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Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

Gromes (2009): The Prospect of European Integration and Conflict Transformation in Bosn... - 0 views

  • Abstract Conflict transformation means a change for the better that relates to the conflict object, the parties to the conflict and the way they pursue their antagonistic interests. This article investigates how the prospect of being integrated into the European Union can transform ethno-political conflicts over secession. It sketches out a framework of potential positive and negative impacts and it applies these considerations to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was offered the possibility of membership in 1999. Since 2002, the prospect of integration has furthered conflict transformation through setting incentives to put up with the contested common state, providing the parties to the conflict with a shared vision, and reinforcing the norms of democracy and non-violence. However, the EU could lose its constructive influence, if it ignores that some of its demands serve the interests of one side while they violate these of the other.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

25.06.09: Czech MPs mull suspension of Klaus' powers over Lisbon treaty - 0 views

  • The Czech social democrat party is discussing the possibility of suspending president Vaclav Klaus' powers if he does not sign the EU's Lisbon treaty. The temporary suspension would require a simple majority of 41 votes in the country's 81-seat senate and would allow caretaker prime minister Jan Fischer to sign the document instead.
  • The president's powers could be suspended on grounds that he is unable to discharge his official functions because he is trying to act above the law. "There is nothing in the constitution that gives the president the right to veto decisions of the country's highest institutions. Otherwise we could be considered as some kind of absolutist monarchy," former Constitutional Court judge Vojtech Cepl told newspaper Mlada fronta Dnes on Thursday (25 June).
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

09.09.09: The European Perspective of Iceland - Remarks by Ollie Rehn - 0 views

  • While we Nordics are eternal functionalists who tend to look at the pragmatic side of things, let me raise an issue which is in the minds of many Europeans as regards Iceland’s will to join the EU family. That is the question of European vocation. In other words, the European Union is not only a marriage of convenience. It is also a marriage of shared spirit and commitment to our common political endeavours, which aim at achieving peace through integration, and pooling our sovereignty for freedom and liberty, prosperity and solidarity, inside and outside Europe.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

25.03.09: Czech government defeat raises major Lisbon concerns - 0 views

  • The presidents of both the European Commission and the European Parliament on Wednesday (25 March) urged the Czech Republic to proceed with the ratification of the EU's Lisbon Treaty despite the fall of the Czech government the day before, while Czech deputy premier Alexandr Vondra admitted the ratification would now become "more difficult."
  • "I would like to urge all political leaders not to use this political crisis in a way to make the Lisbon Treaty hostage to domestic problems. That would not be fair to the other countries of Europe," Mr Barroso said at a press conference in Strasbourg.
  • The Czech Republic, Ireland, Germany and Poland comprise the four countries that have yet to complete the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.
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  • "From the European Parliament's perspective, it would be a tragedy for Europe if the Lisbon Treaty were to fall in one country, in a country that belonged previously to the Warsaw Pact," he said, referring to the organisation of Communist states in central and eastern Europe that existed from 1955 to 1991. "I cannot imagine that the Czech people, these 10 million people ... are going at the end of the day to stand against the 490 other million citizens of the European Union ... We have a historic responsibility to see this through," he added.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

Dzihic (2010): Ethnopolitik in Bosnien-Herzegowina: Staat und Gesellschaft in der Krise - 0 views

  • Dieses Buch liefert erstmalig im deutschsprachigen Raum eine systematische und aktuelle Grundsatzanalyse aller relevanten Entwicklungen in Bosnien-Herzegowina seit Dayton bis 2009. Es zeigt systematisch die "Fallen" von Dayton auf, nennt die Gründe für die anhaltende Ethnopolitik, liefert eine überzeugende Erklärung für die Schwächen der internationalen Gemeinschaft bei der Demokratisierung Bosniens und seziert jene Faktoren, die den Europäisierungsprozess behindern.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

20.02.10: Kosovo: Two years of Quasi-state - 1 views

  • Two years has gone since Kosovo Albanians declared their independence from Serbia. However calling to Kosovo needs country code 381 – which is Serbia – or by GSM 377 44 (via Monaco Telecom) or others via Serbian operators. This because as at this time, Abkhazia, Kosovo, Transnistria, Somaliland, South Ossetia and others are not in the ISO 3166-1 standard due the absence of recognition by the United Nations. Situation is one minor example about Kosovo “statehood”. Besides formalities – like that the province is administrated as international protectorate by foreign powers – the on the ground status is more complicated and even going more far away from drawing board ideals of Washington and Brussels.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

09.03.10: Commission: Icesave doesn't prevent Iceland from starting accession talks - 0 views

  • The issue of whether Iceland should reimburse the UK and the Netherlands €3.9bn lost by British and Dutch savers in the Icesave crash is a bilateral one and should not affect the country's EU accession prospects, Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle told the European Parliament yesterday (8 March).
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

14.03.10: European Integration And The Need For Reform In Bosnia - 0 views

  • Commentary about the Bosnia-Herzegovina is today dominated either by a focus on crises, which talks up the risk of violence, or an obsession with the EU enlargement process, which exaggerates the EU’s leverage in the region.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

15.04.10: Croatia apologises for Bosnian war crimes | EurActiv - 0 views

  • Addressing the national parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina during an official visit to Sarajevo on Wednesday (15 April), the Croatian president extended condolences and sympathy to every victim of the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), emphasising that every life lost was a loss for everybody.He said he would travel to Ahmici and Krizancevo Selo in the Lasva Valley on Thursday to pay his respects to victims "whose only sin was that they belonged to the other side and were different".
  • He added that a new era had come in which the mistakes from the past times should be recognised and a new course should be set bringing lasting peace, stability and prosperity to the region.Josipovic said a common European future is the best solution, adding that he was confident his country would soon become a European Union member. He underlined Croatia's support for its neighbours' EU membership bid."The European Bosnia-Herzegovina is a vital national interest of Croatia," Josipovic said.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

07.05.10: Expert: In Bosnia every reform fails due to corruption - 0 views

  • The EU should not give up on Bosnia and Herzegovina despite its ongoing internal divisions, yet the country must improve its legal system as governmental reforms simply fail as a result of corruption, Jan Havránek, an expert on security issues and a research fellow at the Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI), told EurActiv Czech Republic in an interview.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

23.04.10: EU states to put Serbia's membership bid on temporary hold - 0 views

  • Serbia's bid to become official candidate for accession to the European Union is likely to be delayed until autumn due to the Balkan country's intransigent position on Kosovo's status, WAZ.EUobserver has learned from well-informed diplomatic sources in Brussels. Member states have indicated they may again postpone processing Serbia's membership application, which Belgrade hopes to see happening in June. The reason is Serbia's intention to raise the question of Kosovo's status at the United Nations. Belgrade is waiting for the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the former Serbian province's declaration of independence, and has threatened to take it to the UN General Assembly.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

25.05.10: Bosnia tensions grow ahead of Balkan summit | EurActiv - 0 views

  • Officials from Bosnia and Herzegovina have traded accusations with representatives of the international community, who have been helping to manage the country since the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement. The development came just days ahead of a Western Balkans summit in Sarajevo on 2 June, intended to reaffirm the region's EU membership prospects.
  • Bosnian Prime Minister Nikola Spiric has written to the UN accusing the international community's envoy of destabilising his country, the local press reported on 23 May.Spiric urged United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to remove the international community's high representative in Bosnia, Valentin Inzko, who has the power to pass laws and sack officials in the country's two semi-autonomous entities, AFP reported."Continuing foreign intervention in local political issues is destabilising and undermines the creation of a consensus [...] as well as reform efforts," the Bosnian Serb leader is quoted as saying.The Office of the High Representative (OHR) "should be closed in order to enable Bosnian political leaders to achieve legitimate progress," he said, saying that Inzko, an Austian diplomat, was "contributing to non-functional governance in Bosnia".In return, Inzko blamed leaders of Bosnia and Herzegovina for what he called a "deterioration" of political dialogue.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

31.12.10. European Parliament urged to pass resolution condemning Hungary's new media law - 0 views

  • Despite unanimous opposition from leading media freedom organizations, the Hungarian parliament has adopted a controversial law overhauling the state-owned media and creating a Media Council with utterly disproportionate powers. The law was passed by an overwhelming majority of votes (256 to 87) on 21 December. Appointed directly by the government, the Media Council’s five members will not only have a right of oversight but also the authority to impose heavy fines (of up to 700,000 euros for a TV station and 89,000 euros for an online publication) for content that is “not politically balanced” or “violates human dignity.” The council can also punish offences against religion and the nation, while journalists can be forced to reveal their sources when national security is involved. Although the government intends to ensure “fair balance” in the media, it has not respected this principle in its choice of Media Council members, who all belong to the ruling Fidesz party. The council is supposed to enforce “balance” but it will have no opposition representatives. “Our organization, a 2005 Sakharov Prize laureate, urges the European Parliament’s president and bureau to make discussion of this law an emergency item on the next plenary session’s agenda,” Reporters Without Borders said.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

:: Portál sdružení EUROPEUM :: - 0 views

  •  
    "Welcome to Europeum Institute for European Policy website EUROPEUM Institute for Europan Policy is a think-tank that undertakes programme, project, publishing and training activities related to the European integration process. " EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy is a non-profit, non-partisan and independent institute. It focuses on the issues of European integration and its impact on the transformation of political, economic and legal milieu in the Czech Republic. EUROPEUM strives to contribute to a long-lasting development of democracy, security, stability, freedom and solidarity across Europe. EUROPEUM formulates opinions and offers alternatives to internal reforms in the Czech Republic with a view of ensuring her full-fledged membership and respected position in the European Union.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

20.10.09: Talks try to end Bosnian deadlock - 0 views

  • Leaders of Bosnia's divided communities are meeting to try to end years of political stalemate and reduce the danger of renewed conflict.European Union and United States representatives are mediating the talks in Sarajevo. The aim is to bring in constitutional reform and prepare Bosnia for eventual EU and NATO membership. But the Bosnian Serbs strongly oppose any moves that would jeopardise their desire for more autonomy.
  • The high representative in Bosnia is an international figure with considerable domestic power. The current incumbent, Valentin Inzko, has described the situation in the country as serious. "Bosnia is in a state of paralysis," he told the BBC. "Things are not moving at the moment. And I deeply regret all this nationalist rhetoric. It's not helpful, it's destructive and many, many wars have started with bad rhetoric. So we should really avoid it."
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

13.11.09: EU reforms provide firmer foundation for enlargement - 0 views

  • Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said in Bucharest on Thursday that he trusted the forthcoming reforms of the European Union would provide a firmer foundation for the Union's enlargement in the Western Balkans, and pointed out the importance which the Central European Initiative (CEI) had in that process. Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said in Bucharest on Thursday that he trusted the forthcoming reforms of the European Union would provide a firmer foundation for the Union's enlargement in the Western Balkans, and pointed out the importance which the Central European Initiative (CEI) had in that process.
  • The intent of the CEI founders was to seize the initiative and exercise leadership in consolidating the gains of 1989. It ended up being only a partial success, for the Western Balkans soon took a wrong turn. A missed opportunity led to a great tragedy. After a devastating decade of war, and political and economic isolation, democracy arrived in our lands, raising the prospect of completing the European construction. Today, we are hopeful of success; we feel it is within our reach. We know the world is in the midst of another transformative period, in some ways comparable to 1989. This time, we are determined not to let events pass us by. We stand resolute in wanting to join the European Union as soon as possible. This is the central strategic priority of the Republic of Serbia.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

01.12.09: The Dark Side Of Lisbon - 0 views

  • Far from injecting new impetus into the European Union's foreign policy, the Lisbon Treaty, which came into force on December 1, is likely to further sap its effectiveness.As a result of the treaty's coming into effect, the institutional underpinnings and basic assumptions of EU foreign policy now require adjustment in a manner that will diminish the importance of its communal (also described, variously, as the supranational, federalist, or integrationist) element.
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