MINELRES: ECMI Newsletter (September 2003)

[MINELRES moderator]

Original sender: William McKinney <mckinney@ecmi.de>


ECMI Newsletter No. 29
September 2003

CONTENTS

------------------------
1. Upcoming Activities and Events in October 2003
2. Highlights in September 2003
3. We introduce...the EU Accession and National Integration in Estonia
and Latvia project
4. News from ECMI Regional Offices
5. Staff news
6. New ECMI Publications
7. New acquisitions in the ECMI Library
-------------------------

-------------------------
1. Upcoming Activities and Events in October 2003
-------------------------

ECMI Regional NGO Resource Centre Kumanovo.
Consultative meeting between the members and the representative
of ECMI Regional Office Skopje, 3 October
http://www.ecmingonet.org.mk/
 
Meeting at Hotel "Centrobusiness" Vinica to formulate a draft
for Strategic plan of the ECMI Regional NGO Resource Centre
Kumanovo, October 12 & 13.
http://www.ecmingonet.org.mk/

ECMI Regional NGO Resource Centre Shtip. Consultative meeting
between the members and the representative of ECMI Regional
Office Skopje, October 12 & 16.
http://www.ecmingonet.org.mk/
 
ECMI Regional NGO Resource Centre Tetovo. Consultative meeting
between the members and the representative of ECMI Regional Office
Skopje, October 14.
http://www.ecmingonet.org.mk/

Round table on the issue of Partnership between NGOs and Media - 
experiences and new strategies at the premises of the ECMI Regional
NGO Resource Centre Bitola, October 15.
http://www.ecmingonet.org.mk/

Presentation by ECMI Regional Centre Kumanovo of project proposals at
a meeting with Donors, October 16.
http://www.ecmingonet.org.mk/

Minority Ombudsman Conference, October 16-17, Berlin.

The conference of members of the Minority Ombudspersons Network will
take place in Berlin, at the seat of the German Federal Ministry of the 
Interior, on 16 and 17 October 2003. 

Representatives of specialized Minority Ombudsperson institutions as
well as general Ombudsperson offices that routinely deal with minority
issues will gather in Berlin for a two-day conference, together with the
six members of the Team of Experts attached to the project and members
of the project team. The discussions will focus on three topics: (a)
Foundational Criteria for Specialized Minority Ombudspersons, (b) The
Mandate, Duties and Powers of Specialized Minority Ombudspersons, and
(c) The Functions of Specialized Minority Ombudspersons and Matters of
the Organization of their Offices. 

For further information on the project see
www.ecmi.de/doc/projects_action_3.html 

Contact: Dr. Alexander H. E. Morawa, Project Director

The Minority Ombudsperson Project is kindly sponsored by the German
Ministry of the Interior, the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and the Minister President of the Land of Schleswig-Holstein.

ECMI Kosovo/a:  Fourth Standing Technical Working Group Civic Forum
Meeting, Second Week of October, Pristina.
http://www.ecmikos.org/

 -------------------------
2. Highlights in September 2003
-------------------------

Briefing on Cyprus by Prof. Jan Asmussen of Eastern Mediterranean
University (North Cyprus), Kompanietor
 
------------------------
3. We introduce... the EU Accession and National Integration in Estonia
and Latvia project
------------------------

Accession to the EU and National Integration in Estonia and Latvia

This two-year project assisted international and regional organizations
such as the OSCE and the European Union in their efforts to facilitate
and secure the process of national integration in Estonia and Latvia in
order to avoid interethnic relations from derailing the democratic
process in these countries during their EU accession process. The
project sought to emphasize novel initiatives at all levels of
governance (local, regional, and national) aimed at ensuring equal
participation of members of non-dominant groups in all areas of public
authority. The project: 

- compared the different approaches to integration that have been
adopted by both states 

- assessed the progress that has been made in terms of integration in
Estonia and Latvia 

- highlighted regional and local initiatives to overcome exclusion
through participation in public life 

- proposed further action that can be taken to accelerate this process 

- participated through a series of workshops in monitoring and
developing further the new initiatives in the field of national
integration in Estonia and Latvia. 

The project was executed through a series of seminars and workshops.
The initial seminar took place in December 2000 in the German-Danish
border region and brought together MPs, government officials, local
government members and NGO representatives of Estonia and Latvia,
who were joined by international experts and ECMI staff members. The
delegations of Estonia and Latvia included representatives of Russian-
speakers. 

This seminar was followed by five workshops in Estonia and Latvia,
organized by ECMI together with local actors throughout 2001 and
2002. These meetings addressed the issues raised in the first meeting in
greater detail.

The project concluded in December 2002 with a formal review
conference in Flensburg, which considered the progress made in each
of the individual issue areas over the project period, and identified
further recommendations on the basis of this experience. The project
was directed by ECMI Senior Researcher Associate Priit Jarve. He
was supported by Visiting Research Associate Ms Aiste Skazinskaite
in 2001 and by Project Organizer Ms Ute Boesche-Seefeld in 2002. 

ECMI gratefully acknowledges the generous support for this project
from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany and the Lannungsfond,
Denmark. 

The following reports on this project can be downloaded at:
http://www.ecmi.de/doc/public_reports.html

ECMI Report #8
ECMI Report #10
ECMI Report #18
ECMI Report #33
ECMI Report #46
 
As a follow-on to this project, ECMI will organize, with the support 
of the Lannungsfond, Denmark, an international expert seminar on the
management of linguistic diversity in the Baltic states of Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania in 2003. 


----------------------------
4. News from ECMI Regional Offices
----------------------------

ECMI Kosovo/a Civil Society Project
http://www.ecmikos.org/

ECMI /Council of Europe Second session for the Pristina School of
Politics, 26-30 September, Skopje.

ECMI Kosovo/a Expert Groups in September:

The Economic Group received two presentations delivered by Kosovo
Trust Agency representatives John Johnson and Ilir Salihu. They also
had a presentation from a new owner (recent privitization) Hakif Gashi.
The main discussion of the group centered on the fate of the assets of
Socially Owned Enterprises (SOEs)-human and physical.

The Municipality Group prepared for the 6 October Meeting on
Municipality Reform.

The Education and Youth Group had a presentation and directed
discussion from Fehmi Ismajli, the former Director of the private school
sector in the Department of Education; a second presentation was made
by Aferdit Sula, the coordinator of the youth center in Gjilan.

The Human Rights Group had a presentation and discussion on the Rule 
of Law by John Cubbon of the UNMIK Legal Advisor's Office. A
second presentation followed on the Rule of Law: the Kosovar
Perspective, by Enver Hasani, international law professor of the
University of Pristina.
 
The Health and Social Welfare Group had presentations on Social Policy
by Stojanka Petkovic, Head of Kosovo Assembly Commission for Social
Welfare; and by Muhammed Gjosaj, Ministry of Labour and Social
Welfare; and by Lah Nitaj, Ministry of Social Welfare.

The Integration Group prepared and discussed a future strategy for
the implementation of their policy recommendations.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


ECMI Network for the Improvement of Interethnic Relations
in the Republic of Macedonia
http://www.ecmingonet.org.mk/

ECMI Regional NGO Resource Centre Shtip held a consultative meeting
between the members and the representative of the ECMI Regional Office
Skopje,  September 2

Meeting in the premises of the ECMI Regional NGO Resource Centre 
Gostiva between the Association of Albanian Women and parents of the
children-participants in the Recreational Summer Camp for Interethnic
Tolerance and Dialogue, September 2

Consultative meeting between the members and the representative of
ECMI Regional Office Skopje, ECMI Regional NGO Resource Centre 
Tetovo, September 4.

Exhibition of traditional dresses of the ethnic groups in Bitola,
organized by member of ECMI Regional NGO Resource enter Bitola -
"Chelebija", September 10.

Meeting of the Coordinative Body of ECMI NGO Network for the
Improvement of Interethnic Relations in the Republic of Macedonia,
September 11.

Visit of Mr Jonas Bergstrom, Senior Advisor, Division of Western
Balkans, Sida Stockholm to the ECMI Regional Office Skopje, ECMI
Regional NGO Centre Tetovo, and ECMI Regional NGO Centre
Gostivar, September 15.

Open Forum on the issue "Underage Delinquency and Law Regulations"
organized by Youth Cultural Centre Bitola, September 15.

Visit by the German EUFOR - Concordia, LFLT Gostivar to the ECMI
Regional NGO Resource Centre Gostivar, September 15 & 19.

Visit of Mr B Mossberg, Head, Division of Western Balkan of SIDA and
Ms. Annika Palo, Director-Development Cooperation, SIDA Skopje Office
to ECMI Regional Office in Skopje, September 17.

Meeting between Mr Zoran Stefanovski, representative of the Central
European and Euroasian Law Initiative, and members of the ECMI NGO
Network at the premises of the ECMI Regional NGO Resource Centre
Kumanovo, September 17.

ECMI Regional NGO Resource Centre Skopje. Consultative meeting
between the members and the representative of the ECMI Regional Office
Skopje, September 22.

Representatives of Prom Credit Bank meet with members of the ECMI
NGO Network at the premises of the ECMI Regional NGO Resource
Centre Tetovo, September 22.

Debate organized by ECMI NGO Network Member "Hendikep" as part of
the project "Organized is easier", September 29.

--------------------------------
5. Staff news
--------------------------------

Alexander Morawa is leaving ECMI in October. The staff of ECMI take this
opportunity to thank him for his excellent work and wish him the very
best for the future.
 
------------------------------
6. New ECMI Publications
------------------------------

ECMI Report #46
Poleschchuk, Vadim. National Integration in Estonia and Latvia:
2002-2003.
August 2003, 46 pp.,  appendix.
Download:
http://www.ecmi.de/doc/download/Report_46.pdf

ECMI Report #47
Holliday, Graham. "Kosovo/a Standing Technical Working Group", Training
Workshop and Study Visit - Council of Europe. August 2003, 28 pp.,
appendix
Download:
http://www.ecmi.de/doc/download/Report_47.pdf

ECMI Working Paper #17
Wolff, Stefan. The Ethnopolitical Dynamics of Elections. September 2003,
27 pp.,
appendix.
Download:
http://www.ecmi.de/doc/download/working_paper_17.pdf

ECMI Working Paper #18
Perry, Valery. Reading, Writing and Reconciliation: Educational Reform
in Bosnia and Herzegovina. September 2003, 106 pp., appendix.
Download:
http://www.ecmi.de/doc/download/working_paper_18.pdf

---------------------------------
7. New acquisitions in the ECMI Library
---------------------------------

Zielonka, Jan (ed.) (2002). Europe Unbound. Enlarging and reshaping
the boundaries of the European Union. Routledge Advances in European
Politics. London and New York: Routledge, 270 pp.

This book provides an analysis of the enlargement of the European Union
and examines issues from both a theoretical and political perspective.
The authors focus on the evolving scope and nature of borders in Europe.
They discuss how dilemmas of inclusion and exclusion could be handled in
the
new Europe; how new borders will change the geopolitical map; and who
should be in charge of border policing and administration. It also looks
at patterns of migration between current and future EU members; examines
ethnic minority problems in the applicant states; and analyzes the
threat of transnational crime across the borders of the Union. Special
attention is devoted to the eastern enlargement of the European Union.
This book draws upon such diverse fields as History, Sociology,
Political Science and International Relations and contains contributions
from an international range of respected academics. It includes "Ethnic
minorities and long-term implications of EU enlargement" by Andre
Liebich, and "Politics versus law in the EU's approach to ethnic
minorities", by Bruno de Witte.

Liotta, P.H. (2003). "Spillover Effect: Aftershocks in Kosovo, Macedonia
and Serbia". European Security 12 (1), 82-108.

The 1999 NATO intervention against Yugoslavia may prove to be a pivotal
event in European security. Yet much of former Yugoslavia seems to hover
in tenuous uncertainty, Kosovo remains an international protectorate\
and Macedonia's fate is uncertain. Specifically, aftershock events of
the post-Kosovo intervention led to a security degradation in Macedonia
in 2001 and seriously hampered the recovery efforts of Serbia after the
'October Revolution' of 2000. This article presents a broad problem-set
of dynamics that were and are driving forces in the shaping, analysis
and future direction of the European security architecture. Attempts to
explain conflict that focus too narrowly on ethnic differences or too
broadly evoke human justice as grounds for intervention will
consistently miss the strategic mark. There are indeed spillover effects
in Macedonia and in Serbia that have direct relations with the aftermath
of the 1999 Kosovo intervention.

http://ecmidb.aboutmedia.de/


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We hope you enjoyed this twenty-ninth issue of the ECMI Newsletter,
and we hope you will remember to tell interested colleagues about it.

If you have any comments or suggestions for improvement of this
newsletter, please contact William McKinney at:
mckinney@ecmi.de