Publications

Bulgarians are famously unhappy. A few years ago their pessimism came to international attention. A Gallup Poll discovered in 2009 that the citizens of this small Balkan nation had lower expectations for how their life would be five years later than Iraqis and Afghans. Bulgarians were not surprised by this discovery. A leading Sofia-based think tank, the Centre for Liberal Strategies (CLS), had already published a paper in 2003 titled Optimistic Theory about the Pessimism of the Transition. The latest World Happiness Report confirmed this global reputation for morosity in 2013. Out of 156 nations it ranked Bulgarians 144th, behind Iraqis and Afghans, Congolese and Haitians.

Türkiye’de 2002 yılında 76 üniversite vardı. Bu rakam 2013 yılında 175’e ulaştı (104 devlet üniversitesi ve 71 vakıf üniversitesi). Bu süre içerisinde, Türkiye’nin 1,2 milyon olan üniversite öğrencisi sayısıda 4,4milyonun üzerine çıktı. Buna rağmen hâlâ çok az Türk öğrenci eğitim hayatının bir bölümünü yurtdışında geçiriyor. 2011 yılında yapılan bir ankete göre, 15-35 yaşları arasındaki Türklerin yalnızca yüzde üçü eğitim veya staj için yurtdışına gitmiş.Bu çok düşük bir oran. Almanya’da ve İsveç’te rakamlar sırasıyla yüzde 21 ve yüzde 24.

Elinizdeki rapor yukarıdaki rakamların arkasındaki bazı nedenleri inceleyerek, daha fazla Türk öğrencinin yurtdışına gitmesinin önündeki engelleri ortaya çıkarıyor: yabancı dil eksikliği; pek çok üniversitenin yabancı üniversitelerle işbirliği anlaşmaları imzalamalarını zorlaştıran, yabancı öğrenciler için Türkiye’de sunulan ilgi çekici derslerin azlığı; Türk Erasmus öğrencileri için maddî destek yetersizliği ve karmaşık vize başvuru işlemleri. 

In 2002, Turkey had 76 universities. In 2013 the number was 175 (104 public and 71 private). During this period the number of Turkey’s university students increased from 1.2 million to more than 4.4 million.

However, few Turkish students spend any part of their studies abroad. A 2011 survey found that only 3 percent of Turks aged 15-35 had been abroad for education or training. This is very low. In Germany and Sweden the numbers were 21 and 24 percent, respectively.

This paper looks at some of the reasons behind these numbers. It identifies major issues that prevent Turkish students from going abroad in higher numbers: a foreign language deficit; a lack of attractive courses for foreign students in Turkey, which makes it harder for many universities to sign cooperation agreements with foreign partners; a lack of funding for Turkish Erasmus students; and complicated visa application procedures.

Turkey has a tradition of rough and ready criminal justice. Judges virtually never reject an indictment, including many unconvincing ones launched by overzealous prosecutors. With a population smaller than Germany, Turkey had five times more criminal cases in 2010. Germany has 24 judges per 100,000 inhabitants; Turkey only 11. The workload for every Turkish judge is thus more than ten times that of a judge in Germany. One can see the results in any ordinary criminal court across the country, where a judge hears up to 20 cases a day.

Türkiye özensiz ve vasat bir ceza yargısı geleneğine sahip. Yargıçlar -fazla istekli bazı savcılarca hazırlanmış inandırıcılıktan uzak olanlar da dahil- neredeyse hiçbir iddianameyi reddetmiyorlar. Kıyaslama yapacak olursak, 2010 yılında Türkiye’de, nüfusça daha küçük olduğu Almanya’ya oranla beş kat daha fazla ceza davası vardı. Yine Almanya’da her 100,000 vatandaş için 24 yargıç bulunurken, Türkiye’de bu sayı 11. Her Türk yargıcın iş yükü Almanya’daki bir meslektaşından on kat daha ağır. Sonuçta, Türkiye’deki her hangi bir ceza mahkemesi yargıcının günde 20 kadar davaya bakmak durumunda kaldığını gözlemlemek mümkün.

There is no past, no future, just an endlessly repeating present. Characters are imprisoned in a single place, unable to leave. They inhabit a universe filled with futile dialogue and futile gestures. People are lost. We are on the set of Waiting for Godot. We are in the world of EU-Macedonian relations in 2014. Is this the future of European enlargement policy throughout South East Europe?

Kosovo’s (male) politicians repeat on every occasion that they see their country’s future as a member of the European Union. For this to happen, however, not only will the five EU member states yet to recognise Kosovo’s independence need to change their position, but the country will need more people willing to challenge its taboos. It will need champions for girls’ education, a revolution in the labour market and new forms of family life and gender relations. It will need scholarships for young women to study abroad and young women willing to return to take on the patriarchal values that still set Kosovo apart. It will need more women like Jeta and Besa for a European Kosovo, Kosovo 2.0, to become a reality.

Romania's membership of the EU in 2007 seemed to promise a continuation of the growth trajectory and an eventual catching up with EU living standards. It was a promise that seemed plausible until 2008. In the six years after Romania started its accession negotiations, GDP per capita rose from 30 to 47 per cent of the EU average. Romania remained poor, but salaries were rising. A new middle class – university graduates employed by multinational companies – found itself with money to spend. It began heading off with low-cost airlines for weekend trips. Timisoara airport offered daily direct flights to more than 20 European destinations.

There was nothing inevitable about Croatia's evolution: it took significant political leadership, as well as courage and perseverance, to repudiate the values and policies of the 1990s. It also took smart EU interventions. The Croatian experience, as well as the lessons it holds for the rest of the Western Balkans, is worth exploring in more detail.

In December 2013 the EU-Turkey visa liberalisation process was launched. ESI recommends that EU member states now commit to five goals to support this process. These goals can be achieved by each member state through steps fully in compliance with existing EU visa rules.

The prospects of obtaining visa-free travel and signing the Association Agreement and DCFTA soon are both good news. At the same time Moldova desperately needs economic development and increased foreign direct investment. For this a clear long-term EU membership perspective would be crucial. If the EU wants Moldova to become a true success story in the Eastern neighbourhood, it should be prepared to go further.

В настоящем докладе утверждается, что будущее наблюдения за выборами на европейском континенте зависит от того, какой будет реакция лиц, принимающих решения – в Европейском парламенте, Совете Европы, Парламентской ассамблее ОБСЕ и в европейских правительствах – на произошедшее в Азербайджане. Крайне важно тщательно рассмотреть факты и анализ, приведшие к столь различным оценкам выборов, и отследить, каким образом различные группы наблюдателей могли прийти к диаметрально противоположным выводам. Также следует пересмотреть отношение между долгосрочными и краткосрочными наблюдателями за выборами.

This report argues that the future of election monitoring on the European continent depends on how decision makers – in the European Parliament, in the Council of Europe, in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and in European governments – react now. It is vital to revisit the facts and analyses behind the different assessments, and to retrace how different groups of observers could arrive at radically diverging conclusions. The relationship between long- and short-term election observers needs to be rethought.

Macedonia submitted an application for EU membership in March 2004. Almost a decade later it has still not opened EU accession talks. Albania submitted its application in April 2009. More than four years later it is not even an official candidate. Then there is Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereafter: Bosnia). Bosnia has already broken every record when it comes to its Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU. It started negotiations in November 2005. Eight years later, the agreement has not yet entered into force. No other Balkan country has taken so long. Bosnia has also not yet submitted an application for EU accession. If the experience of Albania and Macedonia is anything to go by, it might not start accession talks for another decade.

In December 2009 the European Court of Human Rights found – in its judgement in the case Sejdic and Finci vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina – that the constitution and election law of Bosnia and Herzegovina violate the European Convention on Human Rights and its protocols. Bosnia’s laws require that political candidates identify themselves as “Bosniak”, “Croat” or “Serb” in order to be able to run for president or become a member of the upper house of the state parliament. Behind the international interest in this case lies a strong sense of moral outrage. How can a country in today’s Europe prevent a Roma or a Jew from running for head of state? Is this not a racist constitution?

On 24 September 2013 many eyes across the EU and Turkey turned to Luxembourg. There, at just after nine-thirty in the morning, the Court of Justice of the European Union (or European Court of Justice, ECJ) delivered a judgement in one of its most important cases this year. The issue at stake was visa-free access to EU countries for Turkish citizens.

On 24 September 2013 at just after nine-thirty in the morning the Court of Justice of the European Union (or European Court of Justice, ECJ) will deliver a judgement in one of the most important cases it will decide this year. The outcome will affect millions of Turkish citizens. It could also have a profound impact on the future of the Schengen visa system.

Vize serbestleşmesi, AB’nin Romanya, Bulgaristan, Sırbistan ve Arnavutluk ile olan ilişkilerinde büyük öneme sahip bir unsur oldu. Ancak yakın bir zaman öncesine kadar Brüksel ile Ankara arasındaki görüşme gündeminde bu konu yer almadı. Sonra, 21 Haziran 2012’de AB Konseyi, Komisyon’a Türkiye ile vize serbestleşmesi hedefli bir diyalog başlatması için çağrı yaptı. AB Konseyi’nin sonuç bildirgesinin üzerinden yaklaşık bir yıl geçti. Vize serbestleşmesi diyaloğu hâlâ başlamadı.

Visa 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. Then on 21 June 2012, the Council invited the Commission to establish a dialogue with Turkey aimed at visa liberalisation. Almost a year has passed since these Council conclusions. The dialogue on visa liberalisation has yet to begin.

Ka ekzistuar gjithmonë një rrezik që zgjedhjet parlamentare të 23 qershorit 2013 në Shqipëri të mos i përmbushin standardet ndërkombëtare. Kjo ka gjasa të sjellë një krizë të madhe politike në Shqipëri. Pasojë tjetër e zgjedhjeve jo të mira do të jetë humbja e çfarëdo perspektive për progres drejt integrimeve europiane në të ardhmen e afërt, si dhe hyrja e Shqipërisë në një spiralë të përkeqësimit politik, social dhe ekonomik. ESI argumenton se për t’iu kundërvënë këtij rreziku, komuniteti ndërkombëtar duhet të ketë qëndrim të qartë dhe nuk duhet të bëjë kompromis sa i përket mbrojtjes së parimeve demokratike që duhet respektuar medoemos. Qëndrimi i saj duhet të jetë jopartiak dhe duhet të përkrahë fuqimisht sundimin e ligjit. Në këtë dokument vihen në spikamë shkeljet e fundit të parimeve demokratike, teksa Shqipëria po përgatitet për zgjedhjet parlamentare të 23 qershorit 2013. Ky evidentim i shkeljeve i jep mundësinë komunitetit ndërkombëtar, në veçanti Bashkimit Europian, që të shfaqë qëndrimet e veta në një moment kyç të kësaj gare elektorale që duket se do të jetë shumë e ngushtë dhe e “nxehtë”.