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171. The Push-Pull Balance in the EU's Democratic Conditionality and its Deterioration

Author:
Ali Resul Usul
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
It is possible to argue that there exists a push-pull balance in the EU's democratic conditionality that the EU has been applying since the South European states applied for membership and/or association agreement. This article arguee that this push-pull balance in conditionality has created the Dynamics that could transform candidate states; and the best example that demonstrates the succesful impact of the EU conditionality is the relation between the EU's Eastern enlargement, the EU's democratic conditionality and the successful transformation of political regimes in the Central and Eastern Europe. However, this study puts forward that the push-pull balance of conditionality has started to deteriorate because in particular of the enlargement fatigue in the EU. This change might diminish the impact of the EU's political conditionality in the ongoing enlargement process (Turkey, Croatia and othet Western Balkan states).
Topic:
Democratization
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Eastern Europe, Balkans, and Croatia

172. Kosovo's First Month

Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
A month has passed since Kosovo declared independence on 17 February 2008. Much has gone well, but there is a real risk, as made most evident with the violence on 17 March around the courthouse in north Mitrovica, that partition will harden at the Ibar River in the north, and Kosovo will become another frozen conflict. To seek to prevent this, more countries must recognise and embrace the new state, the international missions (European Union and NATO) must be more proactive and coordinate their operations and, most importantly, it must be demonstrated to Serbia, supported by Russia, that it will not be permitted to break up the new state.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Kosovo, Balkans, and Mitrovica

173. The Yugoslav Tragedy

Author:
L. Kerestejiyants
Publication Date:
06-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
East View Information Services
Abstract:
History of the Balkan Slavs can be described as never ending disunity and disagreements frequently developing into mutual repulsion and even enmity. Throughout the last six centuries the states of the Southern Slavs have not merely failed to consolidate - they distanced from one other. Slovenia was developing first under a strong German influence and, from the 13th century on, under the Austrian Habsburgs. Venice dominated over the Adriatic coast, mainly over what is now Croatia. In the 12th century, Hungary established its influence in the continental part of Croatia and later in Bosnia. By the mid-15th century, the Turks had captured Serbia, by the end of the century they established themselves in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Political Geography:
Bosnia, Herzegovina, Yugoslavia, Germany, Serbia, Balkans, Austria, and Slovenia

174. Kosovo: It IS a Real Geopolitical Precedent

Author:
David Young
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
European Affairs
Institution:
The European Institute
Abstract:
Supporters of independence for Kosovo because of its painful recent history ignore the fact that Western indifference permitted a cycle of terrorism and repression. That is the real lesson.
Topic:
NATO, Democratization, Sovereignty, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Kosovo, and Balkans

175. Albania matkalla Natoon ja Euroopan unioniin - Vapauden ja velvollisuuksien vaikea yhtälö

Author:
Tanja Tamminen
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
Naton huippukokouksessa Bukarestissa 2.-4. huhtikuuta 2008 Albania kutsuttiin aloi t tamaan jäsenyys-neuvottelut sotilasliiton kanssa. Monessa suhteessa Länsi-Balkanin kehityksessä hännillä ollut Albania siirtyykin nyt kärkikaartiin. Albanian Nato-jäsenyys on selkeä viesti esimerkiksi parlamenttivaaleihin valmistuvalle Serbialle: Belgradista käsin takapajuisena nähty Albania on nyt siirtynyt selkeästi naapurimaidensa edelle euro-atlanttisessa integraatiossa. Tämän toivotaan herättävän serbialaisäänestäjät valitsemaan EU-tien tulevissa vaaleissa. Naapureiden positiivisella esimerkillä onkin Balkanilla usein tehokkaampi uudistusvoima kuin Brysselin tai Washingtonin julkilausumilla. Albanian rooli on 1990-luvulta ollut rakentava alueellisissa kysymyksissä. Se ei ole vaarantanut mah-dollisuuksiaan Nato-tai EU-jäsenyyteen liian kansallismielisellä Kosovo-politiikalla – se on päinvastoin antanut kaiken tukensa länsiliittoutuman politiikalle Balkanilla. EU on jälleen vahvistanut Länsi-Balkanin jäsenyysnäkymiä poliittisella retoriikalla niin komission tuoreessa Länsi-Balkanin tiedonannossa kuin ulkoministerien EU-Länsi-Balkan ministerikokouk-sen julkilausumassa. Tästä huolimatta Albanian EU-jäsenyyteen on vielä pitkä matka. Maan on ensin toimeenpantava EU:n kanssa solmimansa vakaus-ja assosiaatiosopimus. EU-lähentymisen hitautta kompensoidakseen unioni väläyttelee alueelle viisumivapauden mahdollisuutta. Albania on yhä heikko valtio: se kärsii raastavista sisäpoliittista ristiriidoista ja poliittisen johdon epäkyp-syydestä. EU-jäsenyys on liian kaukainen tavoite velvoittaakseen maan johdon todellisiin uudistuksiin. Monet poliitikot ajattelevat vain lyhyen tähtäimen etuja – vaalimenestystä tai taloudellista voittoa. Kommunistidiktatuurin taakka näkyy yhä yhteiskunnan kehityksessä mutta myös käytännössä muun muassa raskaan teollisuuden saastuttamina alueina tai vaarallisina vanhenevina asevarastoina.
Political Geography:
Europe, Balkans, and Albania

176. President Danilo Türk of Slovenia

Author:
Danilo Türk
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Columbia University World Leaders Forum
Abstract:
A keynote address by President Danilo Türk of Slovenia followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
Topic:
International Relations, Regional Cooperation, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Balkans and Slovenia

177. SLOVAKIA AND HUNGARY: WHAT CAN BE DONE FOR THE WESTERN BALKANS?

Author:
Imre Szilágyi
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Issues: Slovak Foreign Policy Affairs
Institution:
Slovak Foreign Policy Association
Abstract:
The author argues that during the period of the second Gyurcsánygovernment Hungary continued its previous policies vis-à-vis the Western Balkans and managed to preserve good relations with all of the countries of the region. He reflects on the government's policies with respect to the entire Western Balkans – more precisely the countries of the former Yugoslavia, except Slovenia – as well as its guiding principles and activities supporting the Euro-Atlantic integration of the region; policies vis-à-vis the individual countries; efforts to improve the situation of the minorities and the enhancement of the Hungarian economic role in the region. He concludes that due to the fact that the greatest aspiration of Western Balkan countries is to join the Euro-Atlantic integration processes and because Hungary – as an EU and NATO member state – is an important partner country in regional relations will ostensibly become more dynamic in the years to come.
Topic:
NATO
Political Geography:
Yugoslavia, Balkans, Hungary, and Slovenia

178. Fake, Partial and Imposed Compliance: The Limits of the EU's Normative Power in the Western Balkans

Author:
Gergana Noutcheva
Publication Date:
07-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
This paper examines the EU's external power through the prism of perceptions by non-EU countries of the aims of EU foreign policies, as shown in the Western Balkans. The paper argues that the EU's policy in the Western Balkans lacks a strong normative justification, which affects the degree of compliance with the EU's demands in areas related to state sovereignty. The perceived lack of legitimacy opens up political space for domestic actors to contest the positions taken by the EU on normative grounds. The Western Balkan countries have responded by giving preference to internal sources of legitimacy and asserting domestic reasons for fake compliance, partial compliance or non-compliance with the EU's conditions, with the latter provoking imposed compliance. The EU's transformative leverage in the region has been much weaker to date in comparison with that in Central and Eastern Europe prior to EU accession.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe and Balkans

179. Security Sector Reform in South East Europe – from a Necessary Remedy to a Global Concept 13thWorkshop of the Study Group „Regional Stability in South East Europe” in cooperation with the Working Group „Security Sector Reform”

Author:
Anja H. Ebnöther, David Law, Ernst M. Felberbauer, Amadeo Watkins, Matthew Rhodes, Krunoslav Antoliš, Branka Bakic, Jozsef Boda, Dejan Bojic, Reto Brunhart, Alex G. W. Dowling, Svetlana Djurdjevic-Lukic, Saša Janković, Kalman Kocsis, Rudolf Logothetti, Chris Morffew, Ferdinand Odzakov, Neven Pelicarić, Pasi Pöysäri, Jürgen Reimann, Anthony Cleland Welch, and Zoran Šajinović
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Austrian National Defence Academy
Abstract:
This publication is based on the results of a seminar that took place in October 2006 in Cavtat, Croatia. The partners to this project, the PfP Consortium Security Sector Reform Working Group (under the chairmanship of the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces – DCAF) and the PfP Consortium Study Group on Regional Stability in South East Europe (under the chairmanship of the Austrian Ministry of Defence), together with the Croat Institute for International Relations – IMO – Zagreb, together with the Western Balkan policy community, reviewed the democratic standards for security sector reform and governance and the development of the preaccession SSR conditionality in the light of the evolving Security Sector Reform concepts of NATO, the EU and other International Organisations.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Democratization, Intelligence, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Europe and Balkans

180. Approaching or Avoiding Cooperative Security? The Western Balkans in the Aftermath of the Kosovo Settlement Proposal and the Riga Summit 14thWorkshop of the Study Group „Regional Stability in South East Europe”

Author:
Dennis J.D. Sandole, Predrag Jureković, Ernst M. Felberbauer, Franz-Lothar Altmann, Jolyon Naegele, Amadeo Watkins, Sandro Knezović, Plamen Pantev, Dušan Janjić, Matthew Rhodes, Sonja Biserko, Nina Dobrković, John F. Erath, Dragana Klincov, Lulzim Peci, Denisa Saraljić-Maglić, Heinz Vetschera, and Frederic Labarre
Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Austrian National Defence Academy
Abstract:
In this article, I examine the prospects and challenges for co-operative security in the Balkans in the wake of recommendations for Kosovo's final status offered recently to the UN Security Council by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari. On the assumption that Ahtisaari's proposals represent a zero-sum gain for the Kosovar Albanians and corresponding loss for the Serbs, I recommend a reframing of his plan that may be more likely to lead to sustainable peace, security, and stability in the Balkans, with implications for similar conflicts elsewhere.
Topic:
NATO, Democratization, Development, Regional Cooperation, and International Security
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, United Nations, and Balkans