Europe as a convergence engine -- heterogeneity and investment opportunities in emerging Europe

This paper provides empirical evidence that countries in emerging Europe reaped the benefits of international financial integration over the past 12 years by attracting sizeable foreign capital inflows and accelerating medium-term growth. But the aggregate pattern masks substantial heterogeneity across countries; namely, new European Union member states and the European Union candidate countries are different from the European Union neighborhood. The growth benefits are supported from both a flow and a stock perspective in terms of the link between foreign savings and growth. While foreign savings might in part substitute for national savings, the analysis finds that the channel to high growth in these countries is, primarily, through making possible the pursuit of investment opportunities that would otherwise remain unfunded; in turn, this seems to be intimately linked to the opportunities created by European Union membership. Although this conclusion does not disappear if the outlier observations of the credit boom period that preceded the financial crisis are dropped from the sample, it does suggest that these excesses did not play as positive a role for growth.Economic Theory&Research,Currencies and Exchange Rates,Achieving Shared Growth,Emerging Markets,Access to Finance

Urban identity as a sense and spur of development

The article elaborates the issue of urban identity as an important factor for raising urban attractiveness and spurring urban development in general. The elements of urban identity, such as the nature, culture and economy, are emphasized as basic and dominant, but their harmonization is crucial for achieving the objective of urban sustainability. The governance has the most important role in harmonizing the three elements by defining and implementing an integrated strategy, with all the challenges in transitional societies where administration is challenged with financial temptations of emerging free market and private investments. The public goods, cultural and natural heritage and assets are being threatened by private interventions thus endangering urban identity and its potentials for the future. The specific case is with big cities where multifarious identity is expected in particular city areas, with their geography, history and human activities, and prudent strategies are indispensable to identify specificities and orient urban development in proper directions. Careful coordination of social, cultural, environmental and economic facets asks for smart governance if big city is expected to succeed and sustain in terms of development. The article elaborates the issue of human perceiving the identity, its dynamics and changes due to changes in a value system, as well as the relation between urban identity and urban economy. The final consequence of harmonized elements making urban identity is sustainability of towns and cities

Јазик Словенски во старословенските текстови (IX – XIV век)

The aim of this article is to proceed the term ѩнзыкъ словѣньскый (in both meanings: Slavic people and Slavic language) within the frame of Slavic sources during the period of Middle Ages. It is a common impression that until the end of XIII century, , the term “Slavs” meant one people with one language, living in different states, but starting from XIV century,a new tendency can be noticed. Namely the Old-Slavic language been called with the names of states in which it was used: Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian and etc. This new names were used like synonyms of the Slavic language, which was still understood as one; actually there was no idea of existence of separate Slavic languages. There is some changes by the late Middle Ages, when the idea of existing of more than one Slavic peoples appeared

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONCEPTIONS OF ETHNOGENESIS IN THE PEROD 1949-1970

The Development of the Conceptions of Ethnogenesis in the perod 1949-1970                                      &nbsp

INTERPRETATION OF THE ETHNOGENESIS IN THE WORKS OF THE MACEDONIAN MEDIEVALISTS IN THE 70S AND 80S OF THE LAST CENTURY

Interpretation of the ethnogenesis in the works of the Macedonian Medievalists In the 70s and 80s of the last centur

Фикцијата на објективните критериуми против правото на самоопределување: примерот на македонското малцинство во Бугарија

This article deals with the issue of suspending the right of self-determination and denial of minorities and ethnicities in some modern states dominated by ethno-national ideology. By leveraging the absence of generally accepted international definition of national minority and manipulation of "objective criteria" minorities are discriminated, actually in the name of defense of national myths. States seek to preserve for themselves the right to decide on the identity of the man using lack of definition and insisting on objective criteria. Such an approach reduces the self-determination of the person, to the possibility only to accept or reject the governmental decision even at the risk of being accused of disloyalty. The main generator of the problem occurs ethno-national definition of state, in which identity and loyalty become the same. Respecting the will of the person, and leaving the ethno-national definition of state have been seen as a possible solution. Keywords: right to self-determination, national minority identity, ethnicity, objective criteria, ethno nationalism, Macedonian minority, Macedonian language, history, Bulgaria

A Contribution towards the Ideology of MRO in 1897/1898: Two English Documents from January 1898

The article re/publishes and provides commentary upon two documents from a British Foreign Offices and a related public proclamation in the newspaper “Political freedom”, containing important information related to the early ideas of the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. The documents, that I presented, on this occasion, in original (in English) and in translation in Macedonian, contain information about a Manifestо of the “Secret Macedonian Revolutionary Committee”. In this article I focus my discussion on the questions of authorships and ideas of the Manifesto and their connection with Macedonian revolutionary organization (MRO). Placing them in the wider context, I provide argument in favor of a conclusion that this Manifesto is published by one of the numerous satellite “Secret Revolutionary committees” created by MRO in the period 1896 – 1898 in Bulgaria, and thus it reflects strongly upon the ideas of the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. Keywords: Manifesto, Secret satellite committees, Macedonian Revolutionary Organization

SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE IN THE NATIONAL SELF-IDENTIFICATION OF MACEDONIANS IN BULGARIA

Through the prism of “subjective” and “objective” criteria, this paper analyses the theoretical and practical problems associated with the self-identification of the Macedonians and the non-recognition of the Macedonian minority by the Bulgarian state. Realization of the fundamental natural subjective human right to independent and free national self-identification is extremely difficult in the absence of objective conditions, such as state guarantees aimed at the development of specific national minorities. The Bulgarian state not only does not provide any guarantees for the development of the Macedonian minority, but for many decades has denied the very fact of its existence in Bulgaria, which is consistently implemented in the lawmaking and enforcement activities of this state.  In result Macedonians cannot even register their own NGOs, which led to numerous decisions of ECHR against Bulgaria.The authors of the paper critically assess the Bulgarian state national ideology and politics, devoid of any signs of tolerance and not based on real, internationally recognized objective facts confirming the centuries-old existence of the Macedonian minority, the Macedonian language and culture on the territory of modern Bulgaria. In addition, the official state myths that the citizens of Bulgaria who identify themselves with the Macedonian national minority are enemies of theBulgarian people and the state, oppose against the unity of the Bulgarian nation, have no objective basis. The importance of international legal protection for the restoration of historical justice for the Macedonian minority and for the protection of its rights is emphasized. However, the authors regretfully note its insufficient effectiveness (in particular, none of the 14 decisions of the ECHR in favor of the Macedonian minority by Bulgaria has been implemented), and also formulate proposals aimed at increasing the effectiveness of international legal protection of the rights of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria as an important objective condition for changing the Bulgarian national policy.&nbsp