The role of the European Union (EU) trade liberalisation with the Western Balkans — namely Kosovo, Montenegro, Albania, and Macedonia — is overestimated, as major benefits could be expected mainly from institutional reforms rather than trade creation and economic perspective due to low economic development and a lack of comparative advantages in these countries.1 The core issue to be addressed in this article is whether these firms can exploit the opportunities arising from the EU integration process. The aim of this article is to confirm the hypothesis that the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) and trade agreements in the Western Balkans are not sufficient pre-conditions for successful performance and increase of exports by local firms; the main focus should be on the internal performance of firms. The paper analyses and compares the data collected by surveys conducted with local firms in Kosovo in order to measure the impact of the SAA. Finally, the article suggests that in the short and medium run the SAA could support and improve the quality of products, technical standards, and firm competitiveness as a pre-condition for better access to the EU market in the long run. ; The role of the European Union (EU) trade liberalisation with the Western Balkans — namely Kosovo, Montenegro, Albania, and Macedonia — is overestimated, as major benefits could be expected mainly from institutional reforms rather than trade creation and economic perspective due to low economic development and a lack of comparative advantages in these countries.1 The core issue to be addressed in this article is whether these firms can exploit the opportunities arising from the EU integration process. The aim of this article is to confirm the hypothesis that the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) and trade agreements in the Western Balkans are not sufficient pre-conditions for successful performance and increase of exports by local firms; the main focus should be on the internal performance of firms. The paper analyses and compares the data collected by surveys conducted with local firms in Kosovo in order to measure the impact of the SAA. Finally, the article suggests that in the short and medium run the SAA could support and improve the quality of products, technical standards, and firm competitiveness as a pre-condition for better access to the EU market in the long run.
The protracted conflict in Kosovo has led to the European Union's special concern on the issue, specifically its special activities in the entire area of the Western Balkans with the aim of fully Europeanizing the area and bringing it closer to European integration. The period from the 1980s was a kind of turning point for Kosovo, given that the changed constitutional possibilities in the then state gave the opportunity for independence and the establishment of the state of Kosovo. The understanding of the entire Kosovo issue needs to be observed from the historical aspect and the role of the international community. In general, the state of Kosovo was created mainly based on international action, which laid the foundations for the establishment of a modern European state. In this process, the Ahtisaari Plan and Resolution 1244 from 1999, from which the European Union derives its activities, played a particularly important role. Until now, Kosovo has gone through three periods – that of political unrest until the 1990s, the intensive actions of the international community until the 2000s, and the period of the European Union, which is still ongoing, more precisely, only beginning since Kosovo has signed the Stabilization and Association Agreement. The European Union has a significant impact on the further development of the state of Kosovo in terms of the rule of law, the establishment of democratic standards, and the strengthening of transparent government. Profiling itself as an important global factor in peace and stability, the European Union in Kosovo has achieved the results that are visible through the EULEX mission and the actions of the High Representative of the European Union in Kosovo, as well as all other European Union institutions. At the end of the second decade of this century, the influence of the United States of America in Kosovo, which has never lost interest in establishing peace and stability in this area, is growing again. That is the reason why joint action by the United States of ...
Ovaj rad će analizirati kako i u kojoj mjeri države kandidatkinje, tj. Crna Gora usklađuje svoju vanjsku politiku sa ZVSP-om i ZSOP-om. Teorijski okvir će biti formiran oko dva temeljna alternativna koncepta – upravljanje iz pozicije države i višerazinsko upravljanje. Također, u radu će se ukratko prikazati kako je Lisabonski ugovor utjecao na ZVSP i ZSOP i stvorio ono što imamo danas. Nakon toga, predstavit će se usklađivanje crnogorske vanjske politike s EU, s posebnim naglaskom na nametnute sankcije u odnosu na na situaciju u Ukrajini, zbog višeslojnih odnosa između Crne Gore i Rusije. Sve ovo treba nam omogućiti zaključak utječu li i do koje mjere ZVSP i ZSOP na crnogorsku vanjsku politiku i njene postulate. ; The preamble of the Montenegrin constitution states that the Montenegrins are committed to European integrations, and that they share the same values and aims with the people of Europe. The government of Montenegro confirmed dedication to the European path by signing on 15 October 2007 a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA ), thereby accepting responsibility for its European future. Montenegrin European path is advancing steadily and until now eighteen of thirty-five negotiating Chapters have been opened, out which two Chapters have been provisionally closed. EU Member states devoted themselves to the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), as well as to the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), with which they are strengthening the EU 's external ability to act through the development of civilian and military capabilities in conflict prevention and crisis management. The acquis consists of political declarations, decisions and agreements, and member states must be able to support political dialogue in the framework of the policies, to align with EU statements, to take part in EU decisions and to apply agreed sanctions and restrictive measures. Montenegrin officials stated that, with respect to the EU policies vis-à-vis other third countries and regions, the country would not have difficulties in implementing CFSP and CSDP positions, yet, they expressed their commitment to be ready to fully and actively participate in the EU 's policies by the date of accession. Montenegro, also colloquially called 'the EU 's good student', in its accession process is already aligning with the EU 's policies. This paper will conduct an analysis with respect to how and to what extent the candidate countries, i.e. Montenegro is aligning its foreign policy with the EU 's CFSP and CSDP. Theoretical framework will be built around two basic alternative conceptions – state-centric governance and multi-level governance, which will establish a base for our further analysis. Also, this paper will briefly present how the treaty of Lisbon impacted the CFSP and CSDP and created what we have today. Afterwards, I will present all alignments of the Montenegrin foreign policy with the EU 's, with a special emphasis on the imposed sanctions in view of the situation in Ukraine, due to the multi-layered ties between Montenegro and Russia. All this should enable us to draw a conclusion if and to what extent EU 's CFSP and CSDP are affecting and changing Montenegrin foreign policy and its postulates.
This paper analyses the political background of the departure of the Croatian Heritage Foundation's (CHF) delegation to Australia in summer 1971, i.e. the political reasons behind it and the purpose of the visit. Believing their influence among the expatriates to be great, the CHF decided to use an opportune moment of political divisions among the expatriates in order to neutralise the influence of the political émigrés among the expatriates while simultaneously attempting to gain the support of most expatriates for building closer ties with the homeland and accepting its socialist social-political system. The political divisions among the expatriates, the so-called differentiation process, was a consequence of political differences among the émigrés themselves, the arrival of new expatriates, and the positive influence of political movements in Croatia during the Croatian Spring. This process was particularly prominent in Australia, which was also seen as a bastion of reactionary expatriates, strongly influenced by Croatian political émigrés. The CHF delegation's journey was planned in agreement with political factors from the Socialist Republic of Croatia. The tenets of the Tenth Session of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Croatia and the climate of the Croatian Spring—which included a strengthening of Croatian identity at the expense of Yugoslav identity among expatriates—served as their political milestones. The Football Federation of Croatia worked with the CHF in Croatia, while the managements of the football clubs 'Croatia', Croatian associations that split off from Croatian Halls owned by political émigrés, Committees of the Croatian Cancer League, the 'Croatian Youth' organisation, and parts of the clergy and the pro-Yugoslav émigrés who were ready to work with the rest of the Croatian expatriates were all seen as potential collaborators. The Yugoslav diplomatic missions and consular posts were seen as the factors that should spearhead the differentiation process, but were also ...
RIJEČ UREDNIŠTVAU Večernjem listu početkom studenog čitali smo tekst Premjera iz njegovog izlaganja na sjednici Rektorskog zbora u sklopu Rasprave o odluci Vlade RH o programskom financiranju javnih Visokih učilišta u Ak. god. 2018-/2019. – 2021/2022. U jednom dijelu teksta on pita i procjenjuje da je akademska zajednica "vidljiva" za oko 0,3 % populacije, što je katastrofalno. Stoga poziva na veći društveni, javni angažman, koji može biti i sto posto kritičan prema Vladi – važno je biti vidljiviji i čuti se u društvu, ali i biti prezentiran od ljudi "s imenom", a ne onih "bezimenih", što je najčešći slučaj. Ako to usporedimo sa šumarskom strukom, nismo daleko od sličnoga postotka "vidljivosti" u društvu, pa bi ovo mogao biti i poziv šumarskoj struci. Ako je ta vidljivost veća, ona je ponajčešće negativnoga predznaka, a struka je zapostavljena. Počesto je struka prezentirana od šumarsko "bezimenih" ljudi ili pak od nedovoljno šumarski educiranih novinara koji teže ponajprije aferama. To se odnosi i na volontere raznih "zelenih udruga" koji nisu spremni slušati struku i promijeniti svoje zacementirano mišljenje o šumarskoj struci, unatoč pojašnjenju stručnih zahvata u šumi. Ne poštuje se činjenica da šumarska struka već preko dva i pol stoljeća gospodari šumom po načelima potrajnog gospodarenja, i da ona na velikoj površini zadovoljava sve kriterije posebne zaštite. Tko je onda, ako ne šumari, zaslužan za status i rang zaštitnih područja i od koga to treba čuvati šumu?Na državnoj razini nema argumentirane rasprave o šumarstvu i šumi, o njenoj važnosti, kako o klasično sirovinsko gospodarskoj grani gospodarstva, tako i o njenoj ulozi s ekološko zaštitnog i socijalno zdravstvenog stajališta. Uz već više puta spomenutu činjenicu kako je šumarstvo izbačeno iz naziva resornog ministarstva, unatoč podatku da je 47 % kopnene površine RH pokriveno šumom, što inducira važnost struke, u jednom od napisa u ovoj rubrici kritizirali smo činjenicu da je šumarstvo unutar resornog ministarstva svedeno na razinu primjerice mljekarstva, povrćarstva i sl. Nažalost, sada nije niti na toj razini. Pisali smo o netržišnom gospodarenju glede prodaje drvnih sortimenata, i tako već nažalost uvriježenom terminu o raspodjeli drvnih sortimenata. Raspodjela drvnih sortimenata i tržišno gospodarenje su dva suprotna pojma. No, pitanje je kako tržišno gospodariti kada su prethodna rukovodstva Hrvatskih šuma d.o.o. potpisala višegodišnje ugovore po načelu raspodjele, koje je bez posljedica teško mijenjati. Kako pak pokriti troškove uzgojnih, uređivačkih i zaštitarskih radova iz tako smanjenih prihoda, a ne "preskakati" ih? Glede racionalne uporabe drvne sirovine i njene kvalitete koja u raznim fazama prerade osigurava dodanu vrijednost i zapošljavanje, posebice visoko stručnih kadrova, ne navode se podaci. Npr. u promidžbenom spotu "Ambijente" vidjeli smo uglavnom ojastučeni namještaj bez drvnih elemenata. Kada se drvni sektor hvali proizvodnjom namještaja i izvozom, nigdje ne vidimo podatke o proizvodnji primarne prerade (furnira, masivnog drva, panela i sl.) i njenoj uporabi u domaćoj proizvodnji, regala, ostalog sobnog i kuhinjskog namještaja te kojih i koliko je drvnih sortimenata završilo u domaćoj finalnoj preradi.Zašto smo i pod čijim pritiscima odustali od uspješnog integralnog gospodarenja šumama koje uključuje sporedne i prateće djelatnosti u šumarstvu, koje imaju značajan udio u prihodu primjerice austrijskih šuma, a osiguravaju i veću zaposlenost? Interesantno bi bilo raspraviti, kako su, zašto, kome, na koje vrijeme i po kojoj cijeni dani u koncesiju razni objekti, npr. odmarališta za radnike, koji su se odricali dijela svojih prihoda da bi sagradili i koristili te objekte. Koliko je to promijenilo njihov socijalni status, a skloni smo pričama o brizi za čovjeka i obitelj. O svemu tome i mnogo čemu još nema rasprave, a mi krajem svake godine zaželimo da se u idućoj godini značajnije promijeni status šumarstva. Kako nada umire posljednja, tako mi i na kraju ove godine priželjkujemo pozitivne promjene, čestitajući našim čitateljima Čestit Božić i uspješnu 2019. godinu.Uredništvo ; EDITORIALAt the beginning of November, the Evening Paper (Večernji list) published a speech by the Prime Minister given at a meeting of the Rector's Collegium held to discuss the Government decision related to funding higher education programmes in the academic year 2018/2019 - 2021/2022. In one part of the text the Prime Minister observes that the academic community is "visible" to about 0.3 % of the population, which is devastating. Therefore, he calls for a greater social and public involvement, which can be 100 % critical to the Government. What is important is to be seen and heard by the society, but also to be presented by people "with a name" instead of by "no-name" persons, which is a typical occurrence. If transposed to the forestry profession, we are not far from a similar "visibility" percentage; therefore, this could also be an appeal to the forestry profession. In cases in which visibility is higher, it usually carries a negative prefix, while the profession is in the background. The profession is often presented by "no-name" foresters, or by journalists who are insufficiently educated in forestry matters and who are mainly interested in scandals and affairs. The same goes for volunteers in various "green associations", who are not prepared to listen to the profession and to change their deeply rooted opinions about the forestry profession. In vain are all attempts to inform them about professionally and expertly executed forestry operations. No heed is paid to the fact that the forestry profession has managed forests according to the principle of sustainable management for over two and a half centuries and that it meets all the criteria of special protection over a large area. Who then, if not foresters, should be in charge of the status and rang of protected areas and who should a forest be protected from?There are no reasoned discussions about forestry and forests at the state level, nor is there any mention of its importance as the classical primary sector of economy and of its ecological-protective and social-health role. We have already mentioned several times that the word 'forestry' was omitted from the name of the sector ministry despite the fact that 47 % of the landed area of the Republic of Croatia is covered with forests, which should indicate the importance of the profession. In one of the articles in this column we criticized the fact that within the competent Ministry forestry has been reduced to the level of dairy production, fruit production and similar. Regrettably, it has lost even this status now. We have also written about non-market sale of wood assortments and the already established term "distribution of wood assortments". Distribution of wood assortments and market management are two completely opposite notions. However, how can market management be applied in view of the fact that the previous management boards of Croatian Forests Ltd signed long-term agreements on the principle of distribution, which are hard to change without heavy consequences? How can the cost of silvicultural, management and protective operations be covered from such small profits and not be "skipped over"? As for the rational use of raw material and its quality, which ensures additional value and employment to highly educated people in particular, there is no data. For example, the promotional spot of the "Ambijenta" furniture fair showed mainly upholstered furniture without any wooden elements. When the wood sector brags about the production and export of furniture, there is no data about primary processing production (veneer, massive wood, panelling OPLATA and others) and its use in the domestic production of massive cabinets and other room and kitchen furniture, nor is there any data about which and how many of wood assortments have ended up in the domestic final processing. Why have we and under whose coercion retracted from successful integral forest management which includes auxiliary and secondary activities in forestry and which contributes significantly to the profit of e.g. Austrian forests, as well as increases employment? It would be interesting to discuss how, why, to whom, for what period and at what price have concessions been granted on various facilities, such as, for example, workers' resorts, which workers themselves built from a part of their income so as to be able to use them? We like to talk about the care for workers and their families, but how much has this fact alone changed their social status? There are many more topics to discuss here. Our wish at the end of every year is for the status of forestry to change for the better in the year to come. As hope dies last, we again expect positive changes in the next year and wish our readers Merry Christmas and a Happy and Successful New Year 2019.Editorial Board
