Master Thesis by Christian K. Vinther, Charles University, Prague (77110981) 21/05/2015 Between Liberal Policies and Conservative Values: The Role of the EU in Improving Sexual Minority Rights in Albania Abstract In 2009 the People's Advocate in Albania announced their suggestion that Albania should become the first Balkan country to legalize gay marriage, a suggestion backed by the country's Prime Minister Sali Berisha. The odd thing is that this suggestion was presented in the same country voted the "most homophobic in Europe" according to a recent study, and simultaneously the suggestion came at a time when Albania did not even have an anti-discrimination law, and, assumingly, at a time when LGBT activist groups seemed more or less nonexistent. Since 2009, Albania has progressed severely in relation to LGBT matters, and the small Balkan country has adopted noteworthy liberal sexual minority policies. Yet, as stated above, this appears as a rather paradoxical fact, since homophobia in Albania appears widespread, and since it could be questioned why a country would even need to legalize gay marriage, since the gay population are unlikely to benefit from this kind of legislation, due to the harassment and marginalization of this particular minority group. The mismatch between the conservative values in...

This thesis examines the role of international intervention in the area formerly known as Yugoslavia during its collapse in the first half of the 1990s (1991-1995). The Cold War had just ended, and the United Nations (UN), NATO, and the nations they represented were reevaluating their roles in a world without competition between two superpowers. The collapse of Yugoslavia and ensuing civil war presented these international bodies with an opportunity to intervene and show that they were ready to take charge in future conflicts in pursuing and achieving peace. However, what followed revealed them to be short-sighted and ill-prepared for this role as the conflict quickly escalated leading to genocide again taking place in Europe. The country of Bosnia, which emerged as its own nation in the collapse of Yugoslavia, will receive special interest due to its place as the geographic and active center of most of the war and atrocities. The United States will also be examined in detail since it eventually played a key role in achieving peace with the Dayton Peace Accords. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the intervention in Bosnia and former Yugoslavia was implemented well. After examining primary documents from the United States, the UN, NATO and other organizations, as well as secondary documents in the form of journal articles and books, it became clear that the intentions of these groups were good, but their abilities in achieving peace were not. Many leaders were highly influenced by prior experiences in either World War II or Vietnam which made it difficult for them to see this new conflict in a different light. Thus, it was only when key figures in leadership changed that the situation in Bosnia was turned around and peace became attainable. Unfortunately, this peace was only achieved after hundreds of thousands had died and millions had been displaced creating a difficult rebuilding and reunifying process for those that remained or returned following Dayton.

The press coverage of any armed conflict has traditionally played a crucial role during times of war since major abuses of human rights and war crimes are brought to the public due to journalists’ coverage. When Russia invaded Ukraine on the 24th of February 2022, it dominated the news for weeks since many parts of the world were heavily affected. Many scholars have investigated the challenges that come when reporting on wars and conflicts. There are, however, few studies that have focused on Serbian journalists. Therefore, this study sets out to investigate how Serbian journalists cover the war in Ukraine and what influences their reporting by conducting in-depth interviews with seven journalists working the political beat. Nygren et al. (2018) found that journalistic culture and political context direct and shape the coverage to a large extent. Therefore, Thomas Hanitzsch’s model of journalism culture (2007) is used as the main theoretical framework of the project.   The study has shown that Serbian journalists generally believe that staying objective and presenting all sides of the conflict should guide the coverage of the war. However, they are put in a difficult position because of their country’s conflicted stance: Serbia has ties to Russia and the EU; it condemned the war in Ukraine but refused to impose sanctions on the aggressor. Consistent with the previous literature, the study found that Serbia’s political-historical context shapes the journalistic coverage when reporting on the conflict. Journalists are generally critical of their government but tend to agree with it when discussing the war. This finding can be linked to the NATO bombing of Belgrade in 1999 and the Serbian economy, which heavily depends on Russian oil, gas, and investments and would considerably decline if Serbian sanctions were imposed on Russia. Although, when counteracting propaganda, fake news, and disinformation, some Serbian journalists took a more active and assertive role in reporting on behalf of the socially disadvantaged, which in this case was the Ukrainian people who were underrepresented in the media coverage.

The following research project examines the development strategies in three Eastern European states after the fall of the Soviet Union. By examining the development path of each state, it is possible to evaluate successful paths toward development. The study researches not only economic development, but also social and political development. The three states chosen depict a variety of success rates in different areas. It will be important to notice that the state that has the most success developing economically is not the state that has the best equal rights for men and women. Finally, by exploring the different avenues for development, it may be possible to find a universal basis for successful development. This paper attempts to reach a consensus without forgetting the uniqueness of each state and the specific historical backgrounds that have led to successes and failures. To understand the diverging success rates, one must understand the difficulty of instituting a successful government within a state that had been ruled by a central power for decades. Independence is a difficult advantage.

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The aim of this study was twofold; firstly it sought to describe the human security situation of Roma IDPs and IDPs living in collective centers, secondly it tried to create an understanding for how the human security situation can affect IDPs capabilities to develop. The findings of the study were mainly based on a field study conducted in Belgrade, Serbia for two months. The results of the study were that IDPs in collective centers have a poor human security situation regarding basic income, employment, adequate housing and experienced personal security. Roma IDPs suffer from the same insecurities, but in addition also has poor human security in basic education and personal safety. Their stagnant human security situation proved to be the result of the inability to help IDPs by the actors involved in the relief work. Obstacles such as the Serbian government’s policy of return, a society in transition, the status of IDPs, lack of necessary documents together with lack of agency of IDPs and mistrust between different levels of the society, have hindered a positive improvement of IDPs human security situation. Their poor human security situation and their lack of instrumental freedoms in the Serbian society have lead to limited prospects for these two groups of IDPs to develop in the Serbian society.

This dissertation examines a series of interchurch consultations that took place between 1999 and 2009 with the participation of the Evangelical Church in Germany, the Roman Catholic German Bishops' Conference and the Serbian Orthodox Church. The Protestant-Catholic-Orthodox ecumenical encounters began in the immediate aftermath of the Kosovo crisis, and aimed to support Serbia's democratization and European integration. At a total of nine meetings, delegates from the participating churches, together with politicians, representatives of non-governmental organizations, and scholars from various fields, discussed the role of churches and religion in the two countries. The meetings provided a forum for exchanging knowledge and addressing the challenges confronting the churches and their social organizations. Through lectures, discussions, and meetings in working groups, the consultations focused on theological, legal, political, and social topics, such as church and state relations in Serbia, the role of churches in secularized society, Serbia's relationship to the rest of Europe, reconciliation, and the healing of memories. Focusing on the content and the outcomes of the consultations, the author places them into the broader ecumenical, social and political context in which they took place. All available texts from the consultations are studied through the lens of critical discourse analysis. In addition, in-depth qualitative interviews are conducted with key initiators, organizers and participants of the consultations from the three primary participating churches. The dissertation also interacts with the existing theoretical framework for ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, theories of secularization and the sociology of religion in Europe, as well as nationalism and memory studies. The Serbian-German consultations represent a unique, hybrid form of interchurch contact. The author argues that existing theories of ecumenical and interreligious dialogue should be reconsidered to include such meetings, which represent a broadened understanding of dialogue focused on both theoretical and practical aspects of life. Furthermore, the consultations may serve as a potential blueprint for similar future encounters in post-conflict societies and in countries undergoing political transition. / Religion

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo analizar las implicancias de la determinación definitiva del estatus legal de la provincia de Kosovo como factor de estabilidad que permitiría promover la integración de los países de la región del Sudeste de Europa. De esta manera, si se logra incentivar una mayor cooperación entre los países de la región, esto implicaría una mejor percepción y un acercamiento a la Unión Europea, lo que a su vez, podría favorecer las relaciones que desarrolla este organismo continental con América Latina. Resulta interesante revisar las características del mercado y de las preferencias de los consumidores en los países del Sudeste de Europa, considerando que la oferta exportable peruana no está aún presente en esa región y que tiene potencial para posicionarse en dicho mercado. Para lograr nuestro primer objetivo de analizar la determinación del estatus legal de Kosovo, es muy importante estudiar las condiciones políticas, económicas, sociales, culturales, religiosas y étnicas que vive la provincia de Kosovo en la actualidad, para conocer si reúne los elementos para ser considerado como un Estado independiente. Para ello, es necesario conocer los antecedentes históricos de la región a fin de comprender como se fue poblando la provincia de Kosovo y de donde provienen sus habitantes, las relaciones que ha tenido Kosovo con el resto de los países de la región y las características de la mentalidad de su población. El futuro estatus legal de Kosovo es un tema muy interesante para el Derecho Internacional Público, en especial, en lo que se refiere al origen o creación de los nuevos Estados y a la secesión de los mismos