border checks. The speech delivered by Nicolas Sarkozy early this month (March 2012), as part of the French presidential campaign, in which he threatened to suspend France’s participation in Schengen illustrates this phenomenon. This paper examines the European Commission’s response to the Schengen controversies, namely the Schengen Goverance Package publishedin September 2011 and currently under negotiation in Council and the European Parliament. It assesses the scope and added value of the Package’s two new legislative proposals (a new Schengen evaluation mechanism and revised rules for restating internal border checks) by looking at the origins and features ofthe debate surrounding liberty of circulation in the Schengen area.

#51 Does the Stockholm Programme matter? The Struggles over Ownership of AFSJ Multiannual Programming

Author(s): Elspeth Guild,Sergio Carrera / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2012

Does the 2009 Stockholm Programme matter? This paper addresses the controversies experienced at EU institutional levels as to ‘who’ should have ownership of the contours of the EU’s policy and legislative multiannual programming in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) in a post-Lisbon Treaty landscape. It examines the struggles around the third multiannual programme on the AFSJ, i.e. the Stockholm Programme, and the dilemmas affecting its implementation. The latest affair to emerge relates to the lack of fulfilment by the European Commission of the commitment to provide a mid-term evaluation of the Stockholm Programme’s implementation by mid-2012, as requested by both the Council and the European Parliament.

#54 Russia and the Common Space on Freedom, Security and Justice

Author(s): Olga Potemkina,Raül Hernández i Sagrera / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2013

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.

#58 The ‘Lisbonisation’ of the European Parliament. Assessing progress, shortcomings and challenges for democratic accountability in the area of freedom, security and justice

Author(s): Sergio Carrera,Nicholas Hernanz,Joanna Parkin / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2013

This Briefing Paper examines the performance of the European Parliament (EP) in EU AFSJ law and policy-making from the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty until the end of the firsthalf of 2013. The paper situates the EP in the new post-Lisbon institutional setting, documenting its transition to ‘AFSJ decision-maker’, and its new powers to shape and make policy covering the EU’s internal and external security agenda. While the paper finds that theEP has become an active co-owner of the EU AFSJ post-Lisbon, with the Parliament demonstrating a dynamic adjustment to its new post-Lisbon role and powers, the authors identify a set of new developments and challenges that have arisen in the conduct of democratic accountability by the EP in the AFSJ since 2009, which call for critical reflection ahead of the new parliamentary term 2014-2019 and the post-2014 phase of the EU’s AFSJ.

#74 The End of the Transitional Period for Police and Criminal Justice Measures Adopted before the Lisbon Treaty: Who monitors trust in the European Criminal Justice area?

Author(s): Katharina Eisele,Sergio Carrera,Valsamis Mitsilegas / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2014

This study examines the legal and political implications of the recent end of the transitional period for the measures in the fields of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, as set out in Protocol 36 to the EU Treaties. This Protocol limits some of the most far-reaching innovations introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon over EU cooperation on Justice and Home Affairs for a period of five years after the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon (until 1 December 2014), and provides the UK with special ‘opt out/opt-in’ possibilities. The study focuses on the meaning of the transitional period for the wider European Criminal Justice area. The most far-reaching change emerging from the end of this transition will be the expansion of the powers if scrutiny by the European Commission and Luxembourg Court of Justice over Member States’ implementation of EU criminal justice law. The possibility offered by Protocol 36 for the UK to opt out and opt back in to pre-Lisbon Treaty instruments poses serious challenges to a common EU area of justice by further institutionalising ‘over-flexible’ participation incriminal justice instruments.

#86 What is happening to the Schengen borders?

Author(s): Elspeth Guild,Evelien Brouwer,Kees Groenendijk,Sergio Carrera / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2015

What is happening to the Schengen borders? Is Schengen in ‘crisis’? This paper examines the state of play in the Schengen system in light of the developments during 2015. It critically examines the assertion that Schengen is ‘in crisis’ and seeks to set the record straight on what has been happening to the intra-Schengen border-free and common external borders system. The paper argues that Schengen is here to stay and that reports about the reintroduction of internal border checks are exaggerated as they are in full compliance with the EU rule of law model laid down in the Schengen Borders Code and subject to scrutiny by the European Commission. It also examines the legal challenges inherent to police checks within the internal border areas as havingan equivalent effect to border checks as well as the newly adopted proposal for a European Borderand Coast Guard system. The analysis shows that the most far-reaching challenge to the current and future configurations of EU border policies relates to ensuring that they are in full compliance with fundamental human rights obligations to refugees, effective accountability and independent monitoring of the implementation of EU legal standards.