REGIONAL COOPERATION IN THE WESTERN BALKANS - A KEY TO INTEGRATION INTO THE EUROPEAN UNION

Impaired interethnic relations in the Western Balkan countries and the absence of multicultural policies proved to be major obstacles to stability, security and democracy in the 1990s. In attempting to identify what the security implications for enlargement are, the author argues that the EU should develop specific policies towards countries with a higher risk of ethnic tensions (e.g. Bosnia-Herzegovina) than those with no apparent potential for conflicts to re-emerge (e.g. Croatia). Further on, having claimed that the unresolved status of Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina might have an impact on stability in the region, the author argues that, despite the EU’s advocacy of an individual approach towards applicant states, the Union’s relations with the Western Balkans will probably remain characterised by a more regional approach, in terms both of commonly-used patterns of accession (applying the same criteria and assessing achievements via the Stabilization and Association Process) and of the EU’s insistence on regional cooperation. The necessity of regional cooperation in the Western Balkans is emphasised, and the political, economic and social problems common to all countries in the region are highlighted. Finally, the author concludes that the EU’s insistence on regional cooperation in the region should be viewed as an incentive to addressing cross-boundary issues, and not as a threat that individual accession could be obstructed

Empowerment of the Individual under International Law

The paper attempts to underline that concepts of human security, human development and human environment have, by way of deliberate redefining of sovereignty, contributed to a piecemeal increase of subjectivity of the individual in international law. For the time being the subjectivity of the individual is not strongly and obviously supported as with respect to the first and second generation of human rights, but for sure is strengthened additionally through a global consent on the necessity to implement and brought to life the substances the paradigms of human security, human development and human environment contain

Democracy without Citizens: Inadequate Consolidation in Two Decades of the Western Balkans Democracy

Potential candidate countries of the Western Balkans have to be(come) stable democracies in order to be allowed to join the European Union (EU). In reaching this goal they are, besides economic and institutional challenges, being contingent upon not only by the legacies of recent large scale inter-ethnic conflicts, but also by the socio-cultural characteristics of their citizens. The empirical data presented in this paper reveal that citizens of the Western Balkans countries generally do not trust in political institutions, demonstrate almost apathy for social and political actions and believe they themselves are not able to influence the political process. This all results in low and inadequate political participation in all surveyed countries, and along with their undeveloped political culture, it indicates inadequate democracy promotion in the EU’s accession policy in the entire region. This paper therefore argues that the EU should consider changing the pre-accession democratisation approach, since mere export of its regulatory framework so far has not contributed to the democratic consolidation and development of democratic political culture in the future Member States from the Western Balkans

Crime as a business, business as a crime

Purpose: This paper endorses the claim that in transitional societies the line between business and crime is elusive because weak states foster a legal order that is formalistic, bureaucratic, politically biased and prone to corruption. Design/Methods/Approach: Three elements are discussed in the paper. First, the paper briefly analyses legal and institutional state of affairs in transitional Western Balkans societies that condone organised crime. Secondly, it investigates the phenomenology of the (corruptive) crime behaviour, explaining how it managed to integrate into society in the context of a weak state. Thirdly, the paper investigates why state policies and measures fail to fight crime as the business. In this part the paper contests a traditional definition of criminal organisation as a hierarchical one, claiming that mafias are not organizations in a traditional sense. Findings: The paper emphasizes that the fight against organised crime is not just a fight against individuals or individual criminal behaviourbut a fight to increase the efficiency of the government. The paper furthermore asserts that better understand of the organised crime problem can occur only if its fighting and addressing happens from the point of view of a good governance. Namely, the precondition to fight against organised crime or parallel activity requires increased efficiency and capacity of governmental institutions. Originality/Value: This paper adds to the academic and practical understanding of the organised crime in the post-transitional settings. Apart from being instructive and up-todated source of information for the regional setting it deals with, the paper sheds a new light on understanding of organised crime

BOLZANO/BOZEN RECOMMENDATIONS ON NATIONAL MINORITIES IN INTER-STATE RELATIONS: SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR CROATIA AND THE REGION

Ured visokog povjerenika nacionalnih manjina, tijelo Organizacije za europsku sigurnost i suradnju, krajem 2008. godine objavio je skupinu preporuka o pravu nacionalnih manjina u međudržavnim odnosima. U ovom članku analiziraju se okolnosti nastanka Bolzanskih preporuka, potom se predstavlja sadržaj Preporuka te se konačno analizira u kojoj su mjeri one već sadržane u manjinskim zakonodavstvima i politikama Hrvatske i nekoliko zemalja regije.The office of the High Commissioner on National Minorities, body of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, published at the end of 2008 a set of recommendations dealing with the rights of national minorities in inter-state relations. In this paper circumstances related to the origins of Bolzano/Bozen Recommendations are analysed, subsequently the paper presents the content of the Recommendations, and finally, the paper analyses to what extent the Recommendations have been reflected in minority-related legislation and policies of Croatia and several neighbouring countries

Anti-discrimination policy as a supplementary model of protection of national minorities

Istraživanje Ureda pučkog pravobranitelja iz prosinca 2009. godine o predrasudama stanovništva prema određenim društvenim grupama te o raširenosti diskriminacije potvrdilo je da u hrvatskom društvu postoji socijalna distanca prema nekim etničkim skupinama. Jedna četvrtina ispitanih izjavila je da je iskusila diskriminaciju, a više od polovice pripadnika nacionalnih manjina u ispitivanom uzorku tvrdi da je osobno doživjelo neki oblik diskriminacije. Ispitanici koji su prijavili diskriminatorno ponašanje neke od javnih službi navode svoju etničku pripadnosti i podrijetlo kao čestu osnovu diskriminiranja. Nameće se očito pitanje o tome može li postojeće antidiskriminacijsko zakonodavstvo osnažiti ostvarenje prava pripadnika nacionalnih manjina. Donošenje Zakona o suzbijanju diskriminacije u Hrvatskoj bila je obveza iz pretpristupnih pregovora. Naime, Europska unija nizom svojih politika i inicijativa promiče jednakost i zabranu diskriminacije u područjima poput zapošljavanja, pristupa tržištu rada, korištenja zdravstvenih usluga, obrazovanja, korištenja socijalnih povlastica za ugrožene dijelove stanovništva ili grupa u zemljama članicama. Na taj način, a u nedostatku proklamirane manjinske politike, Unija osnažuje zaštitu prava nacionalnih manjina u državama članicama. Osvrćući se na izvore međunarodnog prava koji propisuju zabranu diskriminacije, kao i na tematski usuglašenu antidiskriminacijsku politiku Europske unije i srodne joj aktivnosti, članak ponajprije ispituje pravnu osnovu zabrane diskriminacije na globalnoj razini i na razini Europske unije te na razini zemalja članica. Budući da je Republika Hrvatska stranka mnogobrojnih međunarodnih instrumenata koji zabranjuju diskriminaciju, članak nadalje ispituje kako je pitanje zabrane diskriminacije zakonski riješeno u Hrvatskoj, koje institucije trenutačno postoje za zaštitu protiv diskriminacije, te posebice koje se obveze odnose na borbu protiv diskriminacije u procesu pristupanja Europskoj uniji. Interpretirajući rezultate istraživanja o stavovima i razini svijesti o diskriminaciji i pojavnim oblicima diskriminacije koje je primijenio Bogardusov indeks socijalne distance u hrvatskom kontekstu, u članku se zagovara prihvaćanje sveobuhvatn(ij)e antidiskriminacijske politike kao potpornja ostvarenju manjinskih prava u Hrvatskoj. Iako u Hrvatskoj postoji široko zajamčen sustav prava nacionalnih manjina, ona u nekim područjima još nisu postigla punu primjenu, posebice u području pristupa tržištu rada ili ostvarenja prava na obrazovanje na manjinskom jeziku. Stoga se u radu tvrdi da bi upravo dosljedna primjena politike zabrane diskriminacije mogla pridonijeti ostvarenju svih propisanih manjinskih prava.A survey carried out by the Office of the Ombudsman in December 2009 about prejudices among the population against certain social groups and about the spread of discrimination identified a social distance between certain ethnic groups and the majority population of Croatia. A quarter of the respondents in the survey stated that they had experienced discrimination, while more than half of the members of national minorities in the sample said that they had been personally subjected to a form of discrimination. The respondents who reported being discriminated against by a public authority frequently stated their ethnicity and ethnic origin as the basis of discrimination. The obvious question is raised of whether existing anti-discrimination laws can enhance the exercise of national minority rights. The passing of the Anti-Discrimination Act in Croatia was a result of the pre-accession negotiations. In fact, by a series of policies and initiatives, the European Union promotes equality and anti-discrimination in areas such as employment, access to the labour market, access to health care, education, access to social benefits for endangered parts of the population or groups in the Member States. This is how, in the absence of a proclaimed minority policy, the EU enhances the protection of national minority rights in the Member States. Looking at the sources of international law prohibiting discrimination and the consolidated anti-discrimination policy of the EU in terms of content and related activities, the paper primarily tests the legal basis of anti-discrimination on the global level, as well as on the levels of the EU and of its Member States. Considering that the Republic of Croatia is a signatory to numerous international anti-discrimination instruments, the paper further investigates how the prohibition of discrimination is regulated in Croatian law, which anti-discrimination institutions there are, and in particular which anti-discrimination obligations make part of the process of accession to the EU. By interpreting the results of the survey into the attitudes and the level of awareness of discrimination and its manifestations, which applied the Bogardus Social Distance Scale in the Croatian context, the paper advocates the adoption of a more comprehensive anti-corruption policy as support to the exercise of minority rights in Croatia. Although there is a broad system of guaranteed minority rights, their full application is still lacking in some areas, in particular in the area of access to employment or receiving education in a minority language. In line with the above, the author believes that a consistent application of an anti-discrimination policy could contribute to full exercise of all minority rights laid down by the law

Equal Official Use of the Language and Script of National Minorities: Sources of National and International Law

U ovom članku predstavljaju se domaći i međunarodni izvori prava koji jamče ravnopravnu službenu uporabu jezika i pisma nacionalnih manjina. Oni, među ostalim, propisuju pravo na uporabu manjinskog jezika pri obraćanju tijelima vlasti te na isticanje javnih topografskih oznaka na manjinskom jeziku i pismu. Ostvarenje tih prava, doduše, podliježe određenim ograničenjima: potrebno je da je manjina tradicionalno ili u znatnijem broju nastanjena na području, da takav zahtjev odgovara stvarnoj potrebi ili da za njega postoji dostatno zanimanje manjina. Osim toga, i domaći i međunarodni izvori prava manjina upućuju na to da manjinske jezike i pisma u javnom prostoru treba rabiti na način koji neće rezultirati daljnjom podjelom među različitim etničkim zajednicama, nego će pridonositi razvijanju razumijevanja, solidarnosti, snošljivosti i dijaloga među njima.This paper presents sources of national and international law guaranteeing the right to equal official use of the language and script of national minorities. These sources, among other things, lay down the right to use a minority language when addressing government bodies and to put up public signs in a minority language and script. The exercise of these rights is, however, subject to certain restrictions: for this requirement to be in compliance with actual needs or for the minority to have sufficient interest in it, the minority will have had to have been residing in that territory for generations and or in significant numbers. Further, national and international sources of minority law indicate that minority languages and scripts should be used in public places in a manner that will not lead to further segregation between different ethic minorities, but contribute to the development of understanding, solidarity, tolerance and dialogue among them

Provedba izbora za članove vijeća i predstavnike nacionalnih manjina

Usvajanjem Zakona o izboru vijeća i predstavnika nacionalnih manjina u ožujku 2019. godine normirana je procedura izbora članova vijeća nacionalnih manjina i predstavnika nacionalnih manjina u jedinicama lokalne i područne (regionalne) samouprave. Institucija vijeća i predstavnika predstavlja, uz političke predstavnike manjina u predstavničkim tijelima općina, gradova i županija te u izvršnim tijelima jedinica lokalne i područne (regionalne) samouprave, model političke participacije nacionalnih manjina na lokalnoj i regionalnoj razini vlasti. Vijeća i predstavnici trebali bi osigurati da se interesi i potrebe pripadnika nacionalnih manjina uzimaju u obzir prilikom donošenja općih akata i prilikom kreiranja odluka jedinica lokalne i područne (regionalne) samouprave kojima se uređuju pitanja od značaja za nacionalnu manjinu. U ovom članku navode se nadležnost vijeća i predstavnika nacionalnih manjina, potom se opisuje procedura provođenja izbora za članove vijeća i predstavnika nacionalnih manjina u jedinicama lokalne, odnosno područne (regionalne) samouprave, analiziraju se prava i dužnosti članova vijeća i predstavnika nacionalnih manjina te se propituje zašto novo zakonsko normiranje izbora nije doprinijelo povećanju odaziva birača na izborima za članove vijeća i predstavnika nacionalne manjine. U pripremi ovoga članka korištena je metoda analize postojećih pravnih izvora i drugih sekundarnih izvora (studija i izvješća o ostvarivanju prava nacionalnih manjina, posebice o participaciji vijeća nacionalnih manjina u poslovima jedinica lokalne i područne (regionalne) samouprave)

The rights of minorities in international law

There are 8,000 languages spoken accompanied by similar number of distinct ethnic groups worldwide, while at the same time the Organization of United Nations comprises approximately 200 states. A discrepancy between a number of ethnic communities and sovereign political agents in the international arena implies that many ethnic, language or religious minority groups seek recognition and protection within states they inhabit. As a part of human rights agenda minority rights are guaranteed at the international level. Although the current international system presents a large set of provisions relevant to the protection of minorities, its main weakness is the fact that majority of them are not legally binding. This paper provides an introductory review on the minority protection regimes which have developed in the main international institutions (i.e. the United Nations, Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the European Union) in response to the demands of minority groups