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2013
New ESI report: Cutting the Visa Knot – How Turks can travel freely to Europe
5/2013 21 May 2013Visa liberalisation has been a crucial element in the EU's relations with Romania, Serbia and Albania. Yet until recently it had not even appeared on the agenda of talks between Brussels and Ankara.
Albanian elections, the case for red lines - ESI in Budapest - ESI junior fellows
4/2013 8 May 2013The key message from all international observers, and in particular from the European Union, must be that all Albanian institutions must rigorously respect the laws they themselves have adapted
Victor Hugo in Baku - Visa free travel and human rights
3/2013 26 February 2013When will Azerbaijani citizens be able to look back at political arrests and authoritarian rule in Baku with the same sense of amazement that Victor Hugo predicted for the future?
Open letter to LIBE committee concerning Balkan asylum issues
2/2013 21 February 2013If the countries that have undergone a formal visa liberalisation process are declared safe countries of origin, EU member states can provide for an accelerated examination procedure when dealing with claims from their citizens
Saving visa-free travel - ESI documentaries online - ESI in London, Budapest, and Kyiv
1/2013 8 January 2013Instead of going back on visa liberalization, we propose that all EU members have short procedures for dealing with applicants from European countries that meet a series of human rights conditions and are therefore "safe countries of origin"
2012
Ilham the Magician and the Council of Europe
7/2012 2 October 2012To show what is at stake we have produced a political fable. It illustrates Azerbaijan's latest attempt to undermine the credibility of the Council of Europe.
Smiles and conditions - Montenegro opens EU door - PACE and Azerbaijan
6/2012 6 July 2012The green light for talks with Montenegro is a badly needed signal that progress is rewarded and that the EU perspective is real
Caviar Diplomacy - How Azerbaijan silenced the Council of Europe
5/2012 24 May 2012How an authoritarian regime in Baku sidesteped its commitments to the Council of Europe, silenced its critics and turned international election monitoring into political theatre
The Balkan employment crisis – a joint appeal (Oped by Kori Udovicki and Gerald Knaus)
4/2012 7 April 2012The lack of employment opportunities today in the Western Balkans is generating quiet despair, especially among the young. Without radical change, without a serious and visible commitment to a new set of policies, the sense of despair now palpable in the region may become burning.
Towards visa liberalization – Seven steps to 229 votes
3/2012 22 March 2012To get to the Schengen White List ESI recommends the following seven steps to be taken, starting this month
The time is now: changing EU visa policy on Turkey
2/2012 13 March 2012The EU's current visa policy towards Turkey is unsustainable, and the time to revise it is now.
Croatia's European rebirth: a story of leadership
1/2012 25 January 2012Compared to where it stood in 1999, Croatia is undoubtedly a story of a successful transformation. It is also evidence that the strict EU negotiating framework can bring results.
2011
Bosnia, Libya, Afghanistan: When Can Intervention Work?
3/2011 1 September 2011The less outsiders know about a foreign society the more easily they fall for illusions of an "hour zero" and view post-conflict societies as a tabula rasa only waiting for smart social engineers to work their magic
Reading Turkey – Scared in Azerbaijan – White List Project Update
2/2011 8 June 2011Our aim is to raise the profile of this young state on the Caspian Sea; and to support the vision that Azerbaijan will also one day (soon) also join the club of genuine European democracies
NEW Report - Murder in Anatolia - Christian Missionaries and Turkish Ultranationalism
1/2011 12 January 2011For anybody interested in understanding contemporary Turkish politics and the court cases which look into the dark world of ultranationalist associations the Malatya murder trial is a good place to start
2010
Next EU presidency: ESI Manual on Who is who in Budapest – 2010 revisited
8/2010 22 December 2010One of the nice things about knowledge is that it increases for everybody once it is shared.
Europe's Decline – Turkey and the Balkans – Recommended Books
7/2010 16 December 2010Is Europe a continent in decline? What kind of foreign policy can such a continent pursue?
Europe's Border Revolution – Kosovo's Isolation Confirmed (new ESI Report)
6/2010 22 November 2010Europe's border revolution – the attempt to implement on a continental scale a post-national approach to border management which provides both more liberty and more security – is going strong.
Turkey, the EU and a Catholic Marriage - Visa and Viagra
5/2010 11 November 2010Today's relationship between Turkey and the EU is like a Catholic marriage: divorce is not an option for either side. The only question is whether the couple will be a happy one.
The Great Debate on Turkey and Turks
4/2010 21 October 2010It should be obvious that in a country with an estimated 2,738,551 German Turks (Turkish citizens resident in Germany, German citizens who were once Turkish citizens and those with at least one Turkish citizen as a parent) Islam "also belongs to Germany".