CIAO DATE: 04/2008
Volume: 3, Issue: 2
March 2007
Open for Business: Slovakia as a New Member State (PDF)
Tim Haughton, Darina Malová
Previous explorations into the national preference formation of member states have generated a number of different explanations including size, societal interests, dependency, ideology and unique historical experiences. Although acknowledging that three years of EU membership is an insufficient period of time to arrive at definitive conclusions, in the case of Slovakia we contend that ideology is not such a good indicator, but rather find an explanation based on the country's recent history and its size combined with the structure of party politics and the preferences of key interest groups. We suggest these insights could be used as the basis for an examination of other new member states, especially, smaller new democracies and new states, invited to begin negotiations at the Helsinki European Council, such as Latvia and Lithuania.
Domestic Politics in Czech Foreign Policy: Between Consensus and Clash (PDF)
Michal Kořan
This article is an attempt to analyze the impact of domestic politics on foreign policy. In order to do so, four domestic factors relevant for foreign policy are identified and then defined with respect to the development after the 2006 parliamentary elections. It is argued that the foreign policy process is substantially molded by ideology of the relevant parties, by the ‘issue area’ involved, by the constitutional and institutional setting and by the interplay between the relevant actors. Focusing on these factors should allow us to grasp both the immediate changes in foreign policy resulting from domestic politics as well as to delineate a long term framework of which the foreign policy process unfolds. The article will conclude with an overview of the key foreign policy issues of the day, aiming to explore the link between the identified relevant domestic political factors and the actual foreign policy outcome.
Hungarian Domestic Policy in Foreign Policy (PDF)
Balázs Kiss, Csaba Zahorán
The article focuses mainly on the national policy (i.e. the issue of the Hungarian minorities living abroad) since in this field the fundamental differences between the viewpoint of the right-wing and the left-wing political parties display very significantly, what also appears in the policy of the ruling governments. After providing a brief summary of the foreign policy of the Hungarian governments since the change of the political regime, the authors discuss some crucial issues and evaluate the Hungarian foreign policy of the last year of the new Gyurcsány government, outlining briefly the relation of Hungary and the Great Powers.
Ryszard Bobrowski
For the whole period of post- communist Poland, the conduct of foreign and security policy remained in the hands of the same political camp. With the exception of the short period of the Jan Olszewski's government ( XII 1991 – VI 1992) the execution of those policies remained in the hands of liberals from Solidarity camps and liberals from post-communist opportunists. The situation changed with the arrival of the new government after 2005 elections. According to the author, it is quite natural that opposition criticizes the government because of its own different political ideas and interests. It is also easy to understand that very often opposition is against one or another aspect of foreign policy conducted by the government or party in power. What is unusual, however, is total criticism and a never ending war declared on all political decisions and actions of the ruling government, especially in the domain of foreign and security policy. Therefore, one of the primary goals of the article is to answer the question of reasons for such a hostile attitude of the Polish opposition towards the government.
Reforms, Democratization and European Integration of Serbia (PDF)
Jelica Minić
Though Serbia may be considered as one of the most difficult cases in the EU enlargement process during the last two decades, the very perspective of EU and NATO membership is in itself a major stabilizing factor in finding solutions for these problems in a peaceful and efficient way. Accordnig to the author, there are at least six reasons why the Stabilization and Association Agreement should be concluded and Serbia should enter the accession phase of whatever length it could assume: to help consolidating the international and regional positions of the Republic of Serbia, to stabilize the domestic political scene and to consolidate the pro-European political forces in the country, to preserve the enhanced administrative capacities which enabled the negotiations up to now to be successful and efficient, to keep the EU financial and technical assistance at the same level with other potential candidates in the Western Balkans, to strengthen accomplished regional arrangements and to help the easier fulfillment of undertaken obligations and, last not least, for sending a good message to foreign economic partners in regard to further improvement of the investment and general business climate in the country. As the author concludes, the continued and even intensified dialogue between Serbia and EU is in the interest of both sides.
Zuzana Poláčková
Although it may sound paradoxical, neutrality and European integration efforts are closely interconnected in the framework of Austria's post-war domestic and foreign policy. Neutrality is an inseparable part of Austrian identity till now. Neutrality and the establishment of the Austrian Republic, freed of the occupation of the Four Powers, became closely intertwined and determined Austrian statehood. The state sovereignty based on neutrality gained also great respect in Austrian social and political consciousness. The article therefore evaluates different perceptions of neutrality, as presented by the most important political actors in Austria after World War II. The main focus, however, is on the new dimension of Austrian neutrality, as well as on the present domestic discourse on foreign policy and neutrality after the 2006 elections.
Pavol Szalai
Kurt Bassuener