De afgelopen jaren is het debat rondom het Molotov-Ribbentroppact sterk gepolariseerd. Enerzijds verdedigt Rusland met hand en tand het narratief van de Sovjet-Unie als heldhaftige overwinnaar van...Show moreDe afgelopen jaren is het debat rondom het Molotov-Ribbentroppact sterk gepolariseerd. Enerzijds verdedigt Rusland met hand en tand het narratief van de Sovjet-Unie als heldhaftige overwinnaar van de Tweede Wereldoorlog, en is er voor het Molotov-Ribbentrop geen plaats. Immers, Groot-Brittannië en Frankrijk lieten de Sovjet-Unie geen keus met hun 'appeasement-politiek'. Anderzijds stelt het Europese Parlement, sterk beïnvloed door de Baltische Staten - de grote benadeelden van het pact -, dat door het Molotov-Ribbentroppact de Tweede Wereldoorlog kon plaatsvinden. Hoe is het tot deze 'memory war' gekomen, en waarom is de geschiedenis belangrijk voor zowel de Russische federatie als de Europese Unie?Show less
This thesis examines North Macedonia’s response to the European Council’s decision of rejecting the opening of accession negotiations, resulting from a veto by French President Emmanuel Macron in...Show moreThis thesis examines North Macedonia’s response to the European Council’s decision of rejecting the opening of accession negotiations, resulting from a veto by French President Emmanuel Macron in October 2019. North Macedonia is considered to be a pioneer in complying with the EU’s conditionality framework since 2001 and has received the European Commission’s positive recommendations to open the accession negotiations in 2009 and 2019. Although the EU’s incentive-based conditionality strategy is considered to be effective in academia, a scenario whereby a candidate country has adopted the EU conditions and was nevertheless rejected by the European Council has not been analysed yet. Consequently, this thesis is based on qualitative primary and secondary data, in which interviews played the essential sources of information. Rationalist and constructivist theories in EU conditionality studies play the fundamental basis as explanatory behavioural models in this research. The results of this research reveal that North Macedonia has not been discouraged by the French veto and eventually implemented final provisions of the EU integration process. On 24 March 2020, North Macedonia received the green light to the start of the accession talks.Show less
The EU is not only pressured to review its CSDP as a result of threats it perceives coming from the South and the East, but also by the USA. In addition, the CSDP has been criticized by scholars...Show moreThe EU is not only pressured to review its CSDP as a result of threats it perceives coming from the South and the East, but also by the USA. In addition, the CSDP has been criticized by scholars for its ineffectiveness for various reasons. This thesis prioritizes the argument that the CSDP lacks effectiveness due to institutional defects. Furthermore, initiatives have been implemented as a result of the EUGS and the IPSD. These institutional constructs may influence the CSDP’s ineffectiveness. Within academic literature, however, research is lacking concerning the impact of the initiatives of the IPSD on the CSDP. Therefore, this thesis aims to answer the question of how the EU has addressed the criticisms concerning the CSDP. The theoretical foundation of this thesis is rational-choice institutionalism, and is conducted on the basis of a triangulated study. First of all, the correspondence between the EUGS and the IPSD has been examined. Thereafter, it has been researched how the IPSD addresses the scholarly criticisms concerning its institutional defects. It is concluded that with the implementation of the IPSD, the EU has not been able to address all the scholarly criticisms. The plan has addressed the criticisms concerning the lack of capacities, and also the ability to ensure compliance in generating resources. Furthermore, the issue concerning the absence of military headquarters has been addressed as well. Finally, it is argued that the initiatives may have created the opportunity to increase the CSDP’s effectiveness indirectly.Show less
This thesis aims at analysing the EU’s anti-smuggling mission in Mediterranean Sea namely ‘Sophia Operation’ under the scope of international human rights law. At the centre of this inquiry is the...Show moreThis thesis aims at analysing the EU’s anti-smuggling mission in Mediterranean Sea namely ‘Sophia Operation’ under the scope of international human rights law. At the centre of this inquiry is the new mandate of Sophia that trains the Libyan Coast Guards (LCG) and provides them military assets, and financial aids and support. The question is to understand how the EU is outsourcing the ‘dirty job’ so as to avoid its responsibility towards international human rights law, and more specifically the princple of non-refoulement.Show less
The European Union is directly affected by political crises within member states. One of the challenges many of the member countries face comes in the form of secessionism. The secessionist...Show moreThe European Union is directly affected by political crises within member states. One of the challenges many of the member countries face comes in the form of secessionism. The secessionist sentiment in Europe is especially felt in the United Kingdom and Spain. Whereby secessionism has been able to move to the political mainstream. This thesis has sought to analyse in accordance to the framework of Mechanics of Cultural diplomacy: A comparative case.” (Kizlari & Fouseki, 2017) how regional secessionist governments have instrumentalised semi-public institutions to conduct sub-state diplomacy. The thesis analyses the legal mandate, the operational structure of Scotland Europa and Diplocat to discover whether they subjected to the direct influence of their respective regional governments. Subsequently, the thesis analyses the frames employed by the organisations in their communications to understand the objective of their publications in order to conclude how regional governments instrumentalised them. The analysis demonstrates that in both the Catalan and Scottish case the organisations were indeed instrumentalised to conduct sub-state diplomacy. Yet, the objectives were different. On one hand the Catalans sought to internationalise their self-determination effort and appealed to the European Union to mediate in the national conflict. On the other hand, the Scottish government has sought to influence EU decision making through more conventional channels such as consultation responses and the publication of papers. Finally, it has become clear that both the Catalan and Scottish government see European Union membership as a crucial part of their independence.Show less
The main intention of this thesis is to provide an assessment of the extent to which the European Union (EU) has been able to diffuse its norms within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ...Show moreThe main intention of this thesis is to provide an assessment of the extent to which the European Union (EU) has been able to diffuse its norms within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) through theories of norm diffusion – with particular regard to Acharya’s ‘localization’ and Manner’s ‘Normative Power Europe’. Addedly, the research is mainly centered on the case studies of Myanmar and the Philippines, owing to their relevance to contemporary EU-ASEAN relations and current events. The case studies of are still an ongoing phenomenon and are thus relevant to examining the standing of current EU-ASEAN relations.Show less
