Diploma thesis "Remittances and their impact on Eastern Europe" examines the phenomenon of remittances as part of global migration and its having been largely economically motivated and having a positive impact on poverty alleviation. The chosen approach is empirical-analytical methodology. The paper suggests several motivations leading to migration and remittances as well as some positive impacts and risks affecting the senders, receivers as well as the beneficiary economies of remittances. This thesis offers an overview of both all principal source countries and the main corridors of remittance flow. The paper analyses three countries from the former eastern block - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Moldova - and the reasons which have lead to migration and remitting in these states in relation to their economic transformation from centrally planned to market economies. The analysis considers many factors such as the regional financial crisis in 1998 as well as the ethnically based military conflict which occurred due to the disintegration process in the former Yugoslavia. These issues influence not only the scale of remittances flow but also expand the variety of the senders which commonly include both refugees and Diasporas. Lastly, this thesis presents some possible scenarios related to the...

The preservation of freshwater aquifers is one important task of managing natural resources today. Intrusion of saltwater from the sea into the groundwater might occur in coastal-near areas and can affect the freshwater quality negatively. One such risk area is the Adriatic coast line of Albania, a country predominantly rich in freshwater resources due to the numerous rivers flowing from the mountains in the east towards the sea. The coastal areas are mainly used for agricultural activities were groundwater is an important resource for irrigation purposes. This study was therefore partly conducted in Albania where samples of groundwater and river waters were collected from the river deltas of Drin and Vjosa in order to investigate the origin of the salt and to assess the bioavailable metal concentrations of nickel and zinc. Both on-site tests and off-site tests, in laboratories, were conducted. In the laboratory, the samples were analysed for oxygen and deuterium isotope data. The results were used to assess the origin of the oxygen content as the method of investigating the origin of the salt uses the oxygen isotope as a tracer. Anion and cation concentrations were analysed as well as the concentrations of metals. These were used as input data to Visual Minteq, a model used to calculate the metal speciation of waters, and a Biotic Ligand Model used to calculate the bioavailable concentrations and the HC5 concentrations. The isotope analysis yielded results similar to previous studies conducted in the nearby area indicating that the salt does not have oceanic origin but meteorological. The bioavailable concentrations were in most sample sites lower than the calculated HC5 concentrations indicating that there is a sufficient buffering system present even though there are several mining activities upstream of the sample sites that could have affected the water quality. This study concludes that the origin of salt is of meteoric origin and not from seawater intrusion. The bioavailable concentrations do not pose a threat as the concentrations are under the HC5 concentrations for all sites but one. In order to deepen the understanding and knowledge of the water qualities in these areas, future studies should focus on a continuous measuring period lasting for example over the whole year minimizing any seasonal variations of the sampled data. Other methods such as geophysical measures could also contribute to a wider analysis of the groundwater condition. / Grundvatten är en av de viktigaste naturresurserna vilket innebär att för att säkerställa en långvarig försörjning krävs en god förvaltning av befintliga akvifärer. I kustnära områden kan intrång av saltvatten från havet till grundvattnet påverka sötvattenkvaliteten negativt. Ett sådant riskområde är den Adriatiska kustlinjen i Albanien, ett land som är övervägande rikt på sötvattenresurser tack vare de många floder som rinner från bergen i öst mot havet i väst. Kustområdena används huvudsakligen för jordbruksverksamhet, där grundvatten är en viktig resurs vid bevattning. Denna studie genomfördes därför delvis i Albanien där prov av grundvatten och flodvatten hämtades från Drins och Vjosas floddeltan för att undersöka saltets ursprung och för att bedöma de biotillgängliga metalkoncentrationerna av nickel och zink. Vattenprover togs på ett urval av platser och testades direkt för omgivningsberoende parametrar samt analyserades vidare i laboratorier. I laboratoriet analyserades proverna med avseende på fördelning av syre- och deuteriumisotoper. Resultaten användes för att bedöma syreinnehållets ursprung, eftersom metoden för att undersöka saltets ursprung använder syreisotopen som spårämne. Anjon- och katjonkoncentrationer analyserades såväl som koncentrationerna av metaller. Dessa användes som inmatningsdata till Visual Minteq, en modell som används för att beräkna metallsammansättningen i vatten och en Biotic ligand model som användes för att beräkna de biotillgängliga koncentrationerna samt HC5-koncentrationerna. Isotopanalysen gav resultat som liknar tidigare studier utförda i det närliggande området vilket indikerar att saltet inte har oceaniskt ursprung utan meteorologiskt. De biotillgängliga koncentrationerna av nickel och zink var i de flesta fall lägre än de beräknade HC5-koncentrationerna, vilket indikerar att det finns ett buffertsystem, trots att gruvaktiviteter uppströms provplatserna skulle kunna ha påverkat vattenkvaliteten negativt.   Studien slutsats är att saltet i grundvattnet och flodvattnet är av meteoriskt ursprung och inte ett resultat av saltvatteninträngning från det Adriatiska havet. De biotillgängliga halterna av nickel och zink understiger HC5 halterna i samtliga fall utom ett.   För att fördjupa förståelsen och kunskapen om vattenkvaliteten i dessa områden bör framtida studier fokusera på en kontinuerlig mätperiod som till exempel sträcker sig över hela året vilket skulle minimera eventuella säsongsvariationer av insamlad data. Andra metoder så som geofysiska mätningar kan också bidra till en bredare analys av tillståndet i grundvattnet.

No description available.

No description available.

Yes / Introduction: ...The first part of this research will be carried out on the basis of a theoretical review. Having defined peace parks in the context of the issues raised, the evolution of tourism needs to be specifically connected with sustainable development and peace issues. Thirdly, the potential and limitations of the development of tourism will be analysed in three aspects - economic, social-cultural and environmental, in the process of promoting peace. The second part will be a case-study of the Balkans Peace Park Project. The impacts of the development of tourism on local people were observed for 9 weeks in Thethi National Park of Albania which is a part of the proposed Balkans Peace Park area. During the observation, a questionnaire survey (Appendix I) was conducted in order to assess local awareness of both the costs and benefits of tourism; approximately 30% of households responded. An interview with the international organization which implemented the tourism development project in the region was also organized. This research will analyse results of both these, as well as the results of observation and participation in the community. 1-3. Literature Review

The thesis examines the aspects of neo-Ottomanism in Turkish foreign policies toward three Balkan countries - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo -, focusing on the developments of the last decade. Turkey has become quite active in the Balkans and in these countries in the last few years, however, this activism is not without any antecendents. These areas were the core European territories of the Ottoman Empire and after the dissolution of this entity, Turkey still attached special importance to these countries, albeit during the Cold War relations were cooler. On the other hand, with the fall of the Iron Curtain, the rise of the AK Party to government position and Ahmet Davutoglu becoming Minister of Foreign Affairs in Turkey, the Balkans started to receive particular "limelight" in Turkish foreign policy. New ideas, expressions, approaches were incorporated into the forming self-confident and assertive foreign policy of Turkey. However, this new policy, referred to as neo- Ottomanism in many cases, infered criticisms too, from the West and from local politicians in the Balkans too. The thesis aims to remake and remodel this expression by highlighting other, more positive elements of it. Turkey's political, economic, cultural and military relations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and...

The Master thesis focuses itself on establishment and development of free press and other media in Albania during the period since the fall of communism till today. Along with the gradual losing of power of communist regime since 1990 that culminated in 1992 by the establishment of democratic government, new era of Albanian media started, an era filled by dynamic changes and twists that have impact on the media up to these days. The aim of the author is to describe this development and to assess how Albanian media faced it and thus influenced current shape and functioning of the media market. Apart from describing the media scene in the 1990s and 2000s, specifically the establishment and development of main Albanian media as well as political and economic situation of the country, the main goal of the thesis lies in assessing the degree of independence of current Albanian press and describing of work conditions of local journalists. The main source to do that were the interviews conducted with Albanian journalists commenting mainly the issues of freedom of speech and press in their own country as well as conditions of their everyday work and thus revealing functioning of media and other sectors in this Balkan country.

Quand, dans le cadre des réformes constitutionnelles après la chute du communisme, le Conseil de l’Europe et la Commission européenne demandent à l’Albanie l’indépendance du pouvoir judiciaire comme garantie pour un état de droit, pour une gouvernance limitée par le droit, un juge constitutionnel comme défenseur des garanties de ce principe est demandé en même temps. En tant que principes et institutions de l’état de droit, ils se trouveront face à une culture politique qui rend difficile tant leur transposition que leur application dans la réalité albanaise. Les raisons sont à rechercher dans l’influence que la tradition constitutionnelle et l’idéologie communiste exercent encore sur la classe politique et sa culture politique. Elles poussent plutôt vers le contrôle que vers l’indépendance du juge. Dans ces circonstances, il revient au juge constitutionnel d’être actif dans le jeu de la séparation et de l’équilibre des pouvoirs et dans l’identification et la formalisation d’un judiciaire indépendant. En même temps et aussi souvent que nécessaire, il devra défendre directement les garanties constitutionnelles de cette indépendance en fonction de sa propre indépendance. / When, as part of the constitutional reforms, after the fall of the communism, the Council of Europe and the European Commission require from Albania the independence of the judiciary, as a guarantee for the rule of law, a constitutional court, as a defender of the guarantees of this principle, is demanded simultaneously. Nevertheless, during the years of the democratic transition, these principles and institutions of the rule of law will be confronted with a political culture that makes difficult both their transposition and their implementation in the Albanian reality. The reasons lie in the influence that the constitutional tradition and the communist ideology still exert on the political class and its political culture. They grow towards the control rather than the independence of the judiciary. In these circumstances, it is up to the constitutional court to be active in the game of separation and balance of powers and in the identification and formalization of an independent judiciary. At the same time and as often as necessary, it will directly defend the constitutional guarantees of independence and will do so according to its own independence.

Le massif de Tropoja est le plus septentrional des massifs de la ceinture orientale des ophiolites d'Albanie dont les caractères pétrologiques et métallogéniques s'apparentent aux produits magmatiques des arcs insulaires immatures. Quatre niveaux enrichis en chromite ont été définis d'après leur stratigraphie, leur structure et leur composition : trois dans le manteau et un dans les cumulats. D'importantes variations de la fugacité en oxygène ont accompagné la formation des chromitites et des minéralisations en élement du groupe du platine qui leur sont associées. Au Sud du massif, une forte fugacité en oxygène couplée à une faible fugacité en soufre seraient responsables de la précipitation, directement à partir du magma, d'alliages de fer et de platine, qui forment la minéralisation platinifère caractéristiques des cumulas de Tropoja. Cette minéralisation, rare dans les autres massifs ophiolitiques, est située dans un niveau bréchique, à l'interface de dunites basales et de pyroxénites. Les teneurs de platine, qui peuvent atteindre 11 grammes par tonne, sont corrélées positivement aux concentrations de chrome. Trois stades minéralisants y ont été définis, le dernier étant lié à des interactions entre minéraux et fluides tardifs. D'autres caractéristiques minéralogiques de cette minéralisation, importantes pour le traitement des minerais, ont été obtenues grâce à une étude statistique. Au Nord du massif, les minéralisations platinifères, localisées dans le manteau, sont associées à des sulfures de métaux de base.

Cette recherche porte sur les interactions entre la tectonique, le climat et les processus géomorphologiques de la surface de la Terre à travers l'étude des terrasses fluviales au Venezuela et l’Albanie. Ces deux domaines ont été soumis à une surrection modérée, aux variations climatiques du Quaternaire et fournissent un large registre de terrasses fluviales. Ces contextes donnent l’opportunité d’étudier la dynamique de la formation des terrasses fluviales à l'échelle de temps 102-105 ans. Ainsi, une approche morpho-chronologique a été appliquée afin de parvenir à une meilleure compréhension de cette dynamique dans les rivières du Venezuela et de l’Albanie.Dans le système des rivières Pueblo Llano et Santo Domingo situé sur le flanc sud-est des Andes de Mérida au Venezuela, douze terrasses fluviales ont été identifiées pour les derniers 200 ka. Les mesures des concentrations du 10Be réalisées sur les dépôts fluviatiles et glaciaires ont permis d'estimer l'âge d’exposition de sept terrasses et d’un complexe de moraines frontales. Un modèle dynamique de terrasses soutenues par ces datations et des données géomorphologiques, stratigraphiques et sédimentologiques, indique que la formation de terrasses est principalement contrôlée par des variations climatiques de haute fréquence (103 à 104 ans) qui induisent un déséquilibre entre capacité de transport de l'eau et apport des sédiments. Néanmoins, le type de réponse a été très lié à l'altitude du site et l'influence des glaciers en amont. En effet, dans la partie supérieure du système, la succession des phases d'aggradation et d’incision a été synchronisée avec la succession des périodes froides-sèches et chaudes-humides, tandis que la partie inférieure du système montre une tendance opposée. Basé sur la restauration temporelle du taux d'incision de la partie inférieure du système, un taux de surrection de 1.1 mm/an au cours des dernières 70 ka a été estimé pour le flanc sud-est des Andes de Mérida. En outre, l'identification et la datation d'un complexe de moraines frontales situé à l'altitude de 2300 m au dessus du niveau de la mer met en évidence le fait que l'avancée glaciaire au cours du Dernier Maximum Glaciaire, dans d'autres domaines des Andes de Mérida, pourrait également avoir atteint des élévations inférieures à celles déjà signalés entre 2900 et 3500 m au dessus du niveau de la mer.En Albanie, les six principales rivières ont été analysées. De nouvelles données géomorphologiques et géochronologiques ont été intégrées aux données publiées afin de proposer un cadre stratigraphique et chronologique homogène à l’échelle régional pour les derniers 200 ka. Sur la base de ce cadre, l’âge de la formation de onze terrasses fluviales régionales a été établi. En Albanie, les processus de formation des terrasses ont également été principalement contrôlés par des variations climatiques de haute fréquence (103 à 104 ans). Néanmoins, les résultats montrent également que la réponse géomorphologique du système fluvial était probablement modulée par la taille des bassins versants et par les variations eustatiques. En effet, pour la période précédant le MIS 2, les terrasses de remplissage et d’abrasion ont été formées respectivement dans les grands et petits bassins versants. Pour la période après le début du MIS 2, une relation complexe entre les variations climatiques et eustatiques a favorisé le développement de terrasses d’abrasion partout en Albanie. Malgré des différences entre les réponses des rivières, la succession de phases d’aggradation ou d'abrasion latérale et de phases d'incision a été synchronisée avec la succession des périodes froides-sèches et chaudes-humides dans toutes les rivières de l'Albanie. / This research addresses interactions between tectonics, climate and geomorphic processes at the surface of the Earth through the study of river terraces in Venezuela and Albania. Both areas have been exposed to moderate uplift, to Quaternary climatic variations and provide a wide record of river terraces. These contexts furnish opportunities to investigate the dynamics of terraces formation at 102-105 year time scale. Thus, a morphochronologic approach was applied in order to achieve greater understanding about this issue for the Venezuelan and Albanian rivers. In the Pueblo Llano and Santo Domingo rivers system located in the Southeastern flank of the Mérida Andes in Venezuela, twelve river terraces were identified for the last 200 ka. Analysis of 10Be concentration provides for the first time exposure ages for seven terraces and for one frontal moraine complex. A terraces model supported by these dating and geomorphologic, stratigraphic and sedimentologic data indicates that the formation of terraces was mainly controlled by high frequency (103-104 years) climatic variations through unsteady discharge of water and sediments. Nevertheless, the type of response was highly related to the altitude of the site and the influence of usptreams glaciers. As a matter of fact, in the upper reaches of the system, the succession of aggradation and incision phases were synchronized with the succession of cold-dry and warm-humid periods, while the lower reaches of the system show the opposite pattern. Based on the temporal restoration of the incision rate of the lower reaches of the system an uplift rate at 1.1 mm/a for the last 70 ka was estimated for the Southeastern flank of the MA. Additionally, the identification and dating of a frontal moraine complex located at elevation of 2300 m a.s.l. in the Pueblo Llano valley highlights the fact that the glacier advance during the Last Glacial Maximum, in other areas of the MA could have also reached lower elevation than those reported between 2900 and 3500 m a.s.l. In the Albania domain, the terrace records of the six main Albanian rivers were analyzed. New geomorphologic and geochronological data were integrated with published data in order to propose a regional homogeneous stratigraphic/chronologic framework for the last 200 ka. Based on this framework the timing of formation of eleven regional river terraces was established. In Albania, the processes of terraces formation were also mainly controlled by high frequency (103-104 years) climatic variations. Nonetheless, the results also show that the geomorphic responses of the fluvial systems were probably modulated by the size of the catchments and by eustatic variations. Indeed, for the pre-Marine Isotope Stage 2 (MIS 2) period, fill and strath terraces were formed in the large and small catchments, respectively. After the beginning of the MIS 2, a complex relation between climatic and eustatic variations only favored the development of strath terraces in large and small catchments. Despite of the differences between the rivers responses, the succession of aggradation or lateral erosion and incision phases were synchronized with the succession of cold-dry and warm-humid periods in all the rivers of Albania. Finally, the restoration of spatial and temporal variation of incision rate allowed: 1) identify the spatial variation of the mean long-term incision rate. It varies from less than 0.1 mm/a in Southern Albania to 1 mm/a in Northern Albania; 2) estimate vertical slip rates for eight active faults for the last 19 ka in Southern Albania. These vertical slip rates appear to decrease from ~2 to ~0.1 mm/a from the extensional domain in the Eastern Albania to the compressional domain in Western Albania.