Stabilitocracy in Practice: An Analysis of the EU’s Policy towards the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue

This thesis analyses the evolution of the EU’s foreign policy towards enlargement by focusing on the case of the Brussels Dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. This case study is analysed within the framework of the concept of ‘stabilitocracy’. It asserts that the EU initially interlinked its promotion of democratic reforms and the pursuit of stability but ultimately focused primarily on the latter. The thesis argues that the weakening of the EU’s soft power due to enlargement fatigue, the heightening of geopolitical competition in Europe, and the securitisation of the Brussels Dialogue all contributed to the EU’s shift towards this preference for stability and the status quo. While the term stabilitocracy has been used to explain how the EU trades stability for reforms in the Western Balkans, there has yet to be an in-depth academic study of its application in a specific policy setting such as the Brussels Dialogue. This thesis outlines the impact of the EU’s stabilitocracy approach towards the Brussels Dialogue on the democratic transformation in Kosovo and Serbia by showing how the EU disregarded the lack of democratic reforms within both countries and how the local elites within both gained from manipulating the EU’s focus on stability in the absence of enlargement. More broadly, this thesis extracts lessons from the Kosovo/Serbia case that can be applied to other cases within the Western Balkans and beyond. This issue is particularly important after the role that the EU has assumed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the designation of Ukraine as an EU candidate country in June 2022

Organizational Socialization Process and its Impact on New Employees’ Job Satisfaction, Commitment, and Retention Intentions: Experiences from the Banking Sector in Kosovo

New employees are an important asset for every organization. Organizations continually engage in recruitment processes with the aim of hiring employees who possess the knowledge and experience that is needed in nowadays labor market. That being said, organizations ought to create a suitable environment for the accommodation of new employees in order for them to effectively use their skills and abilities to serve in the benefit of organizations. To achieve this, organizations establish socialization programs which lay the foundation of a successful work experience for new employees. Socialization process enables new employees to acquire the necessary knowledge and information to carry out assigned tasks. Research shows that socialization practices combined with new employees’ proactive behavior, which represent the initiatives undertaken by new employees to better adapt to their workplace, lead to higher satisfaction, commitment and retention rates. This project analyzes the impact of socialization process and new employees’ proactive behavior through their level of satisfaction, commitment and retention rates. The research focuses on the banking sector in Kosovo as it is considered to be one of the most profitable and sound sectors in the country. The results give important insights with regards to current accommodation experiences of new employees as well as provides recommendations with the purpose of improving socialization practices and their outcomes

Migration, The Role Of South-East Europe

Although, as a term, migration is not yet a recognized term of general international law, but rather a notion that derives from different fields of international law, such as refugee law and the law of migrant workers. This paper was written with the object and purpose of presenting the history of migration in Europe, with a special emphasis on South-East Europe (SEE). The evolution of migration, migration crises, as well as the statistic of migration flows for the past years will further be presented in this paper. European states, particularly the measures, cooperation instruments and regional migration policies in South-East Europe will be elaborated. Furthermore, you will find in this paper the role that SEE countries play in the migration crises that appeared in Europe on the past years, and are still present, as well as International Organizations’ approach, instruments and policies towards the issue of migrants. Statistics, books, international documents or instruments relevant to migration will be presented in this research paper

OVERVIEW OF EXISTING PREJUDICES BETWEEN ALBANIANS AND MACEDONIANS COMPARED TO THOSE OF THE ARBËRESH AND ITALIANS

Basis of this study are: Overview of existing prejudices between Albanians and Macedonians compared to those of the Arbëresh-Italians, the ones we face every day. Although nothing is right, it is just willful, is unfounded oftentimes but again there are many. Prejudice is a misconception; embedded by incomplete knowledge of the world of phenomena and their causes, which departs from someone in the trials in his actions contrary to the knowledge of the reason. In this paper we focused mainly on prejudice Macedonian/Albanian i.e., two people living in North Macedonia and prejudices Italian/arbëresh two peoples living in Italy. In the paper we compare examples of what use arberesh prejudice to the Italians and vice versa, so that Albanians have bias for Macedonians and vice versa.Keywords: Arbëresh, Italian, Macedonian, Albanian, neighbor

Spin Dependence in Polarized Proton-Proton Elastic Scattering at RHIC

The STAR (Solenoidal Tracker At RHIC - Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider) experiment is equipped with Roman Pots, insertion devices that allow detectors to be moved close to the beam for the measurement of high energy protons scattered at very small angles. This setup, together with the unique capability of RHIC to collide spin-polarized proton beams, allows STAR to study both the dynamics and the spin-dependence of the proton-proton ( pp) elastic scattering process. Silicon strip detectors, installed inside the Roman Pots, measure tracks of protons scattered diffractively at very small angles. In a dedicated run with special beam optics during the 2009 RHIC run, the collaboration collected about 20 million elastic events with transversely polarized proton beams at the center of mass energy √s= 200 GeV and four momentum transfer squared (t) range of 0.003 ≤ |t| ≤ 0.035 (GeV/c)2, where, due to the Coulomb Nuclear Interference (CNI), a measurable single spin asymmetry arises. While the electromagnetic interaction can be determined in QED, the description of the hadronic interaction at small -t scattering requires the use of nonperturbative techniques in QCD, and, phenomenological models, rather than pQCD, are used to describe the exchange mechanism. High energy diffractive scattering at small-t is dominated by the Pomeron exchange, treated in pQCD as a color singlet combination of two gluons carrying quantum numbers of the vacuum (JPC = 0++). In this dissertation, I report on a high precision measurement of the transverse single spin asymmetry AN at √s= 200 GeV in pp elastic scattering at RHIC. The measured AN and its t-dependence are consistent with the absence of a hadronic spin-flip amplitude. The major contribution to the uncertainty in AN comes from the uncertainty in the beam polarization measurement. The presented results provide a precise measurement in the non-perturbative QCD regime, where experimental data are indispensable, and, a significant constraint on the spin-flip component of the Pomeron

Technology Use by Registered Dietitians for Patient Care in an Outpatient Setting

Background Technology use in digital health tools has increased significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many in-office patient care services. Although healthcare practices have adopted several technologies, they remain surrounded by a saturated increase in consumer-based wearables and smartphone applications. As a result, attitudes and acceptability toward integrating these technologies for patient care are evolving. Digital health tools is an umbrella term including several technologies utilized among health care providers for the purpose of patient care. The inclusion of digital health tools by Registered Dietitian Nutritionists’ (RDNs) in practice provides a more robust and personalized approach to patients and their health needs. Reasons for decisions about incorporating digital health tools into the RDN practice setting are limited in the professional literature. Methods An exploratory cross-sectional survey design was used. Professionals working as Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) were recruited utilizing a snowball sampling approach among several practice settings. Survey compilation included a literature review, identifying and utilizing two surveys otherwise used for different purposes and target audiences. Data collection consists of a 2-step process with a survey pilot test and distribution of a final survey administered via Qualtrics. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS v27.0. Results Sixteen of 20 professionals completed the survey in its entirety: 2 working in employee wellness, 13 in a hospital-based system, and 1 in both employee wellness and community/public health. Quantitative analysis depicted the highest usage of tele-visits/virtual visits and less appreciation for technology in eating disorders. Additionally, RDNs reported heightened chances of adopting a tool if the technology is the standard of care. Qualitative analysis indicated that professionals working in a setting for diabetes had a positive attitude towards wearable or smartphone nutrition applications. Moreover, other practice settings such as dialysis and post-liver transplant, eating disorders, or employee wellness produced either a neutral or negative attitude. Conclusions Registered dietitian nutritionists are highly interested in using digital health tools for patient care. However, it is difficult to conclude the current use of technology in outpatient practice. RDNs understand the potential of technology, such as wearables, in offering patients care concerning their illness or diagnosis. Although RDNs utilize telehealth, other technologies such as wearables and smartphone nutrition apps have yet to be widely adopted. The use of technology among RDNs who practice in an outpatient setting is highly variable, and therefore a presumption cannot be made. Therefore, future research is warranted, focusing on patients with various health conditions and diverse samples

The Identification of learning disability and its nature, at primary school children

rning process, with the aim to identify and evaluate their needs. The challenges ofeducation in Albania require the promotion of children's needs in all inclusive classes,whose expectations satisfy the interests of individuals and society itself. The difficulties inlearning process would be analyzed from the viewpoint of the students' interaction with the surrounding environment, with all in and out school experiences.Through information collected from questionnaires completed by students,teachers, and parents, the research analyses the difficulty phenomena in learning process asa product created within school and its community. For many children, there are situations which create barriers to learning, especially if the adults, parents, teachers and all other social factors do not engage for the integration, reduction of limited abilities and their inclusion

The political process of state formation of Kosovo from the establishment of the international protectorate to Independence

After the signing of the Rambouillet Agreement, NATO bombing began, where the citizens of Kosovo are forced to leave their t The March 2004 riots, which began in the northern part of Mitrovica, after the killing of two Albanian children, led to the burning of some Orthodox churches in some parts of Kosovo by some protesters. Following this situation, the UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, charged the Norwegian Mr. Kai Eide for a report, which would reflect the situation in Kosovo.erritory, due to violence from Serbia. This act sent Kosovo to oversee the administration of the United Nations. UN issues Security Council “Resolution 1244”, placing Kosovo under UN protectorate. In terms of de jure , Kosovo remained part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. According to this Resolution, the UN was responsible for civil administration, while NATO was responsible for the security of the territory. It is alleged that the friendly countries that helped Kosovo in 1999 wanted to avoid including the term Yugoslavia in the resolution, but Russia, through its veto power in the Security Council, included this term in the Resolution. In December 2003, the International Community, through the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Harry Holkeri, sent to Kosovo a document known as the Standards for Kosovo . The document contained the main tasks that Kosovo had to accomplish by 2005 and then initiate the determination of Kosovo\u27s final status. Following this Report, the Kosovo-Serbia negotiation process and the finalization of Kosovo status were opened. Meanwhile, Ahhtisar\u27s plan, the special envoy for the status of Kosovo, according to analysts, sent Kosovo towards independence, on February 17, 2018

PENGARUH LOAN ASSET RATIO, DEPOSIT ASSET RATIO, NET INTEREST MARGIN, RETURN ON ASSET DAN RETURN ON EQUITY TERHADAP CAPITAL ADEQUACY RATIO (Studi Kasus pada Bank Umum Konvensional yang Terdaftar Di Bursa Efek Indonesia Periode 2012-2016 )

This research was conducted to examine the influence of the Loan Asset Ratio / LAR, Deposit Asset Ratio / DAR, Net Interest Margin / NIM, Return On Asset / ROA and Return On Equity / ROE toward Capital Adequacy Ratio. The study population consisted of 18 Conventional Commercial Banks listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) period 2012 -2016. The sample selection using purposive sampling method, with criteria have complete financial report and ROA and ROE positive. So that obtained a sample of 14 banks with 70 observation data.Data analysis used multiple regression test equipment that included classical assumption test consisting of normality test, multicolonierity test, autocorrelation test and heterokedastisity test. While hypothesis testing is done by F test and T test. The results of this test indicate that Return On Asset / ROA has a significant positive effect on Capital Adequacy Ratio / CAR. While Return On Equity / ROE have significant negative effect to Capital Adequacy Ratio / CAR. Meanwhile, Loan Asset Ratio / LAR and Net Interest Margin / NIM variables have no significant negative effect on Capital Adequacy Ratio / CAR. Deposit Asset Ratio / DAR has an insignificant positive effect on CAR. Adjusted R Square value of 0.257. This indicates the amount of influence given by Loan Asset Ratio / LAR, Deposit Asset Ratio / DAR, Net Interest Margin / NIM, Return On Asset / ROA and Return On Equity / ROE to CAR change is 25.7%. while the remaining 74.7% can be explained by other variables outside the model