Trajectories Of Minority Rights Issues In Europe

The interest in minority protection emerged during the period of democratic transition, particularly of ethnically segmented postcommunist societies after the end of the Cold War. Minority issues became prominent as postcommunist states lined up as potential candidates for EU membership and the respect for and protection of minority rights was an essential part of criteria these states had to fulfil before EU accession. Minority rights protection has constituted an important ‘gatekeeping’ criterion for EU membership. Its monitoring remains a powerful instrument to mediate tensions and to adjudicate discriminations in the present-day Europe. In many countries, minority rights standards have been transposed in domestic legislation, but whether these norms constitute a legitimate background which states accept, sustain and promote is the focus of this book. This volume takes on the task of analysing the diffusion of minority rights norms across the European continent. It looks specifically at the oft-neglected process of compliance meaning not only the formal adoption of European laws but also their implementation within the domestic context. The contributions analyse the political rhetoric, legal transposition and behavioural compliance in a range of European states, East and West, to assess compliance to norms of minority protection. This book was published as a special issue of Perspectives on European Politics and Society.

The interest in minority protection emerged during the period of democratic transition, particularly of ethnically segmented postcommunist societies after the end of the Cold War. Minority issues became prominent as postcommunist states lined up as potential candidates for EU membership and the respect for and protection of minority rights was an essential part of criteria these states had to fulfil before EU accession. Minority rights protection has constituted an important ‘gatekeeping’ criterion for EU membership. Its monitoring remains a powerful instrument to mediate tensions and to adjudicate discriminations in the present-day Europe. In many countries, minority rights standards have been transposed in domestic legislation, but whether these norms constitute a legitimate background which states accept, sustain and promote is the focus of this book. This volume takes on the task of analysing the diffusion of minority rights norms across the European continent. It looks specifically at the oft-neglected process of compliance meaning not only the formal adoption of European laws but also their implementation within the domestic context. The contributions analyse the political rhetoric, legal transposition and behavioural compliance in a range of European states, East and West, to assess compliance to norms of minority protection. This book was published as a special issue of Perspectives on European Politics and Society.

In order to gain access to the EU, nations must be seen to implement formal instruments that protect the rights of minorities. This book examines the ways in which these tools have worked in a number of post-communist states, and explores the interaction of domestic and international structures that determine the application of these policies. Using empirical examples and comparative cases, the text explores three levels of policy-making: within sub-state and national politics, and within international agreements, laws and policy blueprints. This enables the authors to establish how domestic policymakers negotiate various structural factors in order to interpret rights norms and implement them long enough to gain EU accession. Showing that it is necessary to focus upon the states of post-communist Europe as autonomous actors, and not as mere recipients of directives and initiatives from ‘the West’, the book shows how underlying structural conditions allow domestic policy actors to talk the talk of rights protection without walking the walk of implementing minority rights legislation on their territories.

This volume presents a systematic collection of the various international legal sources that define the rights of religious minorities. In a time of increasing tensions around religious minorities, this volume presents a systematic collection of international and European documents on the protection and promotion of religious minorities’ rights. The code includes documents from the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the European Union. An index system connects the various sources and norms, and emphasizes the strengths and the weaknesses in the legal frameworks of international and European institutions. While allowing for further research on the historical and conceptual development in the area, the code provides the reader with a new, easily accessible tool facilitating experts and actors who wish to improve the knowledge and protection of religious minorities. This book will be an invaluable resource for students, academics and researchers interested in law and religion, international law, public law and human rights law, the code is also a powerful tool for minorities themselves, and for advocates of their rights.

This open access book provides an in-depth look into the background of rule of law problems and the open defiance of EU law in East Central European countries. Current illiberal trends and anti-EU politics have the potential to undermine mutual trust between member states and fundamentally change the EU. It is therefore crucial to understand their domestic causes, context conditions, specific processes and consequences. This volume contributes to empirically informed theory-building and includes contributions from researchers from various disciplines and multiple perspectives on illiberal trends and anti-EU politics in the region. The qualitative case studies, comparative works and quantitative analyses provide a comprehensive picture of current societal, political and institutional developments in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Through studying similarities and differences between East Central European and other EU countries, the chapters also explore whether there are regional patterns of democracy- and EU-related problems.

In Minorities, their Rights, and the Monitoring the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, Malloy and Caruso have collected a number of essays authored by prominent European experts on minority rights with aim to provide a first ever description and analysis of the processes guiding the monitoring of the Convention. The volume addresses both the technical and political side of the monitoring, and it brings in not only views from the host of the Convention, the Council of Europe, but also from the external players that interact with the Convention in the course of seeking to protect Europe’s national minorities

Despite the worldwide dramatic spread of religious-based discriminations, persecutions, and conflicts, both official data and academic literature have underestimated their role as a root cause of contemporary migrations. This multidisciplinary study aims to overcome this gap. Through an unprecedented collection of theoretical analysis and original empirical evidence, the book provides unique data and insights on the role of religion in the trajectories of asylum seekers and migrants – from the analysis of the religious geography of sending countries to the role of spirituality as a factor of resilience and adaptation. By enhancing both academic and political debate on these issues, the book offers the possibility of regaining awareness of the close link between religious freedom and the quality of democracy. Contributors include: Paolo Gomarasca, Monica Martinelli, Monica Spatti, Andrea Santini, Andrea Plebani, Paolo Maggiolini, Riccardo Redaelli, Alessia Melcangi, Giancarlo Rovati, Annavittoria Sarli, Giulia Mezzetti, Lucia Boccacin, Linda Lombi, Donatella Bramanti, Stefania Meda, Giovanna Rossi, Beatrice Nicolini, Cristina Giuliani, Camillo Regalia, Giovanni Giulio Valtolina, Paola Barachetti, Maddalena Colombo, Rosangela Lodigiani, Mariagrazia Santagati, Fabio Baggio, Vera Lomazzi, Paolo Bonetti, Laura Zanfrini, Mario Antonelli, Luca Bressan, Alessandro Bergamaschi, Catherine Blaya, Núria Llevot-Calvet, Olga Bernad-Cavero, and Jordi Garreta-Bochaca.

Zsuzsa Csergö is Associate Professor and Head of the Political Studies Department at Queen’s University in Canada. She is also the President of the Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN). Her research addresses questions of nationalism, democratization, and the influence of EU integration on state-minority relations in post-Cold War Europe. Ada-Charlotte Regelmann is a Project Manager at Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, focusing on the social inclusion of marginalised groups in European societies. Previously, she was a lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast, UK, and Maynooth University, Ireland. Her research explores the impact of Europeanisation on nation-state-building and social integration in post-communist Europe.