Teresa Cierco

Human Rights promotion in Serbia: a difficult task for the European Union

This article explores the role of the European Union in the human rights protection, implementation and promotion in Serbia. It is clear that the EU demands on democratisation in the region of Western Balkans are crucial to achieve the respect for human rights. The human rights standards as part of the conditionality criteria of the EU is a clear message towards the countries aspiring membership. However, Serbia progress in the field has been difficult due to several internal constraints. This paper aims to uncover the democratisation process of Serbia on its path towards the EU, and its progress (or not) regarding human rights protection and implementation.

Globalization, Regionalization, and Europeanization: Impact and Effects on Polish Policy-Making

The fast-developing processes of globalization, with increased political and economic interdependence, along with competition; regionalization dynamics revealing more localized ambitions and either constraining or advancing intentions and policies; and Europeanization as a particular dynamic related to the EU role as a global actor, applied to the Polish post-communist transition, constitute our vectors of analysis. This essay aims to address the simultaneously interconnected and heterogeneous responses of Polish post-communist course of change to global and regional processes, including European integration. In this line of research, we search for answers to how the linkages among globalization, regionalization, and Europeanization work in the case of Polish post-communist transition. This will be pursued through an analysis of the democratization course, mainly regarding political, institutional and social aspects, and economic integration. Despite elements of complementarity and resistance in the working relationships among the three concepts, which are highly debatable, we find they have substantial implications on Polish policy-making. These implications include adjustment and bargaining between demands and concessions, resulting in gains and losses, though despite the negative effects associated and acknowledged, the fact of Poland pursuing the course of integration in the EU reveals an equation of cost–benefit, in favor of the EU.

The Security Sector Reform in Macedonia: An Externally Driven Process?

This article analyzes the conditions and challenges for security sector reform ( SSR ) in Macedonia since 2001. One of the main pressures that the Western community has been able to wield for reform and for post-conflict normalization in Macedonia has been the conditional offer of integration into key Western organizations – the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) and the European Union ( EU ). In the absence of a widespread domestic consensus, the sustainability of SSR relies on the leverage that NATO and the EU can bring to bear. But, with no date to begin negotiations with the EU , and with the Greek veto to Macedonia’s entrance into NATO , what will happen to SSR in the country? Moreover, how can local ownership of SSR be cultivated in Macedonia when the international community has played the lead role in initiating reform? Addressing SSR developments in Macedonia, this article surveys the challenges in two key component areas of the country’s security sector – armed forces and the police – arguing that, without a clear prospect of joining NATO or the EU in the near future, SSR in Macedonia is a serious compromise.

The European Union and the Member States: two different perceptions of border

In this article we analyze two different perceptions of border inside Europe. On the one hand, we have the perception idealized by the European Union as an international organization, which believes that states benefit more from cooperation and dilution of borders in a common space than from keeping its borders as a symbol of its sovereignty. On the other hand, we have the European member states, taken individually, with particular interests and goals that, given the threat of illegal immigration, which is currently felt in the large-scale Europe, adopt a realistic perception of the border, and look at each territory as a space that needs protection from external threats. Following this argument, we reason that the current construction of walls in several European countries reflects the rebirth of a realistic perception of the border, and this is one more challenge for Europe regarding its unity and solidarity. Is this the end of the Schengen Agreement? What is going to happen to the European project if each state unilaterally adopts a strategy to deal with illegal immigration and refugees that are coming to Europe? Can immigration lead to a retrocession of the EU idealist significance of border?

Eulex’s Impact on the Rule of Law in Kosovo

Kosovo is the largest per capita recipient of EU financial aid in the world, and is home to the largest civilian crisis management mission ever launched by the Union (EULEX). However, it is questionable whether this assistance has been sufficiently effective. The judiciary continues to suffer from political interference, inefficiency and a lack of transparency and enforcement. This paper considers the EU’s assistance to Kosovo in the field of the Rule of Law and attempts to assess whether it is achieving its intended results. It discusses what EULEX’s impact has been on overall progress in the main areas of the Rule of Law: the police and justice. Notice of Retraction: http://www.revistacienciapolitica.cl/index.php/rcp/article/download/1619/955Resumen en: Kosovo is the largest per capita recipient of EU financial aid in the world, and is home to the largest civilian crisis management mission ever launched ...

Civil Society in Macedonia's Democratization Process

Statement of Retraction Retraction: Teresa Cierco. (2013). Civil Society in Macedonia’s Democratization Process, Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 21:2, 202-217, DOI: 10.1080/14782804.2013.815464 We, the Editors and Publisher of Journal of Contemporary European Studies, are retracting the following article: Author: Teresa Cierco Author Title: Civil Society in Macedonia’s Democratization Process Journal: Journal of Contemporary European Studies Citation information: Volume 21, Number 2, Pages 202–217 DOI: 10.1080/14782804.2013.815464 The above-named article from Journal of Contemporary European Studies has been retracted and should not be cited. Following publication of the above article, it has been determined that the paper contains significant passages of unattributed material, as well as material which paraphrases source material with only minor alterations, without being identified as such. The Editor together with the publishers of the journal, Taylor & Francis, note that we received, peer-reviewed, accepted, and published the article on the basis of warranties made by the author regarding its originality and provenance. We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retractions. The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as “Retracted”.

Será a Nigéria um Estado falhado? O grupo Boko Haram

A atual situacao na Nigeria motiva uma reflexao sobre o Estado e as funcoes que este desempenha na sociedade. O incremento do fundamentalismo islâmico no pais surge em um contexto de problemas estruturais complexos que colocam em causa a autoridade e a legitimidade do Estado. A evidente fragilidade das instituicoes e a fraca resposta por parte do Estado a instabilidade e a inseguranca provocada por grupos extremistas como o Boko Haram, leva-nos a questionar se a Nigeria podera ser considerada um Estado falhado. E, tratando-se de um Estado falhado em que a seguranca interna e deficitaria e os conflitos interetnicos proliferam, estara a unidade nacional comprometida ou seriamente ameacada? Neste artigo tentamos aferir, por um lado, ate que ponto o fundamentalismo islâmico tem afetado o desenvolvimento economico e humano na Nigeria e, por outro, como o governo tem lidado com esse problema.

Bridging the gap: the Serbian struggle for good governance

Statement of Retraction We, the Editors and Publisher of Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, are retracting the following article: Author: Teresa Cierco Author Title: Bridging the gap: the Serbian struggle for good governance Journal: Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe Citation information: Volume 24, Number 2, Pages 113 – 129 DOI: 10.1080/0965156X.2016.1219159 The above-named article from Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe has been retracted and should not be cited. Following publication of the above article, it has been determined that the paper contains significant passages of unattributed material, as well as material which paraphrases source material with only minor alterations, without being identified as such. The Editor together with the publishers of the journal, Taylor & Francis, note that we received, peer-reviewed, accepted, and published the article on the basis of warranties made by the author regarding its originality and provenance. We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retractions. The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as “Retracted”.

Police and military forces in Timor-Leste: Are they a source of peace or conflict?

Security sector reform (SSR) aims to create a secure environment that is conducive to development, poverty reduction, good governance, and in particular the growth of democratic states and institutions based on the rule of law. This relies on the ability of the state to mitigate its people’s vulnerabilities through development and to use a range of policy instruments to prevent or address security threats that affect society’s wellbeing. Timor-Leste is currently relatively stable compared to the 2006–08 crisis period, but it is still seen as a fragile state. In the security sector, this fragility highlights the conflictual relationship between the armed forces (FALINTIL – Forcas de Defesa de Timor-Leste, F-FDTL) and the police (Policia Nacional do Timor-Leste, PNTL) as the most significant threat to national stability. This article examines the United Nations’ efforts in Timor-Leste as an important case for the study of SSR in post-conflict countries and tries to answer the following questions: how has SSR evolved in Timor-Leste? What has the role of the military and police forces been in the country’s stabilization and reconstruction? Are they contributing to peace or are they a source of potential conflict?

Albania’s Difficult Path towards Democracy

This article is temporarily unavailable. Originally published on November 27th, 2014, it has been taken offline on October 12th, 2018, pending a revision.