Year of the Balkans
This will be the year of the Balkans from many aspects because there will be a lot of political changes and developments in the region and most probably the region will have new states as well.
Needless to say Kosovo first comes to mind among these states. It is certain from now that the final status of Kosovo, which has been under the administration of the United Nations (UN) since the war in 1999, will be determined by the end of this year and the region will gain independence, even if it is conditional or limited.
On the other side, we can anticipate that Abkhazia, North Ossetia, Transdiniester and the Bosnian-Serb Republic will also be influenced by Kosovo’s independence in a way because Russia is trying to establish close relations with Abkhazia, North Ossetia and Transdiniester. The Russian diplomatic efforts are aimed at helping these regions gain recognition as independent states. Leaders of the Bosnian-Serb Republic, which is called Republica Sirpsa in Serbian, are already saying that Kosovo’s independence will lead to instability in their republic and other Bosnian Serb circles have begun developing ideas such as, “If Kosovo gains independence why shouldn’t we do likewise, why shouldn’t we split from Bosnia?”
Despite the tiny picture, it appears as though Fikret Ertan has got some serious "balkan fever"
As these developments on Kosovo are taking place, Bosnia-Herzegovina is trying to prepare a new constitution before the general elections in fall. Today, Bosnia-Herzegovina is governed in accordance with the constitution that was adopted along with Daytona Agreement in 1995; however, this constitution is anachronistic, needs to be amended and the international community also accepts these amendments. Since the Bosnia-Herzegovina administration feels compelled to amend the constitution with pressure from international community, it has been studying a new constitution frame for four months.
According to recent new reports, the Constitutional Review Commission of the Bosnian Parliament accepted the amendment offers presented early this month. The commission will present these changes to the upper house of parliament next week and important steps to adopting the amendments will have been taken.
The amendments at issue can be summarized as follows: Increasing in the number of ministers, giving the prime minister more powers, replacing of the current three-party rotating presidential system with a new system that has only one president and two vice presidents, a transition from direct election as envisaged in the current constitution to the election of the president and two vice-presidents through popular vote. Such changes will bring along with them radical transformation of the political system in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It can well be argued that these amendments are aimed at making the central authority more flexible in its governance as well as taking the country closer to European Union (EU) standards. The proposed changes have received support from both the EU and the United States (US), the architect of the Dayton Accords. From this perspective, it seems very likely that Bosnia will have a new constitution in 2006.
In addition to all these developments and changes in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina, other important developments and changes will also take place in Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia. We can easily argue that Serbia will capture the two wanted war criminals, Gen. Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic and will refer them to the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, and that will mean Serbia surmounting one of the biggest obstacles on its path towards the EU.
It is already evident that both Macedonia and Croatia will make great strides in their journey towards the EU; because the process that has already begun will gain momentum later this year and Macedonia will probably gain candidate country status late in December; Croatia will resume its accession talks because the Croatian government handed over Gen. Ante Gotovina, another war criminal, to The Hague last December.
Lastly, we will probably hear a declaration of independence from Montenegro after the May 21 referendum.
As we said at the very beginning, 2006 will the year of the Balkans…
April 22, 2006
balkan
Needless to say Kosovo first comes to mind among these states. It is certain from now that the final status of Kosovo, which has been under the administration of the United Nations (UN) since the war in 1999, will be determined by the end of this year and the region will gain independence, even if it is conditional or limited.
On the other side, we can anticipate that Abkhazia, North Ossetia, Transdiniester and the Bosnian-Serb Republic will also be influenced by Kosovo’s independence in a way because Russia is trying to establish close relations with Abkhazia, North Ossetia and Transdiniester. The Russian diplomatic efforts are aimed at helping these regions gain recognition as independent states. Leaders of the Bosnian-Serb Republic, which is called Republica Sirpsa in Serbian, are already saying that Kosovo’s independence will lead to instability in their republic and other Bosnian Serb circles have begun developing ideas such as, “If Kosovo gains independence why shouldn’t we do likewise, why shouldn’t we split from Bosnia?”
Despite the tiny picture, it appears as though Fikret Ertan has got some serious "balkan fever"
As these developments on Kosovo are taking place, Bosnia-Herzegovina is trying to prepare a new constitution before the general elections in fall. Today, Bosnia-Herzegovina is governed in accordance with the constitution that was adopted along with Daytona Agreement in 1995; however, this constitution is anachronistic, needs to be amended and the international community also accepts these amendments. Since the Bosnia-Herzegovina administration feels compelled to amend the constitution with pressure from international community, it has been studying a new constitution frame for four months.
According to recent new reports, the Constitutional Review Commission of the Bosnian Parliament accepted the amendment offers presented early this month. The commission will present these changes to the upper house of parliament next week and important steps to adopting the amendments will have been taken.
The amendments at issue can be summarized as follows: Increasing in the number of ministers, giving the prime minister more powers, replacing of the current three-party rotating presidential system with a new system that has only one president and two vice presidents, a transition from direct election as envisaged in the current constitution to the election of the president and two vice-presidents through popular vote. Such changes will bring along with them radical transformation of the political system in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It can well be argued that these amendments are aimed at making the central authority more flexible in its governance as well as taking the country closer to European Union (EU) standards. The proposed changes have received support from both the EU and the United States (US), the architect of the Dayton Accords. From this perspective, it seems very likely that Bosnia will have a new constitution in 2006.
In addition to all these developments and changes in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina, other important developments and changes will also take place in Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia. We can easily argue that Serbia will capture the two wanted war criminals, Gen. Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic and will refer them to the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, and that will mean Serbia surmounting one of the biggest obstacles on its path towards the EU.
It is already evident that both Macedonia and Croatia will make great strides in their journey towards the EU; because the process that has already begun will gain momentum later this year and Macedonia will probably gain candidate country status late in December; Croatia will resume its accession talks because the Croatian government handed over Gen. Ante Gotovina, another war criminal, to The Hague last December.
Lastly, we will probably hear a declaration of independence from Montenegro after the May 21 referendum.
As we said at the very beginning, 2006 will the year of the Balkans…
April 22, 2006
balkan
posted by redemption department at 8:53 PM
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