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In the beginning of the 70’s and at the peak of his career, and having total control over society and its partial ’sympathy’, Nicolae Ceausescu began implementing his projects regarding the transformation of society, projects devised in the sixties. In 1971 the ’July Theses’ brought an increase in ideological strictness, while the following years have brought the changes: start of the territorial reorganization, increase of control over society, forced industrialization, and then economic restrictions. During the second half of the seventies, the general features of the Romanian political system are in place, and remain defining for political life until the change of regime in ’89. The Party leadership’s vision of the future has been defined by separatist foreign and economic policies, intensified industrialization and urbanization, refusal of political and economic structural reforms, construction of the homogenous society and nation, and last but not least total control over power concentrated around the General Secretary and his close entourage. The participation of society in political life became minimal, and the intertwining of state agencies with the Party evoked the Stalinist era of the fifties. The concentration of power, the fusion of state agencies with the Party were carried out on local levels as well. More and more key positions have been entrusted to the General Secretary’s relatives and family members, thus preventing the embodiment of an executive that could have opposed his decisions. The above mentioned economic and political changes have produced a visible transformation in the Party’s policy towards the ethnic Hungarian population. The relaxation of centre–periphery (Soviet Union – Eastern Bloc states) political relations within the Communist Bloc was used by Party leadership to redefine the country’s identity. The path of constructing the homogenous society and nation was openly adopted. By this time the Jewish population has already left Romania, while based on the agreements with the GFR, the German population was fleeing by the tens of thousands. According to the new interpretation, the ethnic minorities from Romania did not have the right to create national communities based on their own linguistic and cultural traditions, thus they did not become part of the Romanian socialist nation as a collective entity. Appeared new discriminatory laws: law on education, accommodation act, suppression of mother tongue usage in education and administration, removal of bilingual inscriptions, a visible emptying of content of the cultural products. Another clear sign of the radical changes in the policy towards nationalities was the gradual transformation of the activities of ethnic workers’ councils. At the beginning MNDT (Council of Ethnic Hungarian Workers’) or the other ethnic councils (German, Serb) also had a role of mediation between Party leadership and cultural elite. The new national political context has manifested by changing these council’s cadres, both on a central and local, county, level. Intellectuals that had defining roles in previous times and who in policies towards the nationalities have vehemently expressed their opinions, have now been overshadowed or changed. During these times, the state policy towards the ethnic Hungarians, the situation of the Hungarian population from Romania became the core of Hungarian–Romanian bilateral relations. Party leadership from Hungary, previously on a defensive position as far as its foreign policy was concerned, now due to the pressures from popular-traditional intellectuals and from the general public opinion, began to take this issue seriously, in a first phase on the level of the bilateral relations. In the beginning of the eighties the state was confronted with serious international economic and political challenges, to which the state should have responded in a flexible manner oriented towards reforms. The RCP’s leadership, purified from opposition, having total political and social control, has firmly rejected all initiatives of reform. This system with more and more prominent neo-Stalinist features, was helplessly drifting towards economic, political isolation, which it tried to counteract by nationalist, mass mobilisation and political-administrative measures. Due to the tensions it accumulated in its structures, during the eighties the Romanian economy was struck by a major crisis. The ethnic Hungarian activists and intellectuals that during the sixties still played major roles, have now gradually been removed from key positions of the state and Party apparatus, moreover they were classified as dangerous elements for national security. The MNDT has transformed into a propagandistic „speaking-tube” of the Party and was used by Party leadership for repelling criticism that targeted the policy towards the ethnic Hungarian population. The ethnic Hungarian’s political and cultural elite has reacted in different ways to the fact that Party leadership has egotistically closed down all channels of integration and have openly opted for an assimilation policy. Some members of the ’68 generation, an older generation that once was integrated into the political system and into the supporting cultural institutions, have openly condemned the Party leadership’s policy towards the ethnic Hungarian population. Others, however, have isolated themselves or have been removed from their positions, have left the country, refusing any further collaboration with the regime. There have also been individuals who for some reason,mostly personal, have kept their seats (especially in local administration, very few in central leading circles). The young generation, partially integrated into the cultural institutional network but not at all in the political structures, has realised that the system is impossible to reform. Lacking a national institutional network, during the second half of the seventies the activity of these individuals, groups was characterised by attempts of creating some sort of a framework of self-organisation. They have organised meetings at faculties, editorial offices, theatres, educational institutions, at first legally and then due to the harassment of the secret police, covertly. They have turned against the regime, criticising it. In 1989, when Communist Parties were falling all over Eastern Europe, in Romania the 14th Congress of the RCP was held. Similar to other regions from the country, Transylvania was confronted by an economic crisis, having serious problems with food and energy supplies, moreover towards the end of the year a total ideological stringency has been applied. The problems that had engulfed the whole country have only been aggravated by the changes that have occurred in matters of policy towards the ethnic minorities: institutions of the minorities have been stripped of all content and were intentionally weakened, significant repression of local ethnic Hungarian cadres, the effect of homogenisation, tangible pursuits of assimilation within educational institutions, nationalist stigmatisation of the ethnic communities etc. The minority society has been deprived of traditional representative institutions, and has only been kept together by informal networks, the Churches and groups of intellectuals who have spontaneously organised themselves on a local level. The ethnic Hungarians from Transylvania could only hope that the wind of change from Eastern Europe will sweep through Romania as well.
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A pre-war communist is taken to a Stalinist prison as a victim of paranoid search for enemy within the party. Her moving story is a picture of an individual facing the criminal system and an accusation of totalitarianism.
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The present volume presents a collection of pieces of evidence, which—taken together—lead to an argument that goes against the grain of the established Cold War narrative. The argument is that a “long détente” existed between East and West from the 1950s to the 1980s, that it existed and lasted for good (economic, national security, societal) reasons, and that it had a profound impact on the eventual outcome of the conflict between East and West and the quintessentially peaceful framework in which this “endgame” was played.By offering new, Euro-centered narratives that include both West and East European perspectives, the combined contributions of this volume point to critical inconsistencies and inherent problems in the traditional U.S.-dominated narrative of the “Victory in the Cold War.” Yet, rather than aiming at replacing this understanding entirely, the argument of a “long détente” demonstrates that this superpower narrative can, and needs to be, augmented with the plentitude of European experiences and perceptions. After all, it was Europe—its peoples, societies, and states—that stood both at the ideological and military frontline of the conflict between East and West, and it was here that the struggle between liberalism and communism was eventually decided.
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Instead of an Abstract/Summary here, please refer to the Introduction PDF-file
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Dyskusja na temat znaczenia czasu pracy rozpoczęła się wraz z burzliwym rozwojem kapitalizmu w połowie XIX wieku. O wadze problemu świadczy fakt, iż głos w dyskusji zabierali z jednej strony antysystemowo zorientowani ekonomiści i socjaliści, a z drugiej – ówcześni papieże. Przyspieszony postęp techniczny, z jakim mamy do czynienia od kilku dziesięcioleci, wywołał ożywioną dyskusję na temat roli czynnika pracy w procesie wzrostu gospodarczego. Coraz większe znaczenie pracooszczędnych technologii przy jednoczesnym upowszechnieniu technik informatycznych, a także wzrost ceny siły roboczej pociągają za sobą pewien spadek zapotrzebowania na pracę. Istotne zdają się też być strukturalne przemiany w gospodarce polegające na przemieszczaniu się siły roboczej między sektorami. Proces ten, obserwowany od wielu dziesięcioleci, uległ w ostatnim czasie wyraźnemu przyspieszeniu
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Od 2011 r. trwa proces, który można nazwać tworzeniem „nowej" polityki polonijnej. W odróżnieniu od wcześniejszych koncepcji tym razem ta polityka nie została opisana w dokumentach o charakterze strategicznym, ale raczej przyjęła kształt krótkoterminowych planów i konkretnych działań. Celem opracowania jest zaprezentowanie wyników diagnozy dotyczącej opinii i postaw Polonii i Polaków mieszkających za granicą wobec polityki polonijnej. W publikacji zawarte są wyniki badań realizowanych w ramach projektu „Polityka polonijna w praktyce" finansowanego przez Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych w ramach Planu współpracy z Polonią i Polakami za granicą w 2013 r. Projekt ten miał dwa podstawowe cele: poszerzenie wiedzy Polaków mieszkających za granicą i zainteresowanych wsparciem w promocji Polski i polskości oraz dostarczenie decydentom z zakresu planowania i realizowania polityki polonijnej wiedzy na temat postaw Polaków mieszkających za granicą wobec założeń nowej polityki polonijnej.
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Das Buch drückt den Standpunkt der Autoren in den von ihnen diskutierten Aspekten der Funktionsweise der polnischen territorialen Selbstverwaltung aus. Die Monografie umfasst folgende Fragestellungen, die zugleich ihre Kapitel darstellen: Das Wesen der territorialen Selbstverwaltung; Tätigkeitsbereich der territorialen Selbstverwaltung; Die Behörden der territorialen Selbstverwaltung; Die Akte des Ortsrechts der territorialen Selbstverwaltung; Das Vermögen der territorialen Selbstverwaltung; Die Finanzverwaltung der territorialen Selbstverwaltung; Verbände, Vereinigungen, Vereine und Vereinbarungen der territorialen Selbstverwaltung; Aufsicht über die Tätigkeit der Organe der territorialen Selbstverwaltung. Nach 40 Jahren Unterbrechung wurde auf der Grundlage der Kommunalreform von 1990 die Institution der territorialen Selbstverwaltung in Polen wiederhergestellt. Als nächstes wurde infolge der sog. „zweiten“ Reform von 1998 die Selbstverwaltung auf der Ebene des Kreises und der Woiwodscha gebildet. Dank dieser beiden grundsätzlichen Etappen der Selbstverwaltungsreform ist es gelungen, ein auf dem Prinzip der Subsidiarität gestütztes System der öffentlichen Gewalt aufzubauen, das europäische Standards erfüllt. Vor diesem Hintergrund stellt sich die Frage, ob nach 25-jährigem Bestehen der wiederhergestellten territorialen Selbstverwaltung nicht die Zeit angebrochen ist, Veränderungen einzuleiten? Die Autoren sind der Überzeugung, dass man die gestellte Frage bejahen sollte, unter der Voraussetzung jedoch, dass der polnische Gesetzgeber den Weg der „Evolution“ und nicht der „Revolution“ wählt.
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20 short texts of friends of Seška Stanojlović (see the Table of Content) published on the occasion of her 70th birthday.
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When political turmoil began in former Yugoslavia, European Community (EC) was not prepared for the conflict on the European soil. NATO sought from its members in November 1991 to act diplomatically in the Yugoslav conflict, while the U.S. which initially publicly supported Yugoslavia’s unity, later said that borders could be changed only peacefully. At the beginning of the summer 1991 the EC managed to arrange calming of tensions and withdrawal of JNA troops to the barracks, while Slovenia and Croatia agreed to delay implementation of their independence for three months. Brijuni Agreement was signed and the European Community Monitoring Mission (ECMM) was established which was supposed to oversee implementation of the agreement. At the same time Peace Conference on Yugoslavia was organized and the European arbitration commission was established, the so called ‘Badinter Commission’ which dealt with the legal dimension of the collapse of Yugoslavia. But the European Community’s efforts bore no results, the intensity of war increased, the UN took on the role of the mediator and in September it declared the arms embargo for all the warring parties. At the beginning of January 1992 cessation of hostilities was achieved with the UN mediation and in February 1992 UN Security Council brought a 743 Resolution about sending 14,000 troops to the so called UNPA zones in Croatia. Although Badinter’s Commission in December 1991 still had not sent its opinion and although the UN Secretary General claimed that “premature selective recognition of Croatia’s independence could lead to catastrophic consequences”, German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hans-Dietrich-Genscher informed the EC ministers that Germany intended to recognize independence of Croatia and Slovenia which on 15 January led to Croatia’s recognition by the EC as a whole. In the beginning of April 1992, war in Bosnia-Herzegovina started and the international community did not manage to protect safe havens in that country.
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The level of social capital is one of the important factors conditioning sustainable and multi-function development of European and Polish rural areas. The LEADER approach plays an important role in developing this capital. All “editions” of this programme in Poland have contributed to creating and developing territorial partnerships described as Local Action Groups (LAGs). Despite the fact that these structures are still fairly new, they are expected to exert considerable impact on the development of Polish rural areas.
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This paper offers a picture of the obligations existing under international and European law inrespect of the loss of nationality. It describes international instruments including obligations inthis field with direct relevancy for the loss of nationality of Member States of the European Union, but also obligations regarding loss of nationality in regional non-European treaties. Attention is given to two important judicial decisions of the European Court of Justice (Janko Rottmann) and the European Court of Human Rights (Genovese v Malta) regarding nationality. Special attention is devoted to Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which forbids the arbitrary deprivation of nationality. A survey is provided of possible sub-principles that can be derived from this rule. Finally, some observation are made on the burden of proof incases of loss of nationality.
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This paper focuses on situations in which a person is said never to have had the nationality of a country, even though (s)he assumed (and in many cases the authorities of the country concerned shared that assumption) that (s)he possessed that nationality. Contrary to situations of loss of nationality, where something is taken away that had existed, quasi-loss involves situations inwhich nationality was never acquired. This contribution seeks to examine whether a person should under certain circumstances be protected against quasi-loss of nationality. In order to doso, the paper first maps out situations of quasi-loss in EU Member States, describing typical cases in which a person never acquired the nationality of the country, although (s)he was at some time considered as a national. Drawing on this taxonomy, the paper attempts to uncover whether national, European and international laws offer some protection, and if yes, to which extent, for situations of quasi-loss. It concludes with outlining best practices which Member States should comply with in handling such situations.
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The dividing line between law and politics is often difficult to determine. While overtly political actors tend to highlight their capacity to make and change laws and thus control the underlying subject matter of the jurists and so tame legal institutions, legal actors tend to down play the role of politics in their activities. Indeed, in the legal world even the word ‘politics’ is to be avoided as suggesting that its cherished impartiality and independence is sullied by political considerations. In this contribution I will examine a clash between law and politics that is taking place rather publically regarding the EU’s legal reaction to the UN counter-terrorism measure on the freezing of funds.
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Both the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are major political and economic actors, and the development of strategic partnerships in selected areas between the regions is among the priorities on their respective agendas. The existence of complex visa policies and practices between the two regions, however, constitutes a fundamental barrier preventing the promotion of exchanges between these regions when encouraging people-to-people contacts, developing commercial relations or exchanging knowledge. This paper aims at evaluating the possibilities for the visa rules of both regions being modified in order to reflect the privileged partnership that the EU and the GCC are willing to further develop. It concludes by putting forward policy recommendations and three scenarios on the possible ways to overcome current issues and implement new strategies for visa policy in the context of public diplomacy and outreach in EU–GCC relations.
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In April 2011, France reintroduced internal border checks with Italy to prevent mobility by North African immigrants who hold temporary residence permits issued by Italy and who had entered the EU from Tunisia as a result of revolutions and war in the southern Mediterranean region. This has caused a diplomatic row between the two countries, as well as reactions by other EU member states and at the EU levels. This paper examines the compatibility of the Italian and French measures with EU border legislation and legal principles as well as the foundations of the Schengen regime. It argues that the Franco-Italian affair illustrates a ‘race tothe bottom’ on European principles of solidarity, loyal cooperation and fundamental rights. The affair ultimately reveals the very limits and unfinished elements of the EU’s immigration and border policies. Finally, the paper puts forward policy recommendations to the parties involved.
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This paper examines the impact of labour migration on unemployment in the context of the EU’s accession of Bulgaria and Romania and EU rules on the free movement of workers. It addresses in particular the following two questions. First, does intra-EU labour migration correlate with employment/unemploymentrates in host or home member states during periods of unsettled growth? Second, how have member states reacted in terms of restricting or allowing access to their labour markets by EU-2 workers during thetransitional periods?
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This study is concerned with an analysis of the democratisation processes in two Central European states: the Czech Republic and Hungary in the years 1990–2016. It consists of two parts, with the first one presenting a theoretical analysis of the phenomenon of democracy, the process of democratisation, and the determinants of this process, and the second one focusing on the empirical analysis of the democratisation processes in the Czech Republic and Hungary. Today democracy means that almost all adult citizens participate in the exercising of power. In substantive terms, democracy relies on freedom, equality, and majority rule. At the same time, it is also a regime that rests on specific principles and procedures (the procedural perspective). The process of consolidating democratic values and procedures goes through various stages. First, the erosion of a non-democratic regime involves the transfer of power from former elites to new political actors. Next, during the transition stage, the democratic institutional design is introduced into the political system. Finally, during the consolidation stage, the democratic principles of political life become well-established and democratic values accepted and internalized by the society. The most important determinants of the stage of erosion include: the heritage of the past and the influence of the surroundings. The transition is determined by: the structure of the state, national identity, political elites’ work on the constitution, the relationship between the organs of government, the party system, the electoral system, lustration, decentralisation of power to a system of local authorities, and external factors. The consolidation stage depends on institutional factors on the one hand. such as the final design of the constitution, a stable model of relations between the organs of government, the development of a pluralistic party system, and solidification of the electoral system, and on behavioural factors on the other, such as acceptance and internalisation of democratic values by the society. The process of democratization can be analysed and evaluated with the use of quantitative and qualitative indicators. This study employs indices used by Freedom House, The Economist Intelligence Unit, and The Bertelsmann Foundation.The erosion of the non-democratic regime in Czechoslovakia and Hungary was marked by the transfer of power from political elites to democratic actors. In Hungary, this process was accomplished by negotiations, leading to an agreement signed in the autumn of 1989; in Czechoslovakia, it resulted from the inefficient political elites surrendering the control of the country. The fall of the regime was non-violent. In the initial phase of democratisation, the Czechs could draw on richer experience and more substantial democratic achievements than the Hungarians.During the transition stage, various contributing factors not always influenced the Czech and Hungarian processes of democratisation in the same way. Differences can be seen in the case of such determinants as the structure of the state, national identity, or particular elements of the institutional design. While the Czechs formed their own state in 1992, after 1990 the Hungarians had to redefine their stance towards a several-million Hungarian diaspora in neighbouring countries. The Constitution of the Czech Republic was adopted in 1992, while the Hungarian communist Constitution of 1949 was amended in 1989 and 1990. Both states adopted the parliamentary cabinet system of government, but Hungary opted for the chancellor model. Multi-party systems emerged, but the electoral systems for parliaments were different – with proportional representation in the Czech Republic and mixed in Hungary. The process of lustration was more radical and effective in the Czech Republic. The impact of exogenous determinants was similar in both states because the situation was conducive to the promotion of democracy.The consolidation stage brought changes in the institutional design in both countries. In Hungary, a major restructuring took place after 2010, including the approval of the new Constitution in 2011. Its laws reflect the axiological stance of the legislator, based on conservative and national values rather than on liberal principles that were highlighted before. The party systems have remained pluralistic in both states, but the Czech one is more decentralised. This results in multi-party government coalitions and negatively influences the cabinet stability. In Hungary, the complicated electoral system has been simplified but the mixed formula has been retained. The democracy indices applied in the analysis – The Freedom House index, The Economist Intelligence Unit’s index, and The Bertelsmann Foundation’s index – unanimously indicate that the Czech Republic is more advanced than Hungary in its progress towards consolidated democracy.
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The year 2020 was one of tectonic geopolitical shifts. Strategic competition between Russia and the West intensified, while the COVID-19 pandemic had major strategic implications globally and affected the state of international affairs. In 2020 Russia conducted Kavkaz 2020, a major exercise from its annual cycle, which aimed to convey the Kremlin’s ability to adapt to changing conditions of warfare and to project and integrate military power. In a period of international turmoil and economic recession linked to the effects of the pandemic, Kavkaz 2020 was a cornerstone of Russia’s campaign to leverage its annual training programme, display military power and upgraded military capabilities to its allies, partners and neighbours, as well as to demonstrate operational readiness to its potential adversaries. Messages communicated before and during Kavkaz 2020 demonstrated how Russia could use its military element of state power to achieve the geopolitical or political objectives Kremlin desires in the European information space.
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