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12. Searching for a Historic Agreement between Serbs & Albanians on Kosovo: From Ambiguities to Clarity
- Author:
- Dimitris A. Moschopoulos
- Publication Date:
- 02-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
- Abstract:
- The paper takes as starting point the call by President Vucic of Serbia for a dialogue on the future of Kosovo with a view to reaching a historic agreement between Serbs and Albanians that would help his country deal with the Kosovo issue and would make it possible for it to secure a future in the European Union. The author attempts an assessment of various efforts for settling the dispute between Serbia and Kosovo, including the Ahtisaari Plan of 2007 and the Brussels Dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina currently going on, and tries to clarify some ambiguities and misunderstandings still prevailing about basic parameters of the conflict and of the European integration of the two sides. An analysis of the principles set by Mr. Vucic to guide the debate between Serbs and Albanians, namely that (a) Serbia does not covet what doesn’t belong to her and will not relinquish what belongs to her, and (b) the protection of the Serbian religious and cultural heritage in Kosovo is of paramount importance to Serbia, leads to the conclusion that the envisaged agreement should have (a) Serbia recognize that it does not own Kosovo’s statehood, which rightfully belongs to Kosovo, and (b) Kosovo accord an exceptionalism status to the Serbian religious and cultural heritage in its territory. The author further argues that the ideal agreement between the two sides turns out to also be a possible one.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Religion, Treaties and Agreements, and Culture
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Kosovo, and Serbia
13. An Unholy Alliance of Muslim Extremists and Organized Crime in the Balkans Case Studies: Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia Herzegovina
- Author:
- Spiros Bamiatzis
- Publication Date:
- 06-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
- Abstract:
- The 1990s wars in Yugoslavia led to the disintegration of the country and ushered an era of poverty, political corruption, organized crime and terrorism. The Balkans became synonymous with the syndrome of a failed state, where civil society institutions are doomed to fail. The area has presented the international community with some unique challenges associated with unemployment, jihadism, crime and all those maladies under the wings of political leaderships that have given many reasons to the international community to doubt their credibility and their belief to the rule of law. This study will prove that a nexus exists between Islamic and ethno-nationalist terrorism and illegal criminal activities, and it will focus mainly in three countries: Albania, Kosovo, and Bosnia Herzegovina.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Islam, Poverty, Violent Extremism, and Organized Crime
- Political Geography:
- Bosnia, Herzegovina, Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Balkans, and Albania
14. Recognition of New States: Kosovo Case
- Author:
- Bashkim Rrahmani
- Publication Date:
- 11-2018
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
- Institution:
- Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
- Abstract:
- The recognition of Kosovo is an issue in some part of the international community even though its independence has been recognized by 116 states and that the ICJ has given a legal opinion which confirmed that independence was not a violation of international law. This paper analysis the pros and cons and the difficulties created by the non-recognition of Kosovo both for the region and broader, dealing not only with political reasons and difficulties. The paper is written by using combined methodology and methods: systemic analysis, legal analysis, and method of comparative analysis. Conclusions and recommendations are expected to be a contribution towards a further debate about the importance of the recognition of the state of Kosovo.
- Topic:
- State, International Community, and Independence
- Political Geography:
- Eastern Europe and Kosovo
15. The Islamic State (IS): An Exceptional Contested State
- Author:
- Deon Geldenhuys
- Publication Date:
- 12-2017
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
- Institution:
- Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
- Abstract:
- Contested states are entities whose claims to statehood are challenged by the international community, resulting in a lack of de jure recognition. In 2014 the Islamic State (IS) became the latest addition to the current clutch of contested states. Its contemporaries included Abkhazia, South Ossetia, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Kosovo and Somaliland. The IS’s recognition deficit was worse than that of most other contested states, but like the rest it too displayed standard features of statehood. These similarities were, however, overshadowed by the profound differences between the IS state and its counterparts.
- Topic:
- Terrorism, Violent Extremism, Islamic State, and Statehood
- Political Geography:
- Kosovo, Cyprus, and Somaliland
16. Kosovo's EU candidate status: a goal within reach
- Author:
- Zephyr Dessus, Albana Rexha, Albana Merja, and Corina Stratulat
- Publication Date:
- 06-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- European Policy Centre
- Abstract:
- Ever since its declaration of independence in 2008, Kosovo has made European integration one of its key foreign policy objectives. Having made headway over the past years in its efforts to draw nearer to the European Union – most recently by signing a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU – Kosovo is now eager to take the next step in its EU integration process: to apply for EU membership and receive candidate status. However, with five member states still unwilling to recognise its statehood, Kosovo finds itself in a unique and difficult position regarding its eligibility to advance towards the EU and eventually accede to the European Union.
- Topic:
- International Affairs and Political and institutional effectiveness
- Political Geography:
- Kosovo
17. Briefing note focuses on the domestic political situation in Kosovo
- Author:
- Pranvera Tika
- Publication Date:
- 01-2017
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
- Abstract:
- Briefing Note 50/2016 of ELIAMEP South-East Europe Programme focuses on the domestic political situation in Kosovo. It investigates the phenomenon of extreme polarisation between the government and the opposition in Pristina, which hampers the process of state building as well as the adoption of reforms and agreements considered necessary by the international community.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Government, Reform, Domestic politics, and Polarization
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Kosovo
18. ELIAMEP Working Paper discusses the political turmoil in Kosovo
- Author:
- Bledar Feta
- Publication Date:
- 12-2017
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
- Abstract:
- In Working Paper 88/2017 of ELIAMEP’s South East Europe Programme, Research Associate Bledar Feta deals with the political situation in Kosovo. More specifically, the paper attempts to provide the main aspects of the political and institutional crisis that hit Kosovo after Parliamentary elections of June 8th, 2014. The aim of the paper, besides giving an overview of the most important developments since then, is to provide an analysis on the attempts of Kosovar political class to establish a stable government putting under the microscope their political behaviour. In addition, the paper deals with the last parliamentary elections, as well as the new government’s priorities, the challenges ahead and the key policy issues which remain a major talking point in the political and public debate, polarizing opposition, the coalition government and the public opinion in general.
- Topic:
- Government, Politics, and Elections
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Kosovo
19. Private Security in Practice: Case Studies from Southeast Europe
- Author:
- Franziska Klopfer, Nelleke van Amstel, Ola Çami Arjan Dyrmishi, Rositsa Dzhekova, Donika Emini, Anton Kojouharev, Marko Milošević, Žarko Petrović, and Mentor Vrajolli
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Case Study
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- Why and how should private security be regulated? A group of researchers from Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Serbia and Switzerland has been examining these questions as part of a multi-year project called the Private Security Research Collaboration Southeast Europe (“PSRC”) 1 . The interest of the state in interfering with the activities of private security companies is twofold: first, to ensure that basic pillars of the modern democratic state such as the protection of human rights and the democratic order are not threatened. Second, because the stability of the state and the happiness and prosperity of its citizens also depend on factors such as functioning security and economy. In order to better target its regulation of private security, it would therefore be important for the state to know how private security companies (PSCs) impact on a country’s human rights situation, the democratic order, a functioning security and (to a lesser extent) economy. For Private Security in Practice: Case studies from Southeast Europe the PSRC researchers assembled eight case studies that explore the impact that private security has on security, human rights and the democratic order in four Southeast European countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo and Serbia. Since regulation should not only limit the negative impact but also foster the positive contribution that private security can make, the authors specifically looked at how challenges posed by PSCs could be avoided and how opportunities can be seized.
- Topic:
- Security, Governance, Law Enforcement, and Weapons
- Political Geography:
- Geneva, Europe, Kosovo, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Albania
20. The Misunderstood Lessons of Bosnia for Syria
- Author:
- Andrew Radin
- Publication Date:
- 03-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Washington Quarterly
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Abstract:
- In developing U.S. intervention policy in Kosovo, Iraq, Libya, and most recently Syria, the 1992 to 1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina has repeatedly been used as an analogy. For example, John Shattuck, a member of the negotiating team at the Dayton peace talks that ended the war, wrote in September 2013 that for Syria “the best analogy is Bosnia…Dayton was a major achievement of diplomacy backed by force…A negotiated solution to the Syria crisis is possible, but only if diplomacy is backed by force.” Many other analysts and policymakers with experience in the Bosnian conflict—such as Nicholas Burns, the State Department spokesman at the time; Christopher Hill, a member of Richard Holbrooke's negotiating team; and Samantha Power, who began her career as a journalist in Bosnia—also invoked the Bosnian war to urge greater U.S. involvement in Syria. Although the rise of ISIS has significantly altered the conflict over the last year, echoes of the Bosnian conflict remain in Syria: the conflict is a multiparty ethnic civil war, fueled by outside powers, in a region of critical interest to the United States.
- Topic:
- War
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iraq, Libya, Kosovo, and Syria