Suchergebnisse

For Croatia as an independent state, the regulation & the realization of the freedoms & rights of national minorities have become a major test & measure of the degree of the democratization of the society as well as one of the essential conditions for economic & political integration into Europe. Taking the Croatian legal framework as our starting point, the realization of the rights of national minorities in the Republic of Croatia can be viewed at four levels: cultural autonomy, education in minority languages & alphabets, proportional representation in government both at the national & the local level, & the cross-border cooperation of national minorities. A review of the condition of the rights of national minorities in Croatia shows that the cultural autonomy rights are optimally utilized, due to their good organization, by those national minorities that enjoyed those rights before the creation of the independent Croatia. The "new" national minorities are still organizing themselves in order to realize more fully their minority rights. A variety of European organizations & institutions that promote European stability & security are especially active in encouraging the protection of national minorities in Croatia. 2 Tables, 14 References. Adapted from the source document.

For Croatia as an independent state, the regulation & the realization of the freedoms & rights of national minorities have become a major test & measure of the degree of the democratization of the society as well as one of the essential conditions for economic & political integration into Europe. Taking the Croatian legal framework as our starting point, the realization of the rights of national minorities in the Republic of Croatia can be viewed at four levels: cultural autonomy, education in minority languages & alphabets, proportional representation in government both at the national & the local level, & the cross-border cooperation of national minorities. A review of the condition of the rights of national minorities in Croatia shows that the cultural autonomy rights are optimally utilized, due to their good organization, by those national minorities that enjoyed those rights before the creation of the independent Croatia. The "new" national minorities are still organizing themselves in order to realize more fully their minority rights. A variety of European organizations & institutions that promote European stability & security are especially active in encouraging the protection of national minorities in Croatia. 2 Tables, 14 References. Adapted from the source document.

In numerous European countries, majority nations & national minorities that live in them, aware of the complexity of relations between majorities & minorities in the ethnic sense & the ensuing dangers, have engaged in mutual accommodation & compromise, thus fashioning certain models of coexistence. Constitutional provisions of European states prove that there is no single model of recognition of the rights of national minorities. Still, European states may be divided into three groups: (1) those that advocate the constitutional principle of the integral nation & refuse to recognize any other ethnic origin of their citizens; (2) those that do not divide their ethnic communities into majority & minority ones, which means that they do not recognize the category of the national minority, but protect the ethnic identity of their members by distinguishing their citizens by the languages they use; & (3) those that recognize the notion of the majority nation & national minorities. The latter states have elaborated provisions regarding the rights of national minorities, particularly the protection of their national, cultural, religious, & linguistic identity, with major differences in the scope of individual rights. 6 References. Adapted from the source document.

The Partnership for Peace (PfP) was created by NATO in Brussels in 1994; an excerpt from the document spelling out membership conditions is quoted. Twenty-six countries joined PfP between 1994 & 2000; Croatia became its 26th member, & it also joined the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) as the 46th European country. A membership in both organizations is a significant event in the history of Croatia as an independent state. There are certain duties & tasks that the PfP membership imposed on this country; however, there already are positive results of cooperating with NATO within the PfP program. Z. Dubiel

In numerous European countries, majority nations & national minorities that live in them, aware of the complexity of relations between majorities & minorities in the ethnic sense & the ensuing dangers, have engaged in mutual accommodation & compromise, thus fashioning certain models of coexistence. Constitutional provisions of European states prove that there is no single model of recognition of the rights of national minorities. Still, European states may be divided into three groups: (1) those that advocate the constitutional principle of the integral nation & refuse to recognize any other ethnic origin of their citizens; (2) those that do not divide their ethnic communities into majority & minority ones, which means that they do not recognize the category of the national minority, but protect the ethnic identity of their members by distinguishing their citizens by the languages they use; & (3) those that recognize the notion of the majority nation & national minorities. The latter states have elaborated provisions regarding the rights of national minorities, particularly the protection of their national, cultural, religious, & linguistic identity, with major differences in the scope of individual rights. 6 References. Adapted from the source document.

The concept of security today frequently includes a whole set of different aspects of human existence & activity in society & nature. Conscious efforts to establish security is a civilizational & cultural category that encompasses all aspects of contemporary security such as economic, social, cultural, political, legal, ecological, & defensive, ie, all those manifestations of social life that come under the heading of social values. The efficiency of a national security system today not only testifies to the capacity of the state to protect its fundamental social values from external & internal perils, ie, to preserve peace & liberty, & to prevent danger & fear, but also to its ability to ensure economic, political, scientific, technological, & generally social development as well as people's social, cultural, ecological prosperity. Analyzing the national security of the Republic of Croatia in that context, it seems that not only has the process of democratic transition not been completed, it has not even properly commenced. In many areas, the institutions & relations that might guarantee the type of development in keeping with Croatia's diverse potentials have not been created. Croatia, as one of the last transition countries, is only at the beginning of the second alteration of government, the precondition for consolidation of a democratic regime. 12 References. Adapted from the source document.