The Discovery of the Balkans

The Balkans were "discovered" by European travelers only from the late eighteenth century on, with the beginning of an awareness that the European possessions of the Ottoman Empire had a distinct physiognomy of their own that merited separate attention apart from their treatment as mere provinces of the Ottomans or simply as archaeological sites. Until then, the Ottoman Empire was treated as unity in Europe and Asia.....

to be continued...

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The Idea of Civil Society in Russia

Many observers have paid close attention to a severe lack of genuine democratic tradition in Russian politics and society. Russian society is considered to be of a traditional type of civilization, opposed to modern capitalist in terms of civil society vs. submissive or servile society. In Russia, as in other traditional peasant societies under bureaucratic-authoritarian regimes and with no civil society, only various cliques and fractions struggling for higher office appeared.

Many Polish and Western authors saw premises for the Soviet totalitarianism in the Russian autocratic and collectivist traditions. Russian authors, however, saw the origin of Soviet despotism erroneously in the ideology of Western Marxist utopias. Jaroslaw Bratkiewicz noticed that the Russian reception of Marxism appealed first of all to common components of the Russian collectivist and autocratic consciousness. He saw that the Soviet dictatorship was consistent with the popular aspiration of the Russian people marked by oriental passivity. In Russia, the economy and social life were regulated and controlled by the omniponent State which only occasionally permitted for brief periods of "thaw" and limited, pro-Western liberalization.

So civil, democratic traditions in the Russian society, unlike the Western and even Polish societies, have been very weak. In Russia, soon after the French Revolution censorship forbade using the words "citizen" and even "society". Russia had no important tradition of liberalism, and the alienable rights of man were never appreciate there. Rather it was claimed that everyone is a servant of the State: the conservative-authoritarian tradition did not tolerate the spirit of citizen independent. "The Russian political culture", wrote the Soviet former Fiodor Burlatski, "did not tolerate pluralism of views or the responsibility of criticizing state functionaries. Only after 1905 was a small breach made in the wall. But even then it was not allowed in fact to criticize either tsar, tsardom, or the existing political system."

The term "civil society" was used also by Boris Chicherin (1824-1904), the main ideologist of liberal conservatism in Russia. Chicherin followed the essential points of Hegelian social philosophy. According to Andrzej Walicki, "he conceived of civil society as a sphere of conflicting private interests, that is, as sphere of economic freedom, individualism and privacy...he agreed with Hegel on inseparability of civil society and law, treating civil society as a "juridicial association" sitauted between the family and the state."

The Russian tradition of an omniponent state survived and was even intensified after the Bolshevik revolution, chiefly in the stalinist era. Undoubtedly the lack of a solid, organized civil society hampered the development of democracy, glasnosts, and vice versa. It was Antonio Gramsci, among others, who noticed great differences between Russia and Western Europe in these matters: "In Russia the state was everything and civil society was primordial and gelatinous; in the West there was a proper relation between the state and civil society, and when the state trembled the sturdy section of civil society was at onced revealed. The state was only an outer ditch, behind which was a powerful system of fortress and earthwork."

Sources: Eugeniusz Gorski. 1997. Civil Society, Pluralism, and Universalism. CRVP.

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Why Athens to be the Greek capital?

The choice of Athens as capital, a town dominated by the imposing ruins of the Parthenon and with its associations with the glories of the Periclean age but in the early 1830s little more than a dusty village, symbolised the cultural of orientation of the new state towards the classical past. It was only towards mid-century that interest developed in Greece's medieval, Byzantine past and attempts were made to link the classical, medieval and modern periods of Greek history in a theory of unbroken continuity. The fixation on the classical past was reflected in the great emphasis that was laid in the school and in the University of Athens on the study of the culture of ancient Greece and on the katharevousa, or purifying form of the language, a stilted construct that blighted the schooling of generations of children. 

Source: Richard Clogg. 2002. A concise history of Greece. Cambridge University Press.

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Financial Transition in ECA Countries

One of the key themes that run through the book is developed in the context of the chapters by De Laroisiere and Padoa-Schioppa. De Laroisier's chapter makes the point that ECA countries can no longer be considered as a homogenous group. A two-speed ECA clearly has emerged. The faster reformers - mainly the countries of Central Europe and the Baltics - are those countries that aspire to asced to the European Union (EU), an aspiration that is providing a major impetus to the reform effort. The other group - predominantly the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia - are those countries that still have, even 10 years into the transition,  fundamental reforms to undertake in the financial sector. Padoa-Schioppa develops this teme further, stressing that even in the case of the fast reformers the catch-up process with the EU is not a simple one.

In the first decade of financial transition, governments - supported by the international financial institutions and bilateral aid progras - put considerable effort into the establishent of capital markets, particularly the stock market compnent. Such markets were viewed as being the cornerstone of market-based financial systems. Although infrastructure for most ECA stock markets are now poised to play an important role in the next decade of transition, or whether they are more likely to go into decline or be absorbed into larger international stock exchanges.

The role of the financial sector in all countries is of paramount importance. Banks are the inter-mediation agents between savings and investment, and only solid institutions are able to attract deposits and to channel them in a professional way toward productive opportunities. Efficiency of the banking sector and financial markets is a well-recognized fator of lasting growth.

Source: Alexander Fleming, Lajos Bokros, and Cari Votava. 2001. Financial transition in Europe and Central Asia: challenges of the new decade.

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Chronological Periods of Hungary

 Photo by www.merriam-webster.com/maps

The first period of Hungarian history in the Carpathian Basin (896-1301) was dominated by the dynasty of the chief conquering prince, Arpad. Under his successors, Hungarians accepted Latin Christianity and developed economic and political institutions following western European models but always modified them to suit their customs and local conditions. The hungarian feudal system resembled, but was not the same as, the French and German variants.

The next historical period, the roughly two hundred years between the death of Andrew II, the last Arpad, in 1301 and Hungary's defeat by the Ottomans in 1526, saw rulers from Bohemia, Bavaria, Luxemburg, Austria, Poland, and Naples on the throne of Hungary. The one exception to this stream of foreign rulers was the reign of Matthias I Corvinus of the Hunyadi family (1342-1382).

The First World War brought what Hungarians consider the third major catastrophe in their history. The Peace Treaty of Trianon detached from Hungary (excluding Croatia) 67 percent of the territory and 58 percent of her population. This loss, and reaction to the country's short-lived Communist regime in 1919, made inter-war Hungary revisionist and right wing. That under these circumstances Hungary gravitated into first Mussolini's, then Hitler's orbit was anything but surprising, and the country wound up on the losing side of the Second World War as well.

As did most countries in East-Central and Southeastern Europe, Hungary began its most recent historical period as a socialist state, under the thumbs of Stalin and his local satraps. A period of erroneous economic reforms, police terror, and all other features of typical Stalinist regimes led, finally, to the uprising of 1956.

Source: Peter F. Sugar, Peter Hanak, Tibor Frank. 1994. A History of Hungary. University of Chicago Press: USA.

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Sengketa Wilayah Slavonia Timur

Slavonia Timur adalah sebuah wilayah yang memiliki luas 850 mil persegi yang berada di wilayah timur negara Kroasia, berbatasan dengan Serbia. Daerah tersebut memiliki sejumlah potensi, antara lain industri ringan, pertanian, dan penghasil minyak paling utama pada masa Yugoslavia (menghasilkan 5.200 barrel minyak per hari pada dekade 1980an). Sebelum terjadi perang pada tahun 1991 Slavonia Timur menjadi tempat bagi 150.000 penduduk etnis Kroasia, Hungaria, dan muslim, serta 68.000 orang Serbia.

Pada tahun 1991 Slavonia Timur menjadi lokasi pertempuran antara etnis Kroasia dan Serbia. Paramiliter Serbia yang didukung oleh Tentara Yugoslavia Serbia (JNA) berperang melawan tentara Kroasia untuk merebut daerah tersebut. Vukovar, yang menjadi ibukota Slavonia Timur, diduduki oleh tentara Yugoslavia dalam agresi militer yang berlangsung selama empat bulan. Tentara Serbia Kroasia kemudian mengambilalih Slavonia Timur, memaksa ribuan orang Kroasia keluar dari daerah tersebut dan tinggal di kamp-kamp pengungsian, baik di dalam maupun di luar wilayah Kroasia. Pengadilan perang internasional di Den Haag, Belanda, mengajukan tuntutan kepada tiga orang pejabat penting JNA atas tuduhan telah melakukan pembunuhan lebih dari 200 tawanan Kroasia di luar kota Vukovar.

Sepanjang tahun 1995 tentara Kroasia menjalankan aksi ofensif untuk merebut kembali wilayah yang dikuasai oleh Serbia, kecuali Slavonia Timur. Basic Agreement on the Region of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Sirmium (atau Erdut Agreement) yang berlaku sejak tanggal 12 November 1995 memberikan integrasi damai atas wilayah Slavonia Timur kepada pihak Kroasia. Erdut Agreement tersebut meminta Dewan Keamanan utuk menetapkan pemerintahan transisi atau membantu pelaksanaan perjanjian tersebut. PBB menindaklanjuti permintaan tersebut dengan membentuk UN Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) pad tanggal 15 Januari 1996 melalui Resolusi Dewan Keamanan PBB No. 1037.

Referensi:
Peaceful Stabilization Force (SFOR) (1997). Bosnia Country Handbook. DIANE Publishing.

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The Royal City of Novi Sad

 Petrovaradin Fortress

Novi Sad is a city situated in Vojvodina Province, Serbia. It is the administrative center of the province. Novi Sad placed on the second largest city in the country after Beograd.

Since it was founded in 1694, Novi Sad became the center of Serbian culture and earned its nickname "Serbian Athens". At present, Novi Sad is one of large industrial and financial centers of the Serbian economy, and is also a notable construction site in the region.

Ratzen Stadt (1745)

At the outset of Hasburg rule near the end of the 17th century, people of Orthodox faith were forbidden from residing in Petrovaradin, thus Serbs were largely unable to build homes there. Because of this event, a new settlement was founded in 1694 on the left bank of the River Danube. The initial name of this settlement was Serb City (Ratzen Stadt). Another name used for the settlement was Petrovaradinski Sanac. In 1718, the inhabitants of the village of Almas were resettled to Petrovaradinski Sanac, where they found Almaski Kraj (the Almas quarter).

According to 1720 data the population of Ratzen Stadt was composed of 112 Serbian, 14 German, and 5 Hungarian houses. The settlement officially gained the present name Novi Sad in 1748 when it became a "free royal city". The edict that made Novi Sad a free royal city was proclaimed on 1 February 1748 as Maria Theresa (Queen of Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Rama, Galicia, Lodomeria, Carinthia) gave the city rights.

Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj Grammar School (est. 1810)

Today Novi Sad is the economic center of Vojvodina Province. It is also one of the largest economic and cultural centers in Serbia and the former Yugoslavia.

Profile

Name: 

City of Novi Sad
Country: 

Serbia
Province: 

Vojvodina
District: 

South Backa
Area: 

699 kilometers-square
Time zone: 

CET (UTC+1)
Coordinates: 

45 15 N, 19 51 E
Website: 

www.novisad.rs

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Political Parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina

A. Multi-ethnic parties

Greens of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnian Party
Citizens' Democratic Party
Liberal Democratic Party
Pensioners' Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Workers' Communist Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Democratic youth movement
 Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina
 Our Party

B.Bosniaks

Bosnian-Herzegovinian Patriotic Party-Sefer Halilović
Party of Democratic Action
Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina
Democratic People's Community

C.Serbs

Democratic Party of the Republika Srpska
Party of Democratic Progress
Democratic People's Alliance
Alliance of Independent Social Democrats
Pensioners' Party of the Republika Srpska
Serbian Democratic Party
Serbian People's Alliance of the Republika Srpska
Serbian Radical Party of the Republika Srpska
Socialist Party of the Republika Srpska
League of People's Rebirth

D.Croats

Christian Democrats
Croatian Christian Democratic Union
Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatian Democratic Union 1990
Croatian Party of Rights
Croatian Peasant Party
Croatian Right Bloc
New Croatian Initiative
People's Party Work for Betterment

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The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the highest legal document of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The current Constitution is the Annex 4 of The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement, signed in Paris on 14 December 1995. The Constitution saw the end of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, however it has seen a large amount of criticism. Under the supervision of international community, an "arrangement of amendments" (later called "April arrangement of amendments") to the Constitution, agreed upon by leading political parties, was proposed for adoption in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina in April 2006, but it failed to get the approval of two-thirds of members in the House of Representatives.

The undersigned personnel

Alija Izetbegovic
Franjo Tudjman
Slobodan Milosevic
Felipe Gonzalez
Bill Clinton
Helmut Kohl
John Major
Jacques Chirac
Viktor Chernomyrdin

Articles

Article I - on Bosnia and Herzegovina: Continuation, Democratic Principles, Composition, Movement of Goods, Capital, Symbols and Citizenship
Article II - on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: Human Rights, International Standards, Enumeration of Rights, Non-Discrimination, Refugees and Displaced Persons, Implementation, International Agreements and Cooperation
Article III - on Responsibilities of and Relations Between the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Entities: Responsibilities of the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Responsibilities of the Entities, Law and Responsibilities of the Entities and the Institutions, Coordination and Additional Responsibilities
Article IV - on Parliamentary Assembly: House of Peoples, House of Representatives, Procedures and Powers
Article V - on Presidency: Election and Term, Procedures, Powers, Council of Ministers and Standing Committee
Article VI - on Constitutional Court: Composition, Procedures, Jurisdiction and Decisions
Article VII - on Central Bank
Article VIII - on Finances
Article IX - on General Provisions
Article X - on Amendment Procedure
Article XI - on Transitional Arrangements
Article XII - on Entry into Force

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Brief History Line of Bosnia and Herzegovina

By Indira Salihovic, Zivinice, BiH

As the Ottoman Empire thrived and expanded into Central Europe, Bosnia was relieved of the pressures of being a frontier province and experienced a prolonged period of general welfare and prosperity. A number of cities, such as Sarajevo and Mostar, were established and grew into major regional centers of trade and urban culture. Within these cities, various Sultans and governors financed the construction of many important works of Bosnian architecture (such as the Stari most and Gazi Husrev-beg's Mosque).

Furthermore, numerous Bosnians played influential roles in the Ottoman Empire's cultural and political history during this time. Bosnian soldiers formed a large component of the Ottoman ranks in the battles of Mohács and Krbava field, two decisive military victories, while numerous other Bosnians rose through the ranks of the Ottoman military bureaucracy to occupy the highest positions of power in the Empire, including admirals, generals, and grand viziers.

By the late 17th century, however, the Ottoman Empire's military misfortunes caught up with the country, and the conclusion of the Great Turkish War with the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699 once again made Bosnia the empire's westernmost province. Though an Austro-Hungarian occupying force quickly subjugated initial armed resistance upon take-over, tensions remained in certain parts of the country (particularly Herzegovina) and a mass emigration of predominantly Muslim dissidents occurred.

Although successful economically, Austro-Hungarian policy - which focused on advocating the ideal of a pluralist and multi-confessional Bosnian nation (largely favored by the Muslims) - failed to curb the rising tides of nationalism. The concept of Croat and Serb nationhood had already spread to Bosnia and Herzegovina's Catholics and Orthodox communities from neighboring Croatia and Serbia in the mid 19th century, and was too well-entrenched to allow for the wide-spread acceptance of a parallel idea of Bosnian nationhood. By the latter half of the 1910s, nationalism was an integral factor of Bosnian politics.

The political tensions caused by all this culminated on June 28, 1914, when Serb nationalist youth Gavrilo Princip assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo; an event that proved to be the spark that set off World War I. Although 10% of the Bosniak population died serving in the armies or being killed by the various warring states, Bosnia and Herzegovina itself managed to escape the conflict relatively unscathed. Following World War I, Bosnia was incorporated into the South Slav kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (soon renamed Yugoslavia).

Once the kingdom of Yugoslavia was conquered by Nazi forces in World War II, all of Bosnia was ceded to the Nazi-puppet state of Croatia. The Nazi rule over Bosnia led to widespread persecution. The Jewish population was nearly exterminated. Over a million Serbs died in Croat concentration camps. Many Serbs in the area took up arms and joined the Chetniks; a Serb nationalist and royalist resistance movement that both conducted guerrilla warfare against the Nazis but also committed numerous atrocities against chiefly Bosnian Muslim civilians in regions under their control. Consequently, several Bosnian Muslim paramilitary units joined the Axis powers(ustase) to counter their own persecution in the hands of the Serbs in Bosnia.

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Mahkamah Konstitusi Negara Rusia

Mahkamah Konstitusi di negara Uni Soviet merupakan puncak dari sistem peradilan negara, yang kemudian dilestarikan oleh Rusia. Seperti lembaga peradilan lainnya, mahkamah konstitusi memiliki tugas melindungi dan menginterpretasi konstitusi. Hal demikian dilakukan dengan mengatasi sengketa atas yurisdiksi politik (termasuk sengketa antara pemerintah federal) dan memastikan cabang-cabang legislatif dan eksekutif tunduk kepada konstitusi. MK negara Rusia memiliki 19 orang anggota yang dinominasikan untuk jabatan selama 12 tahun oleh Presiden dan disahkan oleh Dewan Federasi.

Tugas Mahkamah Konstitusi terbatas, terutama, karena MK tidak dilindungi oleh konstitusi yang kuat sehingga para anggotanya tidak dapat menentukan tempat/kedudukan yang tepat di dalam lembaga peradilan negara Rusia baru.

Selain MK, Rusia juga memiliki Mahkamah Agung. MA di Rusia menjadi mahkamah tertinggi yang menyelenggarakan pengadilan perdata, pidana, dan administrasi serta memiliki wewenang untuk mengawasi kegiatan-kegiatan pengadilan tingkat di bawahnya. Sementara itu Mahkamah Arbitrase Agung mengurusi masalah-masalah ekonomi, bisnis, dan konstitusi ini juga dilengkapi dengan sistem penuntutan tunggal dan tersentral.

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Constitutional Complaints di FYR Macedonia

Ketentuan dasar mahkamah konstitusi Republik Macedonia dan perlunya reformasi

Konstitusi Republik Macedonia memiliki ketetapan tersendiri tentang kedudukan mahkamah Konstitusi, berikut susunan, struktur, fungsi, dan kekebalan para hakimnya dan pengaruh hukum dan keputusannya. Berdasarkan pasal 113 Konstitusi negara tersebut, metode-metode cara kerja dan prosedur peradilan Konstitusi diatur dengan Rules of Procedure of the Court.

Di dalam peraturan tersebut, Mahkamah Konstitusi didefinisikan sebagai sebuah organ negara Republik Macedonia yang melindungi konstitutionalitas dan legalitas di dalam pemerintahan. Peradilan Konstitusi Republik Macedonia, sesuai dengan status konstitusional yang dimilikinya, tidak memiliki pembagian wilayah kekuasaan atau wewnang.

Perlindungan konstitusionalitas dan legalitas tidak mengandung arti pengecualian terhadap wewenang pemerintah, melainkan fungsi yang otonom dan independen. Pelaksanaan yurisdiksi Mahkamah Konstitusi Republik Macedonia berada di luar hubungan-hubungan yang berlangsung antara fungsi legislatif dan fungsi eksekutif pemerintahan.

Mahkamah Konstitusi merupakan salah satu faktor kunci di dalam implementasi Konstitusi. Mahkamah ini berperan penting di dalam menelaah proses penciptaan dan memperkirakan hubungan antara pelaksana wewenang yang dijabarkan dalam konstitusi. Seperti halnya organ-organ konstitusi lainnya, organ ini merupakan sebuah organ konstitusional yang memiliki landasan dan pejabat pelaksana yang ditetapkan di dalam konstitusi. Kedudukan yang dimiliki oleh peradilan konstitusi ini memberikan jaminan bahwa kriteria bagi realisasi fungsi peradilan-konstitusi telah dilindungi agar tidak dipengaruhi oleh segala bentuk kekuasaan dan wewenang politik.

Mahkamah Konstitusi di Republik Macedonia tidak memiliki wewenang untuk bertindak atas keluhan-keluhan konstitusional yang dikemukakan oleh warga negara Macedonia mendasarkan keluhan tadi pada hak atau kebebasan yang dijamin secara konstitusional. Konstitusi Macedonia tidak melampaui wewenang seperti ini, atau dengan kata lain, memiliki jangkauan yang relatif terbatas untuk melindungi kebebasan dan hak asasi manusia dan warga di negara tersebut.

Berdasarkan pertimbangan terhadap pengalaman-pengalaman politik yang dialami oleh pemerintahan yang mendapatkan keluhan konstitusional di dalam sistem peradilan mereka, sebagai sarana prosedural individu bagi perlindungan hak dan kebebasan perorangan, pada satu pihak, dan kebutuhan akan perlindungan keadilan-konstitusional terhadap kebebasan dan hak, pihak lain, maka di sini dapat disimpulkan bahwa Mahkamah Konstitusi di Republik Macedonia harus mulai memikirkan tentang pengembangan yurisdiksi dalam ruang lingkup perlindungan yang lebih luas agar dapat memberikan jaminan yang lebih menyeluruh terhadap hak dan kebebasan warga.

Penggunaan constitutional complaint di Republik Macedonia sebaiknya hanya diberlakukan jika sebelum itu warga telah menunjukkan rasa tidak puas mereka terhadap semua sarana perlindungan hukum yang berlaku. Kemudian implementasi sarana prosedural Republik Macedonia dapat dipelajari dalam dua sudut pandang untuk dapat diterima:
-alternatif pertama berarti constitutional complaint oleh warga negara Macedonia jika hak dan kebebasan mereka yang dijamin oleh konstitusi dilanggar (dalam konteks perlindungan yang lebih luas),
-alternatif kedua, berarti penggunaan constitutional complaint bagi perlindungan yang terbatas pada hak asasi dan kebebasan yang tercantum di dalam Konstitusi Republik Macedonia.

Pengalaman-pengalaman positif yang diambil dari pelaksanaan sarana ini di negara-negara Spanyol, Jerman, Slovenia, Kroasia, dsb., menunjukkan betapa efektif dan pentingnya sarana ini di dalam sistem peradilan selama itu menyangkut perlindungan hak dan kebebasan warga. Menyertai keluhan konstitusional ini, muncul dilema tentang berapa banyak hakim pada sistem peradilan umum yang secara hukum telah siap untuk menguji isu-isu konstitusional, atau jika mereka telah siap akankah cukup siap untuk menjalankan standar ganda (double standards) di dalam konstitusionalisme.

Untuk mendukung keberadaan dan efisiensi dari pelaksanaan sarana hukum-prosedural di atas, maka kita perlu mengetahui pentingnya sikap tidak puas yang ditunjukkan oleh warga terhadap sarana-sarana hukum yang sebelumnya telah berlaku, terutama yang berhubungan dengan perlindungan hak dan kebebasan wrga di dalam tatanan hukum negara, sebagai prakondisi untuk mengusulkan sarana perlindungan hak asasi manusia kepada organ-organ peradilan internasional, yakni European Commission dan European Court of Human Rights, sebagai hak subyektif yang dijamin di dalam European Convention for Human Rights.

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