In the 1990s, in the wake of the war in former Yugoslavia and the collapse of the Hoxa regime in Albania, a complex process based on nation-building, democratic transition, regional stabilisation and European integration began to develop in each of the WB States. The interconnections among the above mentioned factors have been particularly complex and problematic, due to frequent cases of conflict between, on one side, nation-building, and, on the other, democratic transition, regional stabilisation and EU integration. In particular, a gap between law in the books and law in action emerges when considering the reforms adopted with the aim to comply with the standards of European conditionality. This conflict became even more evident in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the adoption of emergency measures reinforced nationalism, with a particularly negative impact on the process of democratic transition. Minority rights are a relevant case-study of this complex process. Indeed, as it is argued in this paper, the weakness of the European-driven legislation on minority rights in the WB might be explained in terms of an unclear theoretical relationship between minority rights, democracy and the rule of law, not only in the domestic, but also in the European context.
I diritti delle minoranze nei Balcani occidentali, tra transizioni incompiute ed emergenza sanitaria
Maria Dicosola
2021-01-01
Abstract
In the 1990s, in the wake of the war in former Yugoslavia and the collapse of the Hoxa regime in Albania, a complex process based on nation-building, democratic transition, regional stabilisation and European integration began to develop in each of the WB States. The interconnections among the above mentioned factors have been particularly complex and problematic, due to frequent cases of conflict between, on one side, nation-building, and, on the other, democratic transition, regional stabilisation and EU integration. In particular, a gap between law in the books and law in action emerges when considering the reforms adopted with the aim to comply with the standards of European conditionality. This conflict became even more evident in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the adoption of emergency measures reinforced nationalism, with a particularly negative impact on the process of democratic transition. Minority rights are a relevant case-study of this complex process. Indeed, as it is argued in this paper, the weakness of the European-driven legislation on minority rights in the WB might be explained in terms of an unclear theoretical relationship between minority rights, democracy and the rule of law, not only in the domestic, but also in the European context.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
