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Summaries

Summaries SUMMARIES Editorial note: Below you will find summaries of the articles in this issue of Security and Human Rights. Russia and the OSCE : a story of high expectations, strong disillusionment and obstinate confrontation Relations between the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe ( OSCE ) and the Russian Federation have reached an all-time low. Russia’s initial ambition was to develop the OSCE into the security organization in Europe. Its ambitions failed. Expectations gave way to disappointment. Disappointment turned into controversy and confrontation. Russia’s position towards the OSCE reflects the country’s new international assertiveness: cooperation, even integration when desirable and feasible, confrontation when necessary. Security in Europe is better served by an OSCE in which the Russian Federation is engaged than by an organisation from which the country has effectively disengaged itself. Additionally, with respect to democracy and human rights, marginal presence in the former Soviet Union is preferable to no presence. Building parliamentary democracy in Kosovo, Franklin de Vrieze While Kosovo’s political landscape is developing further following the declaration of independence in February 2008, the primary question of this article is to what extend the Assembly of Kosovo, by the end of its second mandate in 2007, had realized the three main functions of parliament: the legislative, oversight and representative function. The article demonstrates how political changes and a comprehensive reform package have generated an improvement in the performance of the Assembly. The article also analyzes the way in which the international community has assisted the Assembly in its development and how the Assembly has been affected by the Standards-before-status process and other policy-interventions of the international community. National minority issues and the EU Reform Treaty. A perspective of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Krzysztof Drzewicki This paper discusses the consequences and implications of the Treaty of Lisbon for the mandate of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities. The Lisbon Treaty successfully provided for an explicit provision in the TEU on national minority issues, provision that had been first missing in the draft European Constitution of 2003 and subsequently reintroduced by IGC in 2004. A battle for inclusion of the minority clause into the primary European law explains a lot about why important it was to prevent a risk of 'double standards' whereby 180 Security and Human Rights 2008 no. 2 Summaries tougher obligations on the protection of minority rights could have placed on candidate states than on actual EU members. The paper then specifies the most significant results of the interpretation of the provision on minority rights: as a reflection of Union's values, as a requirement for candidate and member states, as a lex specialis part of human rights and as individual rights of persons belonging to minorities. It is expected that the TEU minority rights provision, coupled with the binding EU Charter on Fundamental Rights, will create a new legal framework conducive to bridging two EU approaches to questions of national minorities: through non-discrimination and minority rights. Hence a possible reconciliation between the two EU approaches has emerged as a great challenge. There are also more direct implications of the new TEU provision for the mandate of the High Commissioner. They all require both the EU and HCNM , while maintaining their respective roles, to enhance their pragmatic co-operation with the view to contributing to the achievement of peace and stability in EU and broader OSCE area. Addressing hate crime as a regional security threat: an overview of the ODIHR Law Enforcement Officer Programme, Jo-Anne Bishop Increasingly, organised hate groups, including neo-Nazis and racist skinheads, are becoming more advanced in the ways they organise and operate. Through the internet, organised hate groups have been able to propagate their ideologies and attract an international network of supporters. The need for an increased law enforcement response to hate crime has been acknowledged by all 56 participating States of the OSCE and through their adoption of various decisions on tolerance and non-discrimination, OSCE participating States made specific commitments to establish training programmes for law enforcement and judicial officials on enforcement of legislation relating to hate crimes. This article provides an overview of the rationale and process for developing an OSCE -wide training programme for law enforcement officers on hate crime and also explains the necessity of increased regional co-operation among law enforcement in investigating and responding to hate crimes throughout the OSCE area. Ethnic cleansing and integrating diversity: Interview with Knut Vollebaek, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Walter Kemp Knut Vollebaek was Foreign Minister of Norway and OSCE Chairman-in-Office during the Kosovo crisis in 1999. Vollebaek was one of the last people to call Slobodan Milosevic before nato started to bomb Yugoslavia. And since July 2007 he has been OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities. Walter Kemp talks to High Commissioner about ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia, Kosovo, and integrating diversity in multi-ethnic societies. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Security and Human Rights Brill

Summaries

Security and Human Rights , Volume 19 (2): 179 – Jan 1, 2008
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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 2008 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1874-7337
eISSN
1875-0230
DOI
10.1163/187502308784743409
Publisher site
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Abstract

SUMMARIES Editorial note: Below you will find summaries of the articles in this issue of Security and Human Rights. Russia and the OSCE : a story of high expectations, strong disillusionment and obstinate confrontation Relations between the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe ( OSCE ) and the Russian Federation have reached an all-time low. Russia’s initial ambition was to develop the OSCE into the security organization in Europe. Its ambitions failed. Expectations gave way to disappointment. Disappointment turned into controversy and confrontation. Russia’s position towards the OSCE reflects the country’s new international assertiveness: cooperation, even integration when desirable and feasible, confrontation when necessary. Security in Europe is better served by an OSCE in which the Russian Federation is engaged than by an organisation from which the country has effectively disengaged itself. Additionally, with respect to democracy and human rights, marginal presence in the former Soviet Union is preferable to no presence. Building parliamentary democracy in Kosovo, Franklin de Vrieze While Kosovo’s political landscape is developing further following the declaration of independence in February 2008, the primary question of this article is to what extend the Assembly of Kosovo, by the end of its second mandate in 2007, had realized the three main functions of parliament: the legislative, oversight and representative function. The article demonstrates how political changes and a comprehensive reform package have generated an improvement in the performance of the Assembly. The article also analyzes the way in which the international community has assisted the Assembly in its development and how the Assembly has been affected by the Standards-before-status process and other policy-interventions of the international community. National minority issues and the EU Reform Treaty. A perspective of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Krzysztof Drzewicki This paper discusses the consequences and implications of the Treaty of Lisbon for the mandate of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities. The Lisbon Treaty successfully provided for an explicit provision in the TEU on national minority issues, provision that had been first missing in the draft European Constitution of 2003 and subsequently reintroduced by IGC in 2004. A battle for inclusion of the minority clause into the primary European law explains a lot about why important it was to prevent a risk of 'double standards' whereby 180 Security and Human Rights 2008 no. 2 Summaries tougher obligations on the protection of minority rights could have placed on candidate states than on actual EU members. The paper then specifies the most significant results of the interpretation of the provision on minority rights: as a reflection of Union's values, as a requirement for candidate and member states, as a lex specialis part of human rights and as individual rights of persons belonging to minorities. It is expected that the TEU minority rights provision, coupled with the binding EU Charter on Fundamental Rights, will create a new legal framework conducive to bridging two EU approaches to questions of national minorities: through non-discrimination and minority rights. Hence a possible reconciliation between the two EU approaches has emerged as a great challenge. There are also more direct implications of the new TEU provision for the mandate of the High Commissioner. They all require both the EU and HCNM , while maintaining their respective roles, to enhance their pragmatic co-operation with the view to contributing to the achievement of peace and stability in EU and broader OSCE area. Addressing hate crime as a regional security threat: an overview of the ODIHR Law Enforcement Officer Programme, Jo-Anne Bishop Increasingly, organised hate groups, including neo-Nazis and racist skinheads, are becoming more advanced in the ways they organise and operate. Through the internet, organised hate groups have been able to propagate their ideologies and attract an international network of supporters. The need for an increased law enforcement response to hate crime has been acknowledged by all 56 participating States of the OSCE and through their adoption of various decisions on tolerance and non-discrimination, OSCE participating States made specific commitments to establish training programmes for law enforcement and judicial officials on enforcement of legislation relating to hate crimes. This article provides an overview of the rationale and process for developing an OSCE -wide training programme for law enforcement officers on hate crime and also explains the necessity of increased regional co-operation among law enforcement in investigating and responding to hate crimes throughout the OSCE area. Ethnic cleansing and integrating diversity: Interview with Knut Vollebaek, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Walter Kemp Knut Vollebaek was Foreign Minister of Norway and OSCE Chairman-in-Office during the Kosovo crisis in 1999. Vollebaek was one of the last people to call Slobodan Milosevic before nato started to bomb Yugoslavia. And since July 2007 he has been OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities. Walter Kemp talks to High Commissioner about ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia, Kosovo, and integrating diversity in multi-ethnic societies.

Journal

Security and Human Rights – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 2008

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