Supporting Vulnerable Groups before the State: The Role of Civil Society Organisations

Author(s): Maria Doichinova,Yva Alexandrova,Miriana Ilcheva,Svetla Encheva / Language(s): English

The study analyses the mechanisms for interaction between public institutions and NGOs in supporting four vulnerable groups: persons deprived of their liberty, victims of trafficking in human beings, domestic violence survivors, and persons seeking international protection and other vulnerable foreigner nationals. Furthermore, it identifies trends in the cooperation between institutions and NGOs in assisting these communities. The report sums up the profile of the bodies and organisations involved and identifies problems in their interaction. Instruments for cooperation between public institutions and NGOs in relation to each vulnerable group are reviewed in detail, both on legislative and practical level. Correlations between identified problems and aspects of the interaction between public institutions and NGOs that could help resolve these problems are highlighted. In conclusion, recommendations are made to involve civil society in providing comprehensive support, in particular legal, social and administrative assistance, to vulnerable persons. These recommendations rest on the shared experience and opinions by public authorities and civil society, as well as on applicable foreign models and good practices.

Anti-Corruption Reloaded: Assessment of Southeast Europe

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

Corruption in Southeast Europe has been in the news, in the focus of public debate, and on the policy agenda of national and international institutions so often and for so long that its scrutiny hardly needs to be justified. It is precisely because it has proven to be such an intractable issue that innovative approaches to its understanding – and hence its reduction – are warranted. The EU accession prospects for the countries in the region – though distant – provide an enabling framework for action but it is local stakeholders, and in particular civil society who can bring about sustained progress in anti-corruption. The Southeast Europe Leadership for Development and Integrity (SELDI) has made the in-depth diagnosing and understanding of corruption and governance gaps in the region one of its main priorities, as a requisite condition for its advocacy of knowledge-driven anticorruption policies. This SELDI report fits in the development and implementation framework of the emerging regional anticorruption policy and infrastructure as exemplified by the SEE2020 Strategy’s Governance Pillar run by the Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative. Despite some important achievements – mostly with respect to the stabilisation of democratic institutions, the adoption of laws in key anticorruption areas, a reduction in petty bribery and growing public intolerance of corruption – anticorruption and good governance reforms are not consolidated, corruption among elected politicians and judges seems to be increasing and the enforcement of anticorruption legislation is haphazard. Anticorruption policies and institutions in the region will benefit immensely from the adoption of regular and accurate victimisation-survey based tool for measuring corruption and the rate of progress in good governance, similar to the special Eurobarometer on anticorruption, UNODC’s SEE monitoring of corruption and organised crime, and the Corruption Monitoring System employed by this report.

Ситуационна оценка на тенденциите в екстремизма

Author(s): Rositsa Dzhekova,Luděk Moravec,Nadya Stoynova / Language(s): Bulgarian

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.

Енергетика и добро управление. Тенденции и политики

Author(s): Ruslan Stefanov,Valentina Nikolova,Dobromir Hristov,Assen Dyulgerov,Kiril Gegov,Georgi Kaschiev / Language(s): Bulgarian

The report explores the major deficiencies in the strategic, institutional, and legal framework of the Bulgarian energy sector. The analysis of the management of state-owned energy companies and large energy infrastructure projects reveals the disregard for even the most fundamental principles of accountability and control in their planning and implementation. This has affected negatively the Bulgarian taxpayers and consumers, has jeopardized the financial stability of the state-owned energy companies, and, ultimately, has reduced the energy security of the country. The report recommends that the implementation of the large energy infrastructure projects be reconsidered and be based on a sound cost-benefit analysis with regard to Bulgaria’s energy security.

Организираната престъпност в България: Пазари и тенденции

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

The report Organized Crime in Bulgaria: Markets and Trends summarizes the analyses carried out by the Center for the Study of Democracy throughout the last decade which have focused on specific aspects of organized crime in Bulgaria (contraband, the drug market, tax fraud, human trafficking, arms proliferation, etc.), the systemic spread of corruption, and the linkages between the two. The report presents the latest trends and manifestations (or market niches) of syndicate crime and its particularly damaging effects. It goes further to offer a historical review of the facts and available expertise in the area, and to draw conclusions about the origin, characteristics and developmental features of organized criminality in Bulgaria in the context of the transition to democracy.

ТЕНДЕНЦИИ НА ПРЕСТЪПНОСТТА В БЪЛГАРИЯ 2000 – 2010

Author(s): Tihomir Bezlov,Philip Gounev,Alexander Gerganov / Language(s): Bulgarian

The present study examines cime trends in Bulgaria between 2000 and 2010 based on a comparison between surveys of crime victims (National Crime Survey) and police statistics. In addition to overall crime trends data, the report presents data on ten different categories of crime, as well as regional specifics of crime in Bulgaria. Criminal justice and socio-economic data is also analysed in an attempt to explain the observed trends in crime.

Моќ од сенка: Проценка на корупција и скриената економија во земјите од Југоисточна Европа

Author(s): / Language(s): Macedonian

The current report, prepared by the Southeast European Leadership for Development and Integrity (SELDI) — the largest indigenous good governance initiative in SEE — makes an important contribution to the regional approach to anticorruption. It provides a civil society view of the state of corruption and comes in the wake of the 2014 SELDI comprehensive assessment of the various aspects of the legal and institutional anticorruption environments of nine SEE countries. In 2016, SELDI followed up on these assessments with an update of corruption monitoring and a special focus on state capture in the energy sector and the corruption–hidden economy nexus. The report underscores the need for broader political action for reform, which seems blocked or narrowing across the region. Inside pressure for such action has been suffocated by economic necessity and/or ethnic divisions, and the ossification of political and economic establishments. Outside pressure, delivered mostly by the European Union has been seen as wanting in relation to the size of the problems in the past couple of years due to a succession of internal and external crises. The authors underline that in none of the countries in the region has there been a clear sustained policy breakthrough in anticorruption though efforts to deliver technical solutions and to improve the functioning of the law enforcement institutions, mostly with support from the EU, have continued and even intensified in some cases. This has led to further slow decline in administrative corruption levels but at the expense of waning public support for reforms and of declining trust in national and European institutions.

Укрепване на правосъдието и правоприлагането в граничните райони

Author(s): Maria Yordanova,Dimitar Markov / Language(s): Bulgarian

The report makes an overview of the general problems and specifics in the detection, investigation and punishment of cross-border crime, i.e. actions, connected with illegal crossing of or illegal transfer of goods across the border. The publication also presents views about the necessary measures – legislative, organizational and technical – for enhancing justice and law enforcement in the districts close to the Bulgarian-Turkish, Bulgarian-Macedonian and the Southern Black Sea borders.

Behind the Iron Curtain (3)

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

This magazine is the English version of selected articles published in the pages of the review Paměť a dějiny (Memory and History) ISSN 1802-8241, which is issued by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes.This magazine is the English version of selected articles published in the pages of the review Paměť a dějiny (Memory and History) ISSN 1802-8241, which is issued by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. The original version of the journal Paměť a dějiny (Memory and History) is the part of CEEOL also.

Behind the Iron Curtain (2)

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

This magazine is the English version of selected articles published in the pages of the review Paměť a dějiny (Memory and History), which is issued by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes.This magazine is the English version of selected articles published in the pages of the review Paměť a dějiny (Memory and History) ISSN 1802-8241, which is issued by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. The original version of the journal Paměť a dějiny (Memory and History) is the part of CEEOL also.

Yearbook of Slovakia's Foreign Policy 2010

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

This is only for the second time in the history of this edition, that the Yearbook assesses a year which saw a complete political power shift and thus an exchange of those who make and decide on foreign policy. It was an election year, a year of foreign policy accent shift, and a year of institutional and personnel changes (not only) at the Foreign Ministry. For the first time, the leader of the strongest coalition party became the Foreign Minister; a person with the real political power to move our foreign policy (and not only in the institutional or financial sense) a step (leap) forward. One can only hope that the current Government will also have the political will to do so. The first few post-election months have, however, already provided some indications. First of all, the integration of the diplomatic service, discussed often since 1993, became reality in 2010 and represents an important milestone in the future realization of our foreign policy. Progress was also achieved in strained neighborhood relations. Despite a complicated bilateral agenda, many open issues and rather different approaches, an open confrontation with Hungary was replaced with an unemotional and calm (sometimes even too calm) dialogue supplemented by European solutions. Slovakia’s new “leadership” also changed its stance toward our only neighbor being in a different international regime. It is very positive that our Government came to the understanding that irrespective of the political leadership, supporting the integration process of Ukraine into the EU is a part of our own policy of overcoming regional disparities within Slovakia and thus it is in our state’s interest. Progress was also made in regional cooperation in the field of natural gas supply security (sadly, once again we only resolved to risk-prevention measures after it had happened, but better late than never). It is a new and positive phenomenon in our cooperation with V4 partners and Austria. From Slovakia’s perspective, regional cooperation in energy mainly solves our problem. The loan to Greece along with the European Financial Stability Mechanism, were important issues before as well as after the elections. As of yet, we do not know the answers to gradually emerging questions, but we know that it is in our interest to have a stable currency and a stable euro zone with satisfied citizens. It is therefore crucial to answer the following question first: “Which decisions will contribute to the long-term stability of our currency, the euro.” A significant improvement was also achieved under the former leadership in relations between NGOs and the Ministry, when the NGDO Platform chair and the Foreign Minister signed a Memorandum of understanding in May 2010. It is only good that continuity is clearly visible in this direction after the elections. A positive signal was sent – not only to Europe, but to the entire world – by the determination of our representatives not to celebrate the anniversaries of totalitarian/ authoritarian regimes which violate basic human rights. We must also appreciate the principal position of our diplomacy on awarding the Nobel Prize to a Chinese dissident, on the release of Myanmar’s political prisoners, and the clear position on the Belarusian regime’s repression of its own citizens. These (and many other) events of the (entire) year 2010 are addressed in what is now the 12th Yearbook – whether in an assessment of our performance and promotion of our goals or interests in the international environment, an analysis of the realization of priority foreign policy goals, or in an evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of instruments for their realization. Obviously, the book only offers an analytical assessment within the natural limits of the publication of this kind, covering not all the fields and regions in which our foreign policy was visible or active. Slovakia’s President is the first to assess the year 2010 in this year’s edition. Even though the Yearbook is primarily meant for analytical assessments, the editorial board considers an opening address and position of the only supreme official to be in office for all of 2010 to be a positive contribution. Traditionally, the views and opinions of the Foreign Minister are present in the Yearbook. In his contribution, he presents and assesses the issues and aspects of Slovakia’s foreign policy, which are thoroughly examined by other authors in the book, as well as his opinions on the future of our foreign policy under the new leadership. Both texts give the reader a unique opportunity of seeing the same issue from different (this time also politically) angles in one publication. The expert section is opened by the evaluation of Slovakia’s operation in the international environment. The contribution of Vladimír Bilčík from the Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (RC SFPA) assessing Slovakia’s performance within the EU is, as always, the introductory text of this section. He addresses issues related to the practical implementation of the Lisbon Treaty and the consequences of the financial and economic crises. He also analyzes how the election campaign prior to the June 2011 parliamentary elections in Slovakia influenced the positions of Slovakia’s politicians in the EU, i.e. the loan to Greece issue, the creation of the European Financial Stability Mechanism, as well as changes in the competences of individual governmental departments. Security and defense policy, or an analysis of our capacities and capabilities to participate on international security respectively, is offered by Ivo Samson, head of the International Security research program at the RC SFPA. He analyzes it through the prism of three key events of 2010: parliamentary elections in Slovakia, the new NATO Strategic Concept, and Slovakia’s strategic review of defense policy process. The ever more serious and urgent issue of climate change is addressed in the text of Juraj Mesík, an independent analyst. He takes a detailed look at developments between the Copenhagen and Cancun summits, including the summit conclusions, and maps the main climate events of 2010 – both in the global perspective and from Slovakia’s point of view – while outlining what the population will have to face in the future. The part focusing on Slovakia’s operation in the international environment concludes with the text of Irina Mattová, from the University of Prešov, characterizing global governance, mapping the agenda of non-formal groups (G8, G20), and indicating the driving forces that will determine the future agenda of these groups in relation to Slovakia. The second part of the Yearbook, focused on the priorities of our foreign policy, is opened by the article of Juraj Marušiak, from the Institute of Political Science of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. He analyzes the issue being rich for developments every year – Slovak–Hungarian relations. Relations with Hungary represented a specific problem encompassing both a foreign and a domestic policy dimension. The domestic policy dimension not only concerned ethnical cleavages on Slovakia’s political scene but also relations between “Slovak” and “Hungarian” political parties within Slovakia respectively. Tomáš Strážay, head of the RC SFPA Central and Southeastern Europe research program, analyzes Slovakia’s Central European activities. Due to the Visegrad 2010 jubilees his analysis is split into two parts: an outline of the key factors that characterized Visegrad cooperation throughout the years and an analysis of V4 priorities in 2010 with an emphasis on the preparation and realization of Slovakia’s V4 Presidency. Director and head of the RC SFPA Eastern Europe research program, Alexander Duleba, gives an analytical “picture” of Slovakia’s relations with both, EU Eastern Partnership countries and Russia, while comparing the policies toward individual countries under the governments of Robert Fico and Iveta Radičová. Slovak activities in the Western Balkans which still belong to the regional priorities of Slovakia’s foreign policy and being a region where Slovakia has a good reputation and trustworthy political positions, were assessed by an independent journalist, Július Lőrincz. The third part of the book, devoted to the foreign policy instruments, is opened by a text from Nora Beňáková, Chairman of the NGDO Platform, Ján Mihálik, from PDCS, and Peter Brezáni, from RC SFPA, who focus their attention on the functioning of our most visible bilateral foreign policy tool – development cooperation. The authors evaluate the practical fulfillment of goals set in documents and attempt to provide an overview of Slovakia’s development assistance activities in 2010. The article offers a set of proposals and recommendations to improve the ODA quality and efficiency. The section dedicated to foreign policy instruments closes with a text by Ondrej Gažovič, from the Institute of European Studies and International Relations of the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences at the Comenius University in Bratislava, who assesses the changes in Slovakia’s public diplomacy in 2010. He also offers an overview of the practical activities of this policy, the opportunities that were seized and squandered, and a reflection on the future perspective of public diplomacy in the context of Slovakia’s foreign policy. The expert section is concluded with another new thing, the regularly irregular section: The history of Slovak foreign policy. Its inclusion will be conditioned by the commemoration of a significant anniversary related either to an important person or event in Slovak foreign policy. Since 2010 we commemorated the 130th anniversary of the birth of a prominent Slovak diplomat – Milan Rastislav Štefánik, we decided to begin with a study on his diplomatic and strategic successes written by the experienced diplomat and historian, Miroslav Musil. The expert section is traditionally supplemented by annexes, such as the chronology of the most important foreign policy events, a list of international treaties, information on the structure and representatives of state administrative bodies operating in foreign policy, a list of diplomatic missions and representatives of the SR abroad, the diplomatic corps of the SR, information on military missions abroad etc. We firmly believe that this Yearbook will once again find its readers and serve all those who are interested in the past, present, and future of Slovakia and her foreign policy. In conclusion, we would like to thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic for its cooperation in this project and its support, and for the fact that thanks to this cooperation we are able to continue building this much needed tradition.

Yearbook of Slovakia's Foreign Policy 2007

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

The Yearbook of Slovakia’s Foreign Policy is a unique project which has for the past nine years been, we hope that successfully, contributing to the development of the tradition of the regular evaluation and analysis of the foreign policy of the Slovak Republic in the given year and supporting the cultivation of the foreign policy debate. This publication represents a significant and at the same time the only book source keeping record of the development of Slovakia’s foreign policy and the discussion on its further direction. The foreign policy of every country needs to build its own traditions especially in the case of a young state such as the Slovak Republic. Should the foreign policy be successful it must have its own form, its own language and its own institutions. In this sense under the term institutions it is necessary to comprehend not only the buildings of state bodies which are occupied by those who are responsible for the formulation and implementation of foreign policy. In a democratic state the public discussion is a part of the formulation of all public policies and foreign policy is not an exception. It is very important that public discussion gains institutional forms which become a tradition because without traditions there is no continuity and the absence of continuity means the repetition of old mistakes and always starting from point zero. In other words tradition is institutionalized memory. New knowledge is impossible without memory and without knowledge there can be no good political decisions. That is why traditions are so important especially in an area such as the foreign policy of a state. In this context it is possible to see the exceptionality of this publication as a ‘tradition’ as well as its specific position in the public debate on Slovakia’s foreign policy. It is a unique forum primarily dedicated to Slovakia’s foreign policy which provides space for those who bear the responsibility for the realization of the foreign policy of this country and those who are not indifferent to Slovakia’s foreign policy. The Yearbook serves for the exchange of opinions, knowledge, experience, positions and arguments with the goal of improving the quality of decisions in the area of foreign policy to best serve the interests of this country. We are convinced that it is very important to regularly evaluate the state of Slovakia’s foreign policy, which crucial events occurred in the past year and what challenges stand before the Slovak Republic in the near future. These were the main goals and intentions of the previous Yearbook editions; we prepared this year’s edition with identical objectives and we believe that we will do the same in the following years. The 2007 Yearbook evaluates the year of our foreign policy in the traditional structure. It analyzes Slovakia’s operation in the international environment, the realization of the priority areas of our foreign policy as well as the effectiveness of the instruments of its implementation. The introductory contribution of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic is however an exception compared to previous years. It summarizes and evaluates the foreign policy of the past 12 months from the viewpoint of the person bearing the responsibility for the formulation and implementation of foreign policy throughout the electoral term. This text thematically corresponds to individual chapters in the Yearbook which gives the reader the unique opportunity of seeing the same issue from two different angles. The expert section of the Yearbook is opened by the contribution of Vladimír Bilčík from the Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association who focuses on the process of the completion of the integration process as well as the challenge of the active contribution to the formation of the future EU which stands before the SR in the upcoming period. Our Permanent Representative to the UN Peter Burian evaluated the goals and conditions of our operation in the UN Security Council, analyzed threats and their solutions and didn’t leave out a thorough analysis of our February presidency. Tomáš Valášek, the Director of Foreign Policy and Defense at the Centre for European Reform in London, concluded the first chapter with his view of the Slovak security policy and our operation in foreign missions. The second section of the Yearbook devoted to the priority areas of our foreign policy is opened by the article of the High Representative of the International Community for Bosnia and Herzegovina and EU Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Miroslav Lajčák. In his contribution on Slovak policy in the Western Balkans he instigates a reflection upon how most of all the EU but also NATO could strengthen our positions and how to maintain our long-term specialization on this agenda. Tomáš Strážay, RC SFPA analyst, focused his attention on the successes and some problematic areas of the cooperation of V4 countries as well as to the resolutions which they were not able to fulfill but which could increase the significance and effectiveness of the V4 in the near future. Alexander Duleba, RC SFPA Director and Head of the East European research program, attempted to evaluate the development of the political and economic agenda of Slovak relations with its eastern partners in the year 2007 including the fulfillment of the new foreign policy priority – the economic dimension of Slovak diplomacy. The contribution of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the SR to external energy security was addressed in the article of Ján Šoth, the Director of the Analyses and Policy Planning Department and the Head of the Standing Work Group on External Energy Security. The concluding part of the expert section which is devoted to the institutional background and foreign policy instruments is opened by the contribution of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary General Marcel Peško on the modernization of the Slovak Foreign Service and the future character of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic. The representatives of the Slovak Non-Governmental Development Platform Eva Havelková and Nora Beňáková focused on the functioning of presumably the most important bilateral instrument of the Slovak foreign policy in the year 2007 – development assistance. The authors offered their view of the institutional and legislative changes in the Slovak ODA and tried to compare the territorial and sector objectives of bilateral projects in the periods before and after the realization of said changes. The expert segment of the Yearbook is closed by the contribution of the Director of the International Economic Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic Jaroslav Chlebo which is devoted to the possibly most frequently cited collocation in this electoral term – the economic dimension of diplomacy. The expert section is traditionally supplemented by annexes such as the chronology of the most important foreign policy events, chosen political documents, a list of international treaties, information on the structure and representatives of state administrative bodies operating in foreign policy, a list of diplomatic missions and representatives of the SR abroad, SR diplomatic bodies, military missions abroad etc. We firmly believe that also this year’s Yearbook edition will find its readers and serve to all those who are interested in the past, present and future of Slovakia as well as its foreign policy. In conclusion we would like to thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the SR for its cooperation in this project and its support as well as for the fact that, also thanks to this institution, we can continue in building this much needed tradition.

Yearbook of Slovakia's Foreign Policy 2016

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

A year ago I wrote in the foreword to the 2015 Yearbook that with respect to international affairs (and hence Slovak foreign policy), 2016 would not be any easier than 2015, and might be even more difficult. This has proven to be not far from the truth, in various aspects of foreign policy. Within the European Union we once again witnessed the sight of terrorism costing many lives. Internationally, ongoing wars – both far from and near to the EU neighborhood – brought more tension and instability to international relations. The EU itself faced its own internal struggles and challenges. Certainly the most consequential issue was the United Kingdom referendum, and their “yes” on the “Leave” vote. This is an unprecedented situation, whose end is still open and uncertain. Disagreements and misunderstandings among member states as to how to deal with the migration crisis continued, not to mention the ongoing ambiguity regarding the reform of EU institutions, the requests of Germany and France for a multispeed Europe, and the situation in Turkey, as well as an increase in general support among populations for populist leaders – for politicians without solutions that could actually work, or any clear agenda; politicians who, in the case of the UK, were so surprised at their success that they left almost immediately in order not to be held responsible for further developments. For Slovakia, 2016 was an extraordinary year. Not due to the fact that parliamentary elections took place in March, as their impact on Slovakia’s foreign and European policy was negligible. It was extraordinary because the Slovak Republic held its very first Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Slovakia presided during turbulent times, having to deal with issues (and even better with their impact) which no Presidency country has ever had to deal with. One must not forget this context when evaluating our Presidency. The year 2016 has shown us again that we must move fast and be constructive in searching for solutions to the EU’s problems. The EU’s political leaders, as well as its civil society, businesses, and academia – all of them must put an end to competing for the most politically beautiful, and pursue instead expert answers to current issues and problems. All of these matters, and perhaps more, are addressed here in what is now our 18th Yearbook – whether it’s an assessment of our performance in the promotion of our goals and interests in the international environment, an analysis of the actions taken in pursuit of our priority foreign policy goals, or an evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of one of the instruments of their implementation. Obviously, the book can only offer its analytical assessments within the natural limits (capacities and financial resources) of a publication of this kind, not able to cover every field and region in which our foreign policy was visible or active. We offer here what we consider the most crucial. As per tradition, the views and opinions of the Foreign Minister are presented first in the Yearbook. In his contribution he presents and assesses various issues and aspects of Slovakia’s foreign policy – which are thoroughly examined by other authors in the book – as well as his opinions on the future of our foreign policy after the Presidency. His piece offers the reader a unique opportunity to see various issues from the angle of the person responsible for implementing foreign policy, as well as from the angle of experts who do not have to take party politics into consideration when writing. As our goal is constructive critical debate and the search for real answers to current challenges, in the following selection of authors you will find mainly experts from NGOs/think-tanks and academia, since we (the editorial board) assume that their distance from the practical implementation of foreign policy (with all the direct and indirect influences involved) might bring a certain added value to their perspective. The expert section of the book opens with an evaluation of Slovakia’s performance in the international environment. The contribution of Zuzana Gabrižová, editor in chief of Euractiv.sk, assessing Slovakia’s performance in 2016 within the EU, serves – as always – as the introductory text for this section. Her piece traces the sequence and milestones that defined those developments relevant both to the Slovak–EU debate and to Slovak actions vis-a-vis the EU. Martin Vlachynský, senior analyst at the Institute of Economic and Social Studies, in his economic analysis of 2016, defines the economic tone of the year as being one played by well-known instruments. The Eurozone financial system, the deficits, quantitative easing, and, of course, the Greek crisis, remained topics of the day. Pavol Szalai, senior editor at Euractiv.sk, focuses on Slovakia’s energy policy, which in 2016 faced a different challenge: to preserve its role as a gas transit country, and resume its role as an electricity exporter. The section focusing on the international environment concludes with an analysis of Slovakia’s security and defense policy in 2016, written by the Slovak Foreign Policy Association’s two security policy analysts, Samuel Goda and Dušan Fischer. The second part of the Yearbook, focused on the priorities of our foreign policy, opens with an article by Tomáš Strážay, head of SFPA’s Central and Southeastern Europe research program. He analyzes Slovakia’s Central European activities during what was the 25th anniversary year of Visegrad cooperation, while focusing also on the future role of the V4 in the EU after Brexit, and on the future of the V4 as such. Slovak involvement in what might be characterized as a turbulent year in the Western Balkans, with its progress shifting from positive hope to negative development, was discussed, as traditionally, by the independent expert Július Lőrincz. The bilateral and multilateral context of our Eastern policy was the main subject of the analysis of Juraj Marušiak from the Institute of Political Science, Slovak Academy of Sciences. He argues that our policy towards the Eastern Europe was largely determined by two things in 2016 – our Council of the EU Presidency and Minister Lajčák’s effort to become the next UN Secretary-General. The third part of the book, devoted to foreign policy instruments, deals with the functioning of our most visible bilateral foreign policy tool – development cooperation. Maroš Čaučík, director of Dobrá novina – the Development Cooperation Program of eRko – an experienced expert as well as practitioner, provides an analysis of the practical fulfillment of our set goals, in his overview of Slovakia’s development assistance activities in 2016. His piece also offers a set of proposals and recommendations for improving the quality and efficiency of Slovak ODA. As usual the expert section is supplemented by appendices, such as a chronology of the most important foreign policy events, a list of international treaties, information on the structure and representatives of state administrative bodies operating within foreign policy, a list of diplomatic missions and representatives of the SR abroad, the diplomatic corps of the SR, information on military missions abroad, etc. I firmly believe that this Yearbook will once again find its readers, and serve all those who are interested in the past, present, and future of Slovakia and her foreign policy. In conclusion, I would like to thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic for its cooperation in this project and its support, and for the fact that thanks to this cooperation we are able to continue in building this much needed tradition.

Ročenka zahraničnej politiky Slovenskej republiky 2015

Author(s): / Language(s): Slovak

Bezpečnostné hrozby a migrácia. Aj tak možno prostou vetou a veľmi zjednodušene charakterizovať dominantné témy uplynulých 12 mesiacov. Terorizmus sa ozýval v Európe. Asi častejšie ako po iné roky a ešte aj nahlas. Vojna u nášho východného suseda neprestala, i keď ju z mediálneho priestoru vytláčali boje v Sýrii, z ktorej boli zasa vytlá- čaní jej obyvatelia. Situácia na Blízkom východe, ale i na tom trochu vzdialenejšom, či „nátlak“ klímy v Afrike výrazne zvýšili intenzitu migračných vĺn, ktoré z európskej, ale aj tej slovenskej verejnej debaty vytisli ostatné témy aj rozumné argumenty a ostali v nej často len emócie a dojmy. Ani s dlhovou krízou sa nepodarilo príliš pohnúť vpred. Všetko ostatné s memoárnym a oslavným podtónom aj v roku 2015, podobne ako v roku 2014 – i napriek úprimnej snahe zainteresovaných –, ostávalo v úzadí. Či už išlo o 70. výročie konca druhej svetovej vojny, 70. výročie založenia OSN alebo 40. výročie OBSE, prípadne o novú dohodu na trvalo udržateľnom rozvoji zo samitu OSN v New Yorku či témy súvisiace s Európskym rokom rozvoja (aj keď možno nechcene nám to v druhom polroku pripomínali migranti). A pritom išlo o výročia udalostí a organizácií či témy, ktoré by nás mali pred podobnými scenármi uchrániť, varovať a predchádzať im. Migračná kríza, ktorá v slovenskom aj európskom priestore všetko ostatné odsunula nabok a stala sa jednoznačne najdiskutovanejšou témou druhého polroka, len potvrdila, že sa treba v rozmýšľaní o riešeniach pohnúť vpred, a to asi veľmi rýchlo. Ani migračnú krízu neminul osud vojny na Ukrajine – i tá sa ako zahraničnopolitická téma stala témou slovenskej predvolebnej kampane. Tentoraz však pre ňu nebola typická rôznorodosť názorov, ale vzácna zhoda medzi politickými stranami. Snáď jedinou výnimkou bol v rétorickej rovine prezident. V minulom roku som na tomto mieste napísal, že vďaka Ukrajine sme pochopili, že je potrebné reštartovať kritickú debatu nielen o domácej a európskej, ale najmä bezpečnostnej politike. Nie som si istý, že sa to podarilo, vecnú diskusiu opäť nahrádzajú preteky o politicky najkrajšie a nie odborné riešenia. Ostáva len zopakovať, že na reštart kritickej debaty a hľadanie i presadzovanie odborných riešení je stále priestor. Rok 2015 bol teda pre zahraničnú politiku SR opäť príliš náročný a rok 2016 nebude o nič jednoduchší. V neposlednom rade to vo svojom hodnotení naznačujú aj niektorí z autorov nasledujúcich strán. Čoraz náročnejšie finančné podmienky nám nedovoľujú z ročenky urobiť komplexnú publikáciu, ktorá by uchovávala čo najviac zo zahraničnopolitickej diskusie a reality, preto Vám na nasledujúcich stranách ponúkame primárne to, čo spolu s edičnou radou považujeme v uplynulom roku za to najpodstatnejšie. Zámerom tejto publikácie je kritická debata a hľadanie lepších riešení. Aj preto je v na- šom výbere skupina autorov, ktorí sa pohybujú hlavne v mimovládnom či akademickom priestore a majú určitý odstup od samotnej realizácie zahraničnej politiky (a zrejme aj vplyvov, ktoré na jej realizáciu pôsobia či už priamo, alebo nepriamo). Pohľad tých, ktorí sú za výkon politiky zodpovední, tu napokon prezentuje minister zahraničných vecí a európskych záležitostí. Ten vo svojom texte prezentuje problémy a aspekty slovenskej zahraničnej politiky z pohľadu inštitúcie zodpovednej za realizáciu a koordináciu zahraničnej a európskej politiky. Expertná časť ročenky je, ako už býva zvykom, rozdelená do 4 blokov. Prvý bilancuje a hodnotí slovenské pôsobenie a úspechy pri presadzovaní našich záujmov v medzinárodnom prostredí, druhý analyzuje našu politiku v prioritných oblastiach, resp. regiónoch a tretí diskutuje o kvalite a efektivite nástrojov na realizáciu zahraničnej a európskej politiky SR. Ani v tomto roku nechýba časť pripomínajúca si významné výročia súvisiace s dôležitými osobnosťami alebo udalosťami slovenskej zahraničnej politiky. Prvá časť sa začína príspevkom Anety Világiovej z Katedry politológie Filozofickej fakulty Univerzity Komenského, ktorý analyzuje podstatné udalosti v európskej politike Slovenska počas roka 2015, vrátane krízy na Ukrajine a politiky EÚ voči Rusku, debatu o Grexite či Brexite a, samozrejme, hodnotí diskusiu o riešení migračnej krízy. Martin Vlachynský, analytik Inštitútu ekonomických a spoločenských analýz (INESS), sa zaoberal situáciou v eurozóne, jej pozitívami, no aj výzvami, resp. rizikami, ktoré na EÚ a eurozónu čakajú v ďalších rokoch, vrátane referenda o vystúpení Spojeného kráľovstva. Svoj pohľad na bezpečnostnú politiku Slovenska v roku 2015, ktorý uzatvára časť o pôsobení SR v medzinárodnom prostredí, spracoval Dušan Fischer zo Slovenskej spoločnosti pre zahraničnú politiku. Rok 2015 sa podľa jeho tézy niesol v európskej (islovenskej) bezpečnostnej politike v duchu hrozieb nekonvenčného charakteru, najmä medzinárodného terorizmu, migračných vĺn a pokračujúcej nestability na Ukrajine, ktorá súvisí s ruskou anexiou Krymu a pokračujúcimi bojmi na Donbase. Druhú časť ročenky, ktorá sa venuje prioritným oblastiam našej zahraničnej politiky, otvára príspevok Tomáša Strážaya, vedúceho výskumného programu Stredná a juhovýchodná Európa v Slovenskej spoločnosti pre zahraničnú politiku, ktorý analyzuje stredoeurópsku spoluprácu v roku 2015. Trochu vytratenú tému západného Balkánu (i keď najmä z mediálneho priestoru) už tradične hodnotil nezávislý novinár Július Lőrincz. Alexander Duleba zo Slovenskej spoločnosti pre zahraničnú politiku sa sústredí hlavne na realizáciu slovenskej východnej politiky. Argumentuje, že apriórna nedôvera voči Ukrajine, rovnako ako apriórna dôvera voči Rusku, patria k dvom základným chorobám slovenskej východnej politiky od roku 1993. A Slovensko nevyzdravelo ani v roku 2015. Tretia časť hodnotí fungovanie a efektivitu slovenskej rozvojovej spolupráce. Autor textu Peter Brezáni zo Slovenskej spoločnosti pre zahraničnú politiku svoju pozornosť upriamil na hodnotenie aktivít slovenskej rozvojovej pomoci vo významnom roku zá- sadných rozvojových reforiem na úrovni OSN, roku, ktorý EÚ vyhlásila za rok rozvoja. V záujme skvalitnenia a zefektívnenia ODA predložil – aj na základe minulých analýz – niekoľko návrhov a odporúčaní. Naďalej pokračujeme v rubrike Z histórie slovenskej zahraničnej politiky. Keďže v roku 2015 sme si pripomenuli 200. výročie narodenia Ľudovíta Štúra, Juraj Marušiak z Ústavu politických vied SAV pripomenul politické aktivity jedného z najvýznamnejších predstaviteľov slovenského národného života a obrodenia v 19. storočí. Expertnú časť tradične dopĺňajú prílohy – chronológia dôležitých zahraničnopolitických udalostí, zoznam medzinárodných zmlúv, informácie o štruktúre a predstaviteľoch orgánov štátnej správy pôsobiacich v zahraničnej politike, zoznam diplomatických misií a predstaviteľov SR v zahraničí, diplomatického zboru v SR, informácie o vojenských misiách v zahraničí a podobne. Naozaj dúfam, že si aj takto limitovaná verzia ročenky nájde svojich čitateľov a poslúži všetkým, ktorí sa zaujímajú o minulosť, prítomnosť i budúcnosť Slovenska a jeho zahraničnej politiky. Opäť by som chcel na záver poďakovať Ministerstvu zahraničných vecí a európskych záležitostí SR za spoluprácu na tomto projekte a za to, že vďaka tejto podpore sme v budovaní tejto veľmi potrebnej tradície mohli aspoň v tomto formáte pokračovať.

Ročenka zahraničnej politiky Slovenskej republiky 2014

Author(s): / Language(s): Slovak

V uplynulom roku sa opäť po chvíli relatívneho pokoja otvorila Pandorina skrinka medzinárodných vzťahov. To, čo sa dialo, deje a bude diať v blízkej budúcnosti u nášho východného suseda, bolo bez akýchkoľvek pochybností udalosťou roka číslo jeden. Nielen v našom regióne. Počas uplynulých 12 mesiacov roku 2014 sme v Európe nemali v politickej debate komplikovanejšiu tému. Všetko ostatné ostalo v tieni bojov na Ukrajine, resp. sme sa na to „ostatné“ dívali cez prizmu situácie na Ukrajine. Pripomenutie si 100. výročia od začiatku prvej svetovej vojny či 70 rokov od vylodenia v Normandii, alebo nášho slovenského povstania v druhej svetovej vojne tak malo trpkú príchuť. Podobne aj oslavy desiatich rokov Slovenska v Európskej únii a NATO mali v ukrajinskom kontexte inú dimenziu. Konflikt na Ukrajine či anexia Krymu, ale aj pomerne rozpačité reakcie toho, čomu hovoríme trochu vágne medzinárodné spoločenstvo, ukázali, že medzinárodný systém a pravidlá, na ktorom stojí, resp. chce stáť, majú veľmi krehké základy. Pre Slovensko, ktoré je dlhodobým podporovateľom integračných ambícií Ukrajiny (bez ohľadu na to, čo hovorí premiér) a zároveň susedom, je tento vojenský konflikt Ukrajiny s Ruskom ešte osobitejší. Po dlhom čase bola zahraničnopolitická téma intenzívnou a pravidelnou témou vnútropolitickej debaty, zasiahla aj ako jediná takáto téma do predvolebnej kampane pred prezidentskými voľbami, rozdelila nielen vládu a opozíciu pri interpretácii toho, čo sa deje, ale charakterizovala ju kakofónia úradu vlády a ministerstva zahraničných vecí, ktorého práca bola touto situáciou poznačená azda na každom kroku. Bohužiaľ, až „vďaka“ Ukrajine sme si (nielen v SR, ale aj na medzinárodnej úrovni) uvedomili, že je potrebné reštartovať v desiatom roku nášho členstva v Aliancii a EÚ upadajúcu debatu o bezpečnosti, o budúcnosti spoločnej zahraničnej politiky EÚ a úlohe Únie vo svete, o budúcnosti Východného partnerstva (a rozširovania vo všeobecnosti). Nielen pre vojnu medzi Ukrajinou a Ruskom, ale aj v jej dôsledku sme sa posunuli vpred i v téme energetickej bezpečnosti, keď Slovensko v septembri spustilo reverzný tok plynu na Ukrajinu. Ukrajina bola aj témou nášho predsedníctva vo V4, počas ktorého sme koordinovali humanitárnu pomoc (a sčasti aj rozvojové aktivity) pre Ukrajinu. Okrem Ukrajiny nám oči pootvorili (pevne v to verím) aj voľby do Európskeho parlamentu. Účasť 13 %, jedna z úplne najnižších v EÚ, len potvrdila to, čomu hovoríme slovenský paradox. Aj to nás čiastočne prebudilo a donútilo (aspoň vo forme vyjadrení plánov a potreby sebareflexie) bilancovať a predefinovať priority. Uvidíme, ako sa s týmito výzvami, ktoré sme v roku 2014 ešte nechali „odležať“, popasuje naša domáca i zahraničná politika v roku 2015. Rok 2014 bol pre zahraničnú politiku bez akéhokoľvek preháňania veľmi ťažký a úvod roka 2015 naznačil (veľmi priamo a bez pretvárky), že nebude o nič jednoduchší. Napokon, odráža sa to aj v nasledujúcich textoch už 16. ročenky. Bohužiaľ, z rozličných dôvodov nie je možné vyskladať publikáciu, ktorá by rok 2014 zhodnotila komplexnejšie, ale snahou bolo poskytnúť priestor témam, ktoré sme spolu s edičnou radou považovali v uplynulom roku za tie najpodstatnejšie (a nie náhodou takmer všetky reflektovali problémy súvisiace so situáciou na Ukrajine). Cieľom bolo, aby autori udalosti nielen opísali, resp. odprezentovali, ale poskytli aj svoju analýzu, videnie či odporúčania. I preto sa do výberu dostali autori s istou mierou odstupu, t. j. z mimovládneho či akademického prostredia, a mali tak prednosť pred úradníckym vnímaním problému. Napokon, pohľad na zahraničnú politiku tu za realizátorov zahraničnej politiky poskytol minister zahraničných vecí a európskych záležitostí. Ten vo svojom texte prezentuje problémy a aspekty slovenskej zahraničnej politiky z pohľadu inštitúcie zodpovednej za výkon zahraničnej a európskej politiky. Expertná časť ročenky je, ako už býva zvykom, rozdelená do štyroch blokov. Prvý bilancuje a hodnotí slovenské pôsobenie a úspechy pri presadzovaní našich záujmov v medzinárodnom prostredí, druhý analyzuje našu politiku v prioritných oblastiach, resp. regiónoch a tretí diskutuje o kvalite a efektivite nástrojov na realizáciu zahraničnej a európskej politiky SR. Ani v tomto roku nechýba časť pripomínajúca si významné výročia súvisiace s dôležitými osobnosťami alebo udalosťami slovenskej zahraničnej politiky. Prvá časť sa začína príspevkom Zuzany Gabrižovej, šéfredaktorky informačného portálu EurActiv.sk, ktorý analyzuje podstatné udalosti v európskej politike Slovenska počas roka 2014, keď sme oslávili 10 rokov nášho členstva v Únii. Martin Vlachynský, analytik Inštitútu ekonomických a spoločenských analýz (INESS), analyzoval situáciu v eurozóne, jej pozitíva, no aj výzvy, resp. riziká, ktoré na EÚ a eurozónu čakajú. Slovenskú energetickú politiku v kontexte globálnych a regionálnych udalostí s minimálne strednodobým dosahom na SR poskytuje analytik RC SFPA Karel Hirman. Ten za najvýraznejšie udalosti považuje sprevádzkovanie reverzného toku plynu, znižovanie dodávok plynu Gazpromom pre SPP, ako aj situáciu okolo Slovenských elektrární. Svoj pohľad na bezpečnostnú a obrannú politiku Slovenska v roku 2014, ktorý uzatvára časť o pôsobení SR v medzinárodnom prostredí, spracoval Róbert Ondrejcsák, riaditeľ Centra pre európske a severoatlantické vzťahy. Podľa neho rok 2014 znamenal renesanciu diskusií o bezpečnostnej politike na Slovensku. Druhú časť ročenky, ktorá sa venuje prioritným oblastiam našej zahraničnej politiky, otvára príspevok Tomáša Strážaya, vedúceho výskumného programu Stredná a juhovýchodná Európa v RC SFPA, ktorý analyzuje stredoeurópsku spoluprácu v roku 2014. Aj v jeho článku je prierezovou témou situácia na Ukrajine. Riaditeľ RC SFPA a vedúci výskumného programu Východná Európa Alexander Duleba sa sústredí hlavne na zmapovanie politiky SR voči Ukrajine a Rusku, vrátane postojov oficiálnych predstaviteľov SR, parlamentných strán a slovenskej verejnosti k hodnoteniu príčin a priebehu rusko-ukrajinskej krízy, ktorá trvá od konca februára 2014. Slovenské aktivity na západnom Balkáne, kde majú naše aktivity i diplomacia dlhodobo vysokú kvalitu, už tradične hodnotil nezávislý novinár Július Lőrincz. Tretia časť hodnotí fungovanie a efektivitu slovenskej rozvojovej spolupráce. Autori textu Nora Beňáková z občianskeho združenia Človek v ohrození a Peter Brezáni z RC SFPA svoju pozornosť upriamili na hodnotenie uskutočňovania cieľov nastavených v strednodobej stratégii ODA na roky 2014 – 2018, snažili sa poskytnúť sumár aktivít slovenskej rozvojovej pomoci a v záujme skvalitnenia a zefektívnenia ODA predložili niekoľko návrhov a odporúčaní. Naďalej pokračujeme v rubrike Z histórie slovenskej zahraničnej politiky. Keďže v roku 2014 oslávila Slovenská republika desať rokov svojho členstva v Európskej únii a NATO, do tejto edície bola zaradená krátka, ale obsažná analýza trendov v postojoch verejnosti k NATO a EÚ, ako aj vnímania členstva Slovenska v oboch zoskupeniach, ktorú spracovala analytička Inštitútu pre verejné otázky Oľga Gyárfášová. Expertnú časť tradične dopĺňajú prílohy – chronológia dôležitých zahraničnopolitických udalostí, zoznam medzinárodných zmlúv, informácie o štruktúre a predstaviteľoch orgánov štátnej správy pôsobiacich v zahraničnej politike, zoznam diplomatických misií a predstaviteľov SR v zahraničí, diplomatického zboru v SR, informácie o vojenských misiách v zahraničí a podobne. Pevne verím, že aj táto ročenka si nájde cestu k čitateľom a poslúži všetkým, ktorí sa zaujímajú o minulosť, prítomnosť i budúcnosť Slovenska a jeho zahraničnej politiky. Na záver by som sa rád poďakoval Ministerstvu zahraničných vecí a európskych záležitostí SR za spoluprácu na tomto projekte a za to, že vďaka ich podpore sme v budovaní tejto veľmi potrebnej tradície mohli aspoň v tomto skromnom formáte pokračovať.

Ročenka zahraničnej politiky Slovenskej republiky 2011

Author(s): / Language(s): Slovak

Rok 2011 bol pomerne bohatý na udalosti, na ktoré slovenská zahraničná politika musela bezodkladne reagovať. Priniesol tiež množstvo tých, ktoré si nevyžadujú okamžité riešenie, rutinných i takých udalostí, ktorých hladký priebeh považujeme už za samozrejmý. Dlhodobou ambíciou ročenky je zanalyzovať všetky tieto úrovne, avšak limity, ktoré máme, nám nedovoľujú zmapovať všetky oblasti a regióny, v ktorých bola naša zahraničná politika viditeľná či aktívna, ale len tie, ktoré považujeme v príslušnom roku za kľúčové. Takouto kľúčovou európskou témou s dosahom nielen na zahraničnú, ale aj domácu politiku v roku 2011 bolo schvaľovanie eurovalu a s tým súvisiaca debata o hľadaní východiska zo stále pretrvávajúcej krízy a koniec koncov aj o budúcnosti Európskej únie. To, že išlo o naozaj významnú tému, potvrdzuje fakt, že na Slovensku sa konsenzus o riešení tejto otázky dosiahol len za cenu predčasných parlamentných volieb. Za jeden z úspechov našej európskej politiky možno označiť podpísanie prístupovej zmluvy, a teda aj splnenie integračných ambícií Chorvátska, ktoré Slovensko dlhodobo a aktívne podporovalo. Treba vyzdvihnúť i skutočnosť, že aj vďaka podpore slovenskej diplomacie, vrátane aktivít slovenských mimovládnych organizácií, sa podarilo urobiť významný pokrok v prístupovom procese Čiernej Hory. V roku 2011 bolo tiež nevyhnutné sledovať vývoj v blízkom južnom susedstve EÚ, kde dozrievala arabská jar, ktorý naznačil, že ďalší spoločenský, politický a bezpečnostný vývoj bude ešte dosť komplikovaný. Slovensko muselo zaujať stanovisko k občianskej vojne v Sýrii, ozbrojenému zásahu NATO v Líbyi či iránskemu jadrové- mu programu. V oblasti regionálnej spolupráce možno vyzdvihnúť zvládnuté slovenské predsedníctvo vo V4 vrátane dôstojnej oslavy 20. výročia vzniku tohto zoskupenia. Slovensko celkom aktívne pristupovalo k regionálnej spolupráci najmä v oblasti energetiky či Východného partnerstva. Aj vďaka SR sa podarilo navýšiť rozpočet Medzinárodného vyšehradského fondu na projekty zamerané na krajiny Východného partnerstva. Počas nášho predsedníctva sa podarilo v Bratislave podpísať tretiu vyšehradskú deklaráciu. Aj v roku 2011 platilo, že naše vzťahy so susedmi boli dobré. Vláda i MZV SR pokračovali v nekonfrontačnom štýle komunikácie s Maďarskom, čo však neznamená, že sa problémy podarilo vyriešiť. Tieto i ďalšie udalosti roka 2011 si našli priestor v 13. ročenke, a to tak v časti o bilancovaní nášho pôsobenia a presadzovania cieľov, resp. záujmov v medzinárodnom prostredí, analýze uskutočňovania prioritných oblastí našej zahraničnej politiky, ako aj pri hodnotení efektivity nástrojov na jej realizáciu. Už po piatykrát je úvodným odborným príspevkom analýza Vladimíra Bilčíka, vedúceho európskeho programu Výskumného centra Slovenskej spoločnosti pre zahraničnú politiku (RC SFPA), ktorý hodnotí podstatné udalosti v slovenskej európskej politike. Pri svojej analýze berie do úvahy tri rôzne kontexty – miesto SR v súčasnej EÚ, perspektívy budúcej integrácie a domácu tvorbu európskej politiky. Analýzu bezpečnostnej a obrannej politiky Slovenska v roku 2011 s čiastočným presahom do roku 2012 spracoval Ivo Samson, vedúci výskumného programu Medzinárodná bezpečnosť v RC SFPA. Vo svojom príspevku analyzoval jednak slovenskú reflexiu vonkajšieho bezpečnostného prostredia, ako aj vývoj na domácej politickej scéne vrátane vývoja v Ozbrojených silách Slovenskej republiky. Druhú časť ročenky, ktorá sa venuje prioritným oblastiam našej zahraničnej politiky, otvára príspevok Juraja Marušiaka z Ústavu politických vied SAV ponúkajúci pohľad na vývoj slovensko-maďarských vzťahov, v ktorých striedanie spolupráce s konfliktnými momentmi pokračovalo aj v roku 2011. Zameriava sa na analýzu našej bilaterálnej relácie, vnútropolitickej dimenzie týchto vzťahov, ako aj vzájomnú spoluprácu. Tomáš Strážay, vedúci výskumného programu Stredná a juhovýchodná Európa v RC SFPA, už tradične analyzuje naše stredoeurópske aktivity. Jeho text sa primárne zameriava na kľúčové témy z oblasti sektorových priorít, dôraz kladie aj na teritoriálne priority, respektíve formát V4 + a aktivity Medzinárodného vyšehradského fondu. Neobchádza však ani aktuálne výzvy, ktoré súvisia so súčasným dianím v rámci EÚ. Riaditeľ RC SFPA a vedúci výskumného programu Východná Európa Alexander Duleba mapuje vzťahy Slovenska s východnými susedmi v roku 2011 jednak v kontexte nášho predsedníctva vo V4, ako aj v rámci bilaterálnych vzťahov, pričom hlavnú pozornosť venuje vzťahom s Ukrajinou. Ponúka i stručnú charakteristiku vzťahov s Ruskou federáciou. Slovenské aktivity na západnom Balkáne, kde majú naše aktivity i diplomacia určitú autoritu, hodnotil nezávislý novinár Július Lőrincz. Tretiu časť, ktorá je venovaná nástrojom zahraničnej politiky, otvára spoločný príspevok Nory Beňákovej z občianskeho združenia Človek v ohrození, Petra Brezániho z RC SFPA a Jána Mihálika z PDCS, ktorí svoju pozornosť upriamili na fungovanie rozvojovej spolupráce. Zhodnotili uskutočňovanie cieľov nastavených v dokumentoch, snažili sa poskytnúť sumár aktivít slovenskej rozvojovej pomoci v roku 2011 a v záujme skvalitnenia a zefektívnenia ODA predložili niekoľko návrhov a odporúčaní. Stať venovanú nástrojom zahraničnej politiky uzatvára príspevok Ondreja Gažoviča z Ústavu európskych štúdií a medzinárodných vzťahov FSEV Univerzity Komenského v Bratislave, ktorý sa zameral na hodnotenie slovenskej verejnej diplomacie. Rozhodli sme sa pokračovať aj v rubrike Z histórie slovenskej zahraničnej politiky vytvorenej v minulom roku, ktorej zaradenie je podmienené pripomenutím si významného výročia súvisiaceho s dôležitými osobnosťami alebo udalosťami slovenskej zahraničnej politiky. Keďže v roku 2011 uplynulo 265 rokov od narodenia a 225 rokov od úmrtia prvého šľachtica s identifikovaným slovenským pôvodom, ktorého v modernej terminológii medzinárodných vzťahov možno označiť za ekonomického diplomata, do tohtoročnej edície sme zaradili stať o Móricovi Beňovskom, ktorú spracoval skúsený diplomat a historik Miroslav Musil. Expertnú časť tradične dopĺňajú prílohy – chronológia dôležitých zahraničnopolitických udalostí, zoznam medzinárodných zmlúv, informácie o štruktúre a predstaviteľoch orgánov štátnej správy pôsobiacich v zahraničnej politike, zoznam diplomatických misií a predstaviteľov SR v zahraničí, diplomatického zboru v SR, informácie o vojenských misiách v zahraničí a pod. Pevne veríme, že aj táto ročenka si nájde cestu k čitateľom a poslúži všetkým tým, ktorí sa zaujímajú o minulosť, prítomnosť i budúcnosť Slovenska a jeho zahraničnej politiky. Na záver by som sa rád poďakoval Ministerstvu zahraničných vecí SR a Nadácii Konrada Adenauera za spoluprácu na tomto projekte a za to, že vďaka ich podpore sme v budovaní tejto veľmi potrebnej tradície mohli pokračovať aj v tomto roku.

Historiography in Motion. Slovak Contributions to the 21st International Congress of Historical Sciences

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

Slovak historians have participated in the activities of International Committee of Historical Sciences/Comité international des sciences historiques (ICHS/CISH) at the very outset of “that global community of historians”, that is, since 1926. Until 1993, Slovak historians were represented in ICHS/CISH by joint Czechoslovak National Committee of Historians; since 1993, by Slovak National Committee of Historians. Size of the Slovak participation was diverse in different periods. During the First Czechoslovak Republic, Slovak professional historiography was only at its starting stage, so it was not visible on the international forum. After 1948, there were good conditions for a professional progress of the Slovak historical science, but it was politics that entered that process. Violent interferences into the spontaneous development of historiography deformed the historical knowledge, but restrained the greater participation of Slovak historians on international activities as well. In the period of 1950-1954, the Czechoslovak National Committee of Historians, as well as other national committees in the Soviet bloc, did not exercise its membership in ICHS/CISH. The contacts between the Slovak historians and global historical community branched out intensively after 1989. A choice of a represent to The World Congresses was not dependant on political institutions, but solely on historians. Till 1989, the representation was determined by totalitarian regime that favoured historians mostly without any scientific background. Starting from Madrid congress in 1990, Slovak historians, who were able to communicate with the global historical forum, successively participated in international activities. However, it was not a rapid but a consecutive process, because Slovak historiography needed some time for reaching the standards of international historical science and its dominant trends. The World Congresses of ICHS/CISH reflect trends, tendencies and thematic shifting in international historiography. It is manifested at the individual associations, commission sessions and round table programmes. Participation of the Slovak historians in The World Congresses was not numerous even after 1989. At present, there exists any substantial difference in the thematic area more, which we have felt yet at the Montreal congress in 1995, but problem of the Slovak participation is of another nature now: Slovak academic institutions are not able to send more historians to congress, because their budgets are sill very short. Meanwhile, there are competent historians either of the elder, but mainly of the younger generation, who could react and contributed to the challenges of the world historiography. We have realised this before the 19th congress at Oslo in 2000. Slovak National Committee of Historians arranged a publication for Oslo Congress: Slovak contributions to the 19th congress of historical sciences, Bratislava 2000 (ed. Dušan Kováč), 243 pp. Slovak historians, in eighteen studies, contributed to the twelve thematic sessions chosen for the congress. The 21st World Congress of ICHS/CISH in Amsterdam is a breakthrough event for the Slovak historiography. There are six contributions by Slovak historians to the programme, one of them is in major theme One, and a Slovak historian is an organiser of one of the sessions. However, Slovak historiography, who the congress programme regards as a challenge and as a demonstration of the running trends in the world historiography as well, has already branched that far that it is able to deal with the chosen themes in much more extent than the active participation at the congress allows. It is a reason why the Slovak National Committee of Historians decided to publish a special volume in which we offer some congress themes to the world community in Amsterdam. Electronic form of the volume is not only economical ant time-saving, but handy as well. We are ready to present this e-publication to the participants of the congress.

Kapitolami najnovších slovenských dejín. K sedemdesiatym narodeninám Michala Barnovského

Author(s): / Language(s): Slovak,English,Czech

During and after World War II, Slovakia underwent massive political, economic, social and state constitutional changes. Being the part of the international events of the “hot” and Cold War, it had been brand marked by the two nondemocratic, totalitarian regimes – fascist and communist. After the Slovak Republic, which was in 1939 – 1945 a satellite state of the Nazi Germany, Slovakia became a part of the reconstructed Czechoslovak Republic with its specific system of “the limited democracy”. The communist coup d’état in February 1948 had brought the country under the rule of another totalitarian regime, spreading from Moscow to all states of the Soviet block. Though, the Czechoslovak society in 1968 tried to reform the communist system, it was unsuccessful in the same way as some other Soviet block countries, which also attempted to disengage the chains of the Soviet imposed regime. This period of the modern Slovak history has been – mainly after 1989 – a subject of numerous studies. Nevertheless, it is still researched only partially, some problems more other less. At the most is missing the synthesis of the contemporary history of Slovakia. The Institute of History of SAS is trying to fill this gape with a project Slovakia in the 20th century granted by the state Agency for Support of Science and Research. The part of this project will be the collective monograph (as the volume V) dealing with the history of Slovakia in 1945 – 1968, and its authors plan for the future also the next, sixth, volume of this synthesis. The book Chapters from the Slovak Contemporary History, which now the reader has in his hands, is also aimed at the presentation of some key or important problems of the Slovak war and postwar history. But it is not the only goal. The publication is also a tribute to the 70. life jubilee of an outstanding Slovak historian Michal Barnovský. His forty-five years of scientific career in the Institute of History have enriched the Slovak historiography in the field of the contemporary Slovak history. In which researched themes and to what extend, the reader may find in the introductory article and in the selected bibliography of Dr. Barnovský. The book begins with chapters showing the multiplicity of the history of the Slovakia and the Slovak question during World War II. The first one (author Jozef Bystrický) describes the role, which the Slovak army played in the plans of the Czechoslovak Ministry of National Defense (MND) in London in 1943 – 1944. Various documents, especially the Directives from 1943, enclosed the views of the London exile, how to engage the army of the Slovak state in the rising against its regime and in military resistance against the Nazi Germany. Though, the Military Headquarters in Slovakia preparing and then in August 1944 realizing the uprising had had to take in account the specific situation on the Slovak territory at the given moment, the MND instructions and directives influenced highly positive the contents, character and the quality of the military-technical arrangements for the rising. The second chapter of this Slovak state points at issue deals with the specific phenomenon of the regime propaganda. In this connection the author Marína Zavacká analyses a Slovak state journal Vĺča (The Young Wolf) for boys of age between 6 and 10, members of Wolf corps of the Hlinka’s Youth organization. It served as a regime-sponsored source of officially approved children’s role-models, including patterns of deeds to be followed. The study summarizes different propagandist vehicles used for making up heroic stories, ranging from social sacrifice to the sacrifice of life. Following four chapters concentrate on several important problems during the period of “the limited democracy”. One of the crucial questions of those times was the position of the Slovakia in the newly reconstructed republic and the search for the model of the future co-existence of the Czechs and Slovaks. Marek Syrný in his text examines this complicated problem from the point of view Democratic Party (DP), which arouse from the Slovak National Uprising as the strongest noncommunist political subject in Slovakia. The idea of its leaders was the Czechoslovakia as de facto federal state. The decline of this DP plans was pronounced in the course of discussions to the three Prague agreements, which had been till February 1948 more and more influenced by the struggle for power between democrats and communists. The next chapter by Slavomír Michálek shows one of the key problems of this period in the sphere of the foreign policy: the aims and the activities of the Czechoslovak delegation at the Paris Peace Conference 1946, which were concentrated on the preparation of the treaty with Hungary. Beside the participation of the two leading figures of the delegation – Jan Masaryk and Vladimír Clementis – the author follows especially Juraj Slávik. Slovak born Slávik, who during his professional life belonged to the influential personalities of the Czechoslovak policy and diplomacy, participated at the finalizing the peace treaty texts regarding Hungary. Although the Slovaks felt the Hungarian problem as the most important for them, there had been another national community in Slovakia which postwar destiny radically changed. The German minority had been evacuated by German authorities, before the Red Army had crossed the Slovak borders (the chapter written by Milan Olejník). After the war had ended many of the Germans returned home, but there they fell under the decrees of President Beneš. Due to them they lost the Czechoslovak citizenship, underwent political, economic and social discrimination and 32-tousand of them were expelled. In 1948 to the rest of them the citizenship was returned, but the minority rights they have been lacking until 1989. The last chapter covering the period 1945 – 1948 belongs to the commentated document in which the French Consul General in Bratislava E. M. Manac’h informs his government about the key political phenomena in Slovakia during the Czechoslovak crisis in February 1948. The commentator of the material – published in Slovak translation and in French original – Pavol Petruf stresses, that E. M. Manac’h stated that the events between 21 and 27 February 1948 had shown the communists, in comparison to their democratic opponents, as better prepared for solving the batte for power. Couple of problems connected with the the communist coup d’état in February 1948 are the subject of another chapters. Miroslav Londák in his text analyses the changes of the economy system in Czechoslovakia and Slovakia, which had taken place in the first, “founding” period of the new regime. They resulted into the socalled socialist economy, based almost entirely upon the state ownership and directed by the centrally composed five years plans. The author also points out the specifics of the development in Slovakia and the determinants of its socialist industrialization. Another sector of economy – the agrarian one, is the topic of the chapter written by Viera Hlavová. The strategy of the communists immediately after the war was to get peasants on their side and therefore they had rejected the cooperatives of the Soviet type. But after the February 1948 the primary task became to re-orient the small agrarian production to the large-scale socialist one, to form state agricultural enterprises and, in the same time, to fight the “capitalist elements” in the country. The village had been transformed according to the Soviet mode, without respecting the specifics of the Czechoslovak and Slovak agriculture. The same regime changes as upon the Slovaks, dropped down upon the members of the Hungarian minority. In addition to it – as Soňa Gabzdilová-Olejníková states – immediately after the coup d’état the exchange of the inhabitants between Czechoslovakia and Hungary continued, the plans were made for the second stage of re-Slovakization and there was no hope for in the Czech lands deported Hungarians to return back to Slovakia. In this respect the situation changed with incorporation of the principles of so-called proletarian internationalism into the mutual relations between the communist parties of Hungary and Czechoslovakia. The communist coup d’état influenced also the Slovak postwar emigration, which had been concentrated at the free and independent Slovakia. As Karel Kaplan in his chapter analyses, this Slovak exile was for a long time devided, but after the February 1948 Karol Sidor – one of the leading figures of the Slovak autonomist émigrés – successfully formed the Slovak National Council Abroad, the umbrella organization of the Slovak political exile. The direct influence of the exile states in his text also Vladimír Varinský, who surveys the formation of The White Legion organizations in Slovakia. Although it was possible, that some of these organizations provoked the State Security, the newest research shows that the main cause of their secret existence and activities was a spontaneous resistance of the people against the practices of a new regime. And the reaction of the communist establishment was persecutions. The most brutal form of them had been the framed political trials and the two of them from the beginning of the 50ties depicts in his chapter Jozef Leikert. Based upon the archival research, but mostly upon oral testimony he analyses them from the point of view of their insider, journalist and writer Ladislav Mňačko. He witnessed these trials as the daily news Pravda journalist and influenced the public in accordance with the regime propaganda. But later on he came round to realize its fabricated character and confessed his part of guilt. In the shadow of the “founding” period of the communist system with its totalitarian practices and persecutions stays the sometimes natural development – though politically and ideologically distorted – of various phenomena in the Slovak society. One of them, the development of the Slovak science from its half-amateur stage to internationally accepted partner, shows in her chapter Elena Londáková. She concentrates on the Slovak Academy of Sciences, but deals also with the complex of the state and party policy towards the science and its various branches. On the outside and from the point of view of communist leaders the “founding” period represented a successful establishing of the communist system. But already in this time there were the signs of the crisis, which is immanent to this type of regime. Jiří Pernes in his text summarizes the various opinions regarding its beginnings. Unlike Karel Kaplan, who talks about the crisis in 1953 – 1957, Pernes inclines to take in account deeper tokens of it, which perhaps started the crisis development already in the early 50ties. With the chapter of Václav Vondrášek the themes of the publication move chronologically to the history of the 60ties. He surveys the activities of the Hlinka’s Peoples Party exile at the turn of 50ties and 60ties and the countermeasures of the communist establishment in Slovakia. The efforts to unify this exile abroad, watched the communist regime in Czechoslovakia with suspicion. As the reaction, the State Security activities towards the potential followers of this exile branch started to intensify. So much more that in connection with the further restriction of power of the Slovak national institutions and worsening of the economic situation the discontent in Slovakia had grown. This special Slovak national discontent created also one of the differences in perception of the “Prague Spring” in the Czech and Slovak societies. As the author of this chapter, Stanislav Sikora states, during the attempt to reform the Soviet type of socialism in 1968, both state building nations in Czechoslovakia had their own conceptions of the democratization process. While in the Czech lands the priority was the general democratization of the political system, Slovaks felt it as the opportunity for the further national emancipation. But the newest studies also show that also the Slovak society was more diversified than this traditional characteristic says. The next chapter of the book treats the staffing transgression of the communist regime into the activities of the Slovak Evangelic Church of the Augsburg Confession in 1948 – 1989. Jan Pešek in his text analyses the communist regime attempts to rule over all spheres of the society, including the churches. In the case of Slovak Evangelic Church of the Augsburg Confession the establishment used the traditional election of all church and laic authorities for its own purposes. With various practices influenced the elections to the benefit of persons, willing to cooperate with the regime. In this way the ability of the Evangelic Church of the Augsburg Confession to resist the pressure of the communist system had been markedly weakened. Also the following chapter treats a specific issue. Jan Rychlík surveys the travel relations between Czechoslovakia and Poland in 1980 – 1989. The point is that in connection with the strikes in Poland and forming the independent trade union Solidarity, the Czechoslovak authorities started to be afraid of the free travel possibilities between two countries. There were two causes for this fear: political and economic. The author very precisely documents the official measures and economic circumstances, which for more than a decade regulated the travel transfer between the Czechoslovakia and Poland. The last chapter of the book by Juraj Marušiak bridges the history and contemporary development. It is an analysis of the perception of the past by the Slovak society and of its influence on the development after the November 1989. The author concentrates on the perception of the two totalitarian regimes – that of the war Slovak state and of the communist period. He comes to conclusion that in the Slovakia the roots of democratic tradition are not strong enough, which should be the result of the political system before 1918. Both totalitarian regimes of the 20th century used these behavior patterns of the population and on the other hand a great part of the people identified themselves with these regimes.

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE STRATEGIES XXI. The Complex and Dynamic Nature of the Security Environment - Volume 1

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

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE STRATEGIES XXI. The Complex and Dynamic Nature of the Security Environment - Volume 1

Dosije: Srpska dobrovoljačka garda

Author(s): Jovana Kolarić / Language(s): Serbian