Papers from three former interns were published in December 2018 and there are more in the pipeline for 2019.

Firstly, Dr. Jim Molos, (Ph.D. in political philosophy from Queens University, Canada) completed a legal internship in the summer of 2018 under ECMI Senior Research Associate Dr. Ljubica Djordjevic. One of the tangible results of this was Working Paper #113 ‘The Mixed Tale of Croatia’s Implementation of the FCNM: Successful Legislative and Institutional Implementation Marred by Local Administrative Resistance and Misapplication’. Involving one of the major legal instruments in the sphere of the ECMI’s work, Dr. Molos concentrated on Croatia, a major country in one of the core regions of the ECMI’s work; the Western Balkans. His Working Paper analyses Croatia’s progress concerning its legal obligation under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and concludes that “the Croatian implementation record reveals mixed results”. Further, the Working Paper summarises that “Croatia’s progress demonstrates that its national minority protection measures are not properly characterized as legislative lip-service, and that even though Croatia has much work to do to fully implement the FCNM, including on several issues of pressing concern, its real progress should be neither underestimated nor devalued”.

Earlier that month, former ECMI intern Nevena Radosavljević finalised a Working Paper based on empirical research conducted for her MA thesis defended at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg. Working Paper #110 is titled ‘The Influence of Dialogue Projects on the Reconciliation Process in Kosovo: Give Peace a Chance? – The Case of the Youth Peace Camp’ and sees Radosavljević examine an empirical case study involving Kosovo, a key geographical area for the ECMI’s work. The Working Paper shows the importance and influence of dialogue projects in relation to reconciliation and peace, even after 20 years since the end of the armed conflict. Further, it outlines an example from the bottom-up angle, a lesser researched area than the majority of efforts which are attempted through governance from the top-down level. Specifically, Radosavljević concludes that “the results of this study are emphasizing the positive impact of the dialogue projects such as YPC on the reconciliation process in Kosovo”.

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In addition, December 2018 also saw the publication of Working Paper #112 by Guido Panzano (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Italy), a former ECMI intern under ECMI Senior Research Associate Dr. Sergiusz Bober. Panzano’s extensive Working Paper titled ‘The Trembling of a Complex Regional Consociation: 2018 Provincial Election in South Tyrol’, analyses a well-known region in the context of minority studies. Despite its economic success in comparison to much of Italy, there are deep divisions politically and these are further complicated by the country’s complex national-level politics. Panzano unpacks the history of this in an introductory section which looks at the institutional background of power-sharing and autonomy, as well as exploring the political party framework that has been largely segmented along ethnic lines. This leads to the modern-day context as Panzano examines each political party which contested the 2018 South Tyrolean provincial elections, including a consequent focus on the outcomes. This incorporates an analysis of the party manifestos, using the codification of the Regional Manifestos Project, in order “to see which were the most salient issues at stake”. The conclusions demonstrate that South Tyrol is a complex region in which minority aspects are a significant factor but not the only dimension at play.

The ECMI welcomes applications for interns to work under the team of senior research associates and the possibility to publish a working paper will always be considered. Thus, we encourage students or young scholars to apply.

Author: CW

Source: ECMI InfoChannel @ European Centre for Minority Issues.