Foreign Policy and National Security in the Context of Bulgaria`s Accession to the European Union
The text includes the conference proceedings of the event held on 29 June 1995.
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The text includes the conference proceedings of the event held on 29 June 1995.
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The transformation of the former state-controlled Radio-television Zagreb into a broadcaster serving the public interest in Croatia, and its subsequent reform to comply with the European standards and principles is the main focus of this paper. Croatian-Radio Television (Hrvatska radiotelevizija, or HRT) - as the reformed broadcaster was named after the first multi-party elections in 1990 - underwent several developing stages. The analysis provided within the study reflects on the process of its evolution against the backdrop of specific political, social and economic factors, also taking into account challenges of a substantial and technological nature. In recent years, as Croatia moved towards full membership of the EU, the status and operation of the PSB, as well as its broadcasting regulatory mechanisms and media policies, were reviewed to bring them in line with the new EU regulations. Croatia’s case seems somewhat unique compared to other countries that were once part of the former Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia, but it also shares some similar contextual characteristics. First and foremost, the funding model is what sets apart the Croatia’s PSB from other Western Balkan post-socialist states. Considered one of the most successful models, HRTs license fee collection system has been continuously and systematically improved since the 1960s when it was first introduced. Albeit the level of editorial independence and financial sustainability has seen frequent oscillations at different points in time, HRT maintains its financial sustainability, and manages to drive its internal development. Like the other countries, Croatian PSB is under permanent political pressures, while its program has been commercialized, becoming less distinctive from content provided by commercial competitions. In order to assess the transformation of HRT into a public service, considering the challenges to its current operation and further development, the paper intends to answer the following questions. The first is related to the development of regulation and media policies in regard to PSB, including the various actors involved, the political setting, and internally or externally driven reforms. The second question targets the current regulation, status and role of the PSB in Croatia, with special attention to the PSB remit, funding model, formal and de-facto independence, market share, and the progress regarding technological innovations and digitalization. Finally, the paper deals with the challenges to the PSB operation in Croatia, taking into account ongoing debates on the global level, and country-specific discussions. This research draws upon the ongoing debates on the status and operation of PSB in a changing media environment. Technology developments, commercialization processes and the growing role of the market in defining media roles and audience tastes, information abundance, and audience fragmentation significantly define what we know today as ‘media ecology’. In such a context, the status and role, funding model and social role of PSB, and its relation with the audience, are contested. To evolve into a genuine public media, Croatian Radio-Television has to face these challenges both internally and externally. This study follows recent and ongoing debates on the future of PSM, and builds its analytical framework on concepts and ideas developed by contemporary PSM scholars such as Donders, Lowe, Moe and Van den Bulck, also taking into account theoretical accounts of media and PSB developments in the post-socialist area, including Jakubowicz, Sukosd, Splichal, and others. This research paper is divided in four main sections. The following section outlines the main theoretical concepts and the key debates in regard to the future of PSB. The third section reflects on the country background including political and economic factors, the development of the media system in Croatia and its PSB. The final section summarizes the main findings and discusses them in relation to the socio-political context and contemporary trends related to regulation, funding and the technological developments related to PSB in general. A discussion of the main trends and dilemmas on the European and regional level is presented within the final section.
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As part of a general study on the role and impact of constitutional adjudication in transitional countries of South East Europe, this paper analyses the operation of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia after the dissolution of the Yugoslav federation. It aims to answer the posed research questions as to the extent of the Court’s activism in the field of transitional constitutional justice and, consequently, the Court’s success/failure in promoting the legal transition from a socialist order to a modern constitutional democracy. In that view, a narrow but paradigmatic selection of the Court’s case-law is analyzed. Factors that have contributed to the Court’s performance (e.g. political conditioning, personal features) are taken into account, as well as public opinions and attitudes toward its rulings. The first part of this paper presents an overview of the Court’s history, composition and competences, while the next chapter explains three distinct periods of the Croatian constitutional reality, that are detectable from 1991 to 2016. The third part, containing a presentation of particular rulings, tackles: the development of a standard constitutional test (3.1.); post-war justice in relation to popular expectations (3.2.); the clash between social justice and budgetary constraints (3.3.) and the constitutional boundaries of democracy (3.4.). The final part contains an in-depth analysis of incentives for, methods of and threats to the Court’s activism/transformative role. It will be argued that while the Court managed to protect core constitutional values and principles (even during the Homeland War), its greatest success is detectable in the process of the Europeanization of the Croatian legal order. Recent overall detrimental social occurrences (the economic crisis and socio-political radicalization) coupled with certain objective shortcomings of the Court have led to a deterioration of its status and have put its very existence in peril.
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Six years since the start of accession negotiations, Montenegro is still a showcase of state capture. In the same manner it has been exhausting domestic democratic public for decades, Montenegrin Government masterfully applies the exhaustion strategy to the process of European integration, abusing the EU’s need for a new integration optimism.
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Crna Gora će proći do sada najzahtjevniji i najsloženiji put pregovora sa Evropskom unijom (EU). Činjenica da će pregovori početi poglavljima 23 – Pravosuđe i temeljna prava i 24 – Pravda, sloboda i bezbijednost, kao i da će ova poglavlja ostati otvorena do samog kraja, ukazuje na veličinu izazova sa kojim će biti suočena Crna Gora tokom pregovaračkog procesa. U publikaciji pred vama je kratak osvrt na ono čime će se veliki broj ljudi uključenih u pregovore po raznim osnovama, a posebno crnogorske nadležne institucije, baviti kroz usklađivanje crnogorskog pravnog okvira sa komunitarnom tekovinom EU, ali i kroz riješavanje raznih nivoa problema tokom cijelog procesa pregovora i nakon njih. Naša je namjera da približimo široj javnosti sadržaj pregovaračkih poglavlja projektujući ih na crnogorski model pregovora. Naime, jedna dimenzija ovog složenog procesa je to što će hiljade ljudi konkretno, dugo i naporno raditi na ispunjavanju preporuka EU i usklađivanju pravnog okvira sa standardima EU, odnosno izgradnji institucionalnih i demokratskih kapaciteta crnogorskog društva. Ali, druga, podjednako važna dimenzija jeste što će se paralelno svi građani i građanke Crne Gore, polako ali sigurno, kretati ka razumijevanju i prihvatanju konteksta koji će oblikovati pregovori po ovim poglavljima, a što će pratiti učinkovite reforme. Poglavlja su kreirana po društvenim oblastima i cio proces je vrlo precizno razrađen da prvo skenira stanje društva koje treba da postane punopravni član EU, kroz eksplanatorne i bilateralne sastanke, nakon kojih se kroz napredak i realizaciju akcionih planova dolazi do mjerila za otvaranje pojedinih poglavlja koje prati dalji napredak i efikasnost i efektivnost realizacije utvrđenih zadataka do dostizanja mjerila za zatvaranje pojedinih poglavlja. Ova procedura pregovora može asocirati i na pravila neke društvene igre. Ko prođe sve baze na koje naiđe pobijedio je. Lijepo bi bilo da su pregovori igra, ali oni su najzahtjevniji i najizazovniji proces sa kojim se crnogorske institucije sistema, pa i crnogorsko društvo, u cjelini suočavaju. Dešava nam se da stavljamo svoje kapacitete na provjeru na način koji nam do sada nije bio svojstven. Provjeravamo mogućnosti pune izgradnje institucionalnih kapaciteta, istražujemo sopstvene demokratske potencijale, suočavamo se sa razbijanjem tabua i predrasuda, otvaramo se za drugosti, postajemo spremni da preuzmemo odgovornost. Možda se nekom čini da smo ovo nekada ili makar nešto od ovoga već radili. Pokušaja jeste bilo, ali sistemskog pristupa izgradnji funkcionalne demokratije i nečega što kratko možemo definisati kao evropeizaciju društva zasigurno nije bilo. Danas i Unija ima brojne probleme, a posebno su izraženi problemi ekonomske prirode. Sumnjičavi bi mogli postaviti pitanje da li je uopšte opravdano kretati se ka evropskim integracijama, da li su iste možda prevaziđene? Kvalitet evropskih integracija je upravo u tome što je Unija uspjela da izgradi mehanizme demokratskog rješavanja svih pitanja. A taj kvalitet je vrlo potreban na ovim prostorima. EU nije samo uspješna ekonomska priča, ona je prije svega uspješna demokratska priča. Sve i da, hipotetički gledano, Crna Gora odustane od evropskih integracija, ona ne bi imala budućnost funkcionalne i prosperitetne demokratije bez pretresanja i izgradnje društveno-političke i ekonomske osnove na vrijednosnoj osnovi izgrađenoj u Uniji.
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A public opinion poll on the knowledge and attitudes of Montenegrin citizens about war crimes and transitional justice was conducted in order to obtain annual cross-sectional data. The data were compared, in the part of the same questions, with last year’s similar survey conducted by the Centre for Civic Education (CCE). Additionally, for the first time, questions were introduced that shed light on the perceptions of citizens about the attitude of the judiciary and certain state institutions towards war crimes. Such regular monitoring of the public’s knowledge and attitudes also provides useful insight into the effects of the work of various social actors in the process of dealing with the past. Also, in this manner, an empirical base is obtained concerning key issues that marked the political and social life in the past year, concerning this process, and the impact it had on society. For example, the issue of attitudes towards the genocide in Srebrenica marked the second quarter of the political life in Montenegro in 2021 and led to the first dismissal of a minister in the new Montenegrin Government, which was formed in December 2020. However, it is only this research that indicated that the dominant majority of Montenegrin citizens state that they know what happened in Srebrenica in 1995 (86%), than that twothirds of them define it as genocide, while the rest believe that it is a great war crime, but not genocide, or that there was a war in which people were killed on all sides. It is also interesting that with the controversial position of the former Minister of Justice, Human and Minority Rights, Vladimir Leposavić, that he is “ready to admit that the crime of genocide was committed in Srebrenica once it is unequivocally established “, more than half of the citizens did not agree, which could have been instructive for political decision-makers as well. However, on the other hand, the research indicated the overall complexity of Montenegrin society. Hence, the opposition parties, which initiated the impeachment of this minister due to his position on Srebrenica, are not significantly recognized by the citizens as political entities that advocate transitional justice. That points that their inadequate relation towards the issues of facing with past from the period when they had power has not been forgotten. The research is part of the “Dealing with the Past for the Future” project, which the Centre for Civic Education (CCE) is implementing with financial support from the U.S. Government, through the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).
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Two years after taking control of Afghanistan, the Taliban have consolidated power and are improving the country’s security and economic situation. These positive changes are taking place at the expense of women’s rights and the activities of international organisations, which are both severely restricted, and the exclusion of ethnic minorities from participation in governing the state. Despite the intransigence of the Taliban, the lack of a political alternative will encourage the West to increase cooperation with the government to pursue common interests, such as the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking, but without formal recognition of the regime.
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A spike in energy prices provoked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will inhibit the economic rebound in the EU. Member States will have to face high inflation for longer than previously expected. Forced to increase spending, they also could postpone plans to reduce their debts. The conflict with Russia is mobilising the Community to speed up the development of renewable energy and reduce dependencies on third countries, especially authoritarian ones, in strategic sectors.
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Russia and China use a convergent narrative about the reasons for the war in Ukraine. Both accuse the West, mainly the United States, of provoking Russia, and as a result, the indivisibility of European security has been undermined. Despite the similarities, the Chinese narrative is not entirely the same as Russia’s. China formats its messages about the war in such a way that it attempts to create the perception of it as a still-neutral partner, restraining Russia’s actions. The European Union should pay more attention to Chinese disinformation, which can more effectively reach people and groups not susceptible to Russian narratives.
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Since the beginning of the Russian attack on Ukraine, many global technology companies have taken action against Russia. Restricting the functioning of Russia-based accounts by some social media platforms or impeding the export of technology to Russia by other companies (in addition to sanctions imposed by states) represent a new level of involvement of private actors in international conflicts. Increasing pressure from Western states may contribute to further steps weakening Russian disinformation on social media and Russia’s economic potential due to limited access to high technology.
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Over the past two and a half decades multiple problems have been identified in the implementation of the Dayton peace agreement. The process of development of the BiH society has generated some visible achievements that could lead to a stable development of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, at the same time, some halts in development of the BiH society and state are also notable. These halts have led to the deepening of the crisis in economic development, particularly since 2015. Namely, since 2015, several dozen thousands of young people have left Bosnia and Herzegovina and went to European counties in pursuit of economic prosperity.
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In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the seventh local elections since the signing of the Dayton peace agreement were held on 15 November 2020. The elections brought about tectonic changes on the political scene and are a prelude to the announced political changes at the parliamentary elections, scheduled to take place on 2 October 2022. Political changes had also led to success in North Macedonia, with the arrival of Zoran Zaev (SDSM) to power. Zaev took his country to membership in NATO and it is expected that Macedonia will soon open the accession talks with the European Union. The Brussels Dialogue between the official Belgrade and Priština is entering its final phase. In Montenegro, the recent parliamentary elections resulted in the fall of the 31- years long regime headed by Milo Đukanović (DPS), which was an introduction into groundbreaking political changes and stabilization of the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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Similar to provisions of the German Constitution, Article 1 of the Lisbon Treaty defines common values on the basis of which the European Union perceives itself as united. However, in the face of the current and further deepening of economic misbalances since 2008, the migration trends intertwined with crises in its areas and now the coronavirus pandemic, this quote seems, more than ever before, like a document from ancient times. The European Union is at a crossroads and all its members, particularly Germany, now have to decide: should we finally act in line with the defined values or burry together with them the dream of a united continent that is more than just a sum of a number of national states?
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It was indeed cynical and out-of-touch for the EU (Parliament) to suddenly blame, after 80 years, the Soviet Union for triggering WWII. It is unwise (to say least) to resurrect the arguments surrounding the circumstances of the start of World War II. The historians have agreed, the history has been written and well documented, and is in our books already for many decades. There is no point in contemporary politicians of eastern flank of the EU (with a striking but complicit silence from the central Europe) pushing up the facts regarding who was to blame. There are neither mandated, nor qualified or even expected to do so.
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The last parliamentary elections in Turkey mark a political and an institutional turning point in the country's history. The importance of the vote derives from two main factors. Firstly, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's Party of Justice and Development (AKP) has lost its parliamentary majority, although it remains the largest party in the Parliament with 258 seats and 40.9% of the votes. This is the first time that the party has been in this position since 2002, when the AKP swept to power and retained a majority in the Turkish Parliament. However, the AKP failed to achieve its objective of 350 seats, as the party leader and president of the Republic since August 2014, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, had hoped.
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Let’s summarize the main determinants of political and social developments of the Northern Hemisphere (and beyond) over the last two centuries. In short, national states were built in the 19th and civic states in the 20th century. Political jargon for all socio-political processes has established an original term - the new world order. If we simply relied on this term, then the main determinant of the "new world order" for the 21st century would be contained in the formula: with democratization into integration until globalization.
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The project "Economic stimulus to underdeveloped municipalities and the position of national minorities" has everything prerequisites for research results to be relevant: a topic that identifies problems is selected target groups, and their solution should contribute to socio-economic changes through implementation measure of public policies based on the interpretation of data collected during this research. The part of the report titled Synthesis contains a comparative analysis of the presented data. In the last one part of the publication, the project team of the Center for Regionalism proposed recommendations. They are in research used data from various government bodies and organizations, scientific studies and data analysis, especially in areas of demography and migration trends.
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The war in Ukraine did not significantly affect the perception of the Serbian public regarding the major issues of Serbian foreign and security policy. In this context, this relates to how Serbian citizens think about the influence of great powers in their country and how the public perceives its relations with Russia and Western security institutions, the EU and NATO. The public opinion surveys also showed that the issue of Kosovo is still being perceived as a major foreign policy priority. There is a powerful cynicism in how the Serbian public views great power influences, as most respondents believe that external great powers bribe Serbian politicians and moguls to further their interests in the country. Russia and China are perceived as close foreign policy partners of Serbia, putting them in clear advantage over those who favour the EU on that front. The respondents also believed that Russia and China are sincere friends of Serbia and not players guided by their self-interest. As opposed to the study conducted by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) in 2020, which noted that Serbs perceived Chinese influence in the country as more positive than Russian influence, the latest survey shows that those who believe Russian influence in Serbia is positive have a slight edge over those who believe the same about Chinese influence. This is most likely the result of the fact that China has not been in the spotlight in recent months.
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The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy conducted the annual public opinion survey on relations in the region, with a special focus on the Western Balkan countries and current events and trends. This report analyses Serbian citizens’ views on three main topics – the possibility of conflicts in the Balkans, Serbia’s bilateral relations with its neighbours, as well as key benefits and opportunities of regional cooperation and initiatives. Due to the current war in Ukraine and the war-mongering rhetoric in the Balkans, the fear of outbreak of conflict in the Balkans has risen. Compared to results from 2020, when more than half of citizens were not afraid of possible conflicts at all, the 2022 survey shows that almost two thirds of respondents are to a certain extent afraid of the outbreak of conflicts in the region in the next five years. Concerning potential causes of the conflict in the region, two-thirds of Serbian citizens believe that it is very or somewhat likely that a conflict might break out over the status of Kosovo. On the other hand, the results of the survey indicate a significant decrease in support of the reintroduction of mandatory military service, in comparison to results from 2020. When it comes to bilateral relations between Serbia and its neighbouring countries, the data shows a decline in support for potential separation of Republic of Srpska from Bosnia and Herzegovina and unification with Serbia. Citizens believe that relations between Serbia and Montenegro have not improved significantly, despite the signing of the Fundamental Agreement with the Serbian Orthodox Church. On the contrary, the negative perception of Serbian public towards Albania has slightly improved over the last two years, mainly due to the closer cooperation between the leaders of the two countries through the Open Balkan initiative. However, regional relations are still seen as strained, in part due to the promotion of the concept of Serbian world which creation is supported by slightly more than 40% of citizens. In 2022, the focus of the public in terms of regional cooperation was directed more directly to the Open Balkan initiative as a platform for collaboration between Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia. Although the data show an increase in the number of Serbian citizens who are familiar with the idea, there are still no concrete and publicly visible results of the initiative
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Police services in the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia) are not substantially active on social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube) and are not sufficiently exploiting the advantages of online communication such as: flexibility (accessible 24/7), relevance (provides a place for real-life policing examples and the exchange of experiences), and community building (the police can develop a supportive, stimulating community that is held by participants in high regard). There is a significant possibility for police services to use social media in the WB for strong community engagement and partnership with the aim of providing a crime-free and safe environment for citizens. Internet penetration in the region is 68.1% and there are 12.5 million internet users1 as well as more than 8.5 million Facebook2 account holders. The average Facebook consumer has more than 200 ‘friends’3 , which indicates a high potential for the community engagement and sharing of information. The research analysed the level of police presence in the social media platforms during the period from 1 January to 31 July 2017. It shows that five out of seven police services in the WB that are subject to this analysis use at least one social medium as a communication tool. Four out of seven are present on Facebook and YouTube, while three have Twitter and Instagram accounts. Only the Albanian police are present on all four social networks. The Kosovo Police makes use of three networks, while the rest use two out of four. Montenegrin police and the MoI of the Federation of BiH, however, are not present on any social networks. Police services in the region predominantly use social media to share basic information, and for promotion. Efforts to engage citizens are lacking. The nature of these social networks, as two-way communication tools, is not recognised by police forces of the region. The police in Albania are mostly active on Facebook, with more than 30,000 page-likes. Twitter and YouTube are used considerably less, Instagram not at all. Facebook is used primarily as a communication tool for sharing service information of the Albanian police, mostly through video posts. There is no interaction with the citizens. The language is formal and bureaucratic. The MoI of the Federation of BiH is not actively using social media, while the MoI of the Republic of Srpska has a YouTube account and an official Facebook page with 18,123 page-likes. It is not however present on Twitter. Facebook is primarily a communication tool used for sharing service information, mostly by way of posting photographs. Citizens’ engagement is low, but still better when compared to the practice in Albania and Kosovo. The Kosovo police have Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts, but no Instagram. Facebook is their main online communication tool, with 34,345 page-likes. However, the Kosovo police are not regularly active on Facebook and mostly share links that lead to service information. Interaction with citizens is very low. Original Twitter content is not produced and a low level of activity on YouTube has been noted. The MoI of Macedonia is active predominantly on YouTube, with more than 5,000 subscribers and almost 9.5 million views, which is the best result in the region. Its activity on Instagram is modest. The Facebook page was created in August 2017. There is no Twitter account. The Minister of Interior is not very active on Twitter, and tweets are not strictly related to policing. The MoI of Montenegro is not present on any of the social networks. The police in Serbia are active mainly on Instagram and YouTube.4 Tweeting ceased in February 2010. Instagram is used in accordance with the rules of this social network, with the primary goal to promote the activities of the police and the Minister. The YouTube account of the Serbian MoI had more than 9 million views and boasts 6,483 subscribers, which is the record in the region. Communication in the 21st century has been tremendously changed by new technologies. Social media now provide a completely new communication approach, with different potential and substance. Regardless of whether or not the police want to be present on social media, police issues are being discussed online. Due to this fact, if the police do not use social media many related information can be subjected to spinning and misuse, with no possibility of reacting through the same communication channel. Even though the facts regarding internet and social media users in the WB indicate that conditions for police use of social media do exist, law enforcement agencies of the region are not sufficiently active on social networks. There is significant room for improvement of social media usage by police in the WB to increase effectiveness by engaging citizens, and to build trust in the police by presenting the human side through community policing. Social networks are not just another traditional media channel; they allow greater connectivity and interaction between the web users and encourage contributions and feedback from anyone who is a member of any virtual community
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