by Bledar Feta and Apostolis Karabairis, EKEM/CSIS

The curtain rose on the latest act of Balkan diplomacy: the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legality of Kosovo’s proclamation of independence in 2008 was announced at 15:00 CET on Thursday, July 22. Contrary to what had many expected, the Court did not come up with a Solomon’s judgment that might prove equally (un)satisfactory for both sides; rather, it produced a clear winner and a loser.

In its ruling the ICJ stated that the February 2008 declaration of independence by the Kosovo Assembly violated neither the international legal order nor the United Nation Security Council Resolution 1244. In September 2008 the Court was asked by the United Nations General Assembly to give its advice on a question put forth by Serbia, which inquired “whether the declaration of independence by the provisional self-ruling institutions of Kosovo was in line with international law.” Resorting to the ICJ was a shrewd diplomatic stroke by Belgrade, through which it bought time and slowed international momentum toward recognition of Kosovo for over two years. Pristina and Belgrade are engaged in a battle on the world stage to draw countries into their respective camps. Ultimately, Serbia’s attempt to outmaneuver Kosovo through the ICJ laid in ruins, leading to one of the most important victories of Kosovar Albanians in the international arena.

Stavros Kourtalis - Gerasimos Tsourapas

Maria Gianniou, EKEM/EuroMedO
July 2010

“Our task is to promote a ring of well governed countries…on the borders of the Mediterranean with whom we can enjoy close and cooperative relations”
European Security Strategy, December 2003

When the European Security Strategy was published in 2003, the ring of friends that the European Union aspired to secure in the Mediterranean region was incomplete: Europe had contractual relations with all of its Mediterranean neighbours except Libya.

Πραγματοποιήθηκε με μεγάλη επιτυχία στην αίθουσα εκδηλώσεων του Υπουργείου Εξωτερικών "Γιάννος Κρανιδιώτης" στις 23-06-2010 ημερίδα με θέμα «Η εκτίμηση κινδύνου κατά τη χρήση επικίνδυνων ουσιών στους χώρους εργασίας» που διοργάνωσε το Σώμα Επιθεώρησης Εργασίας (Σ.ΕΠ.Ε) του Υπουργείου Εργασίας και Κοινωνικής Ασφάλισης με την υποστήριξη του Ελληνικού Κέντρου Ευρωπαϊκών Μελετών (ΕΚΕΜ) στα πλαίσια των δράσεων του προγράμματος "European Management Partnership" και της ένωσης Ελλήνων Χημικών (Ε.Ε.Χ).
Εκτός από τη συμμετοχή ειδικών επιστημόνων εντυπωσιακή υπήρξε και η παρουσία τόσο από την πλευρά της εργοδοσίας όσο και από την πλευρά των εργαζομένων.
Την ημερίδα άνοιξε ο Ειδικός Γραμματέας του Σώματος Επιθεώρησης Εργασίας κ. Χάλαρης Μιχάλης δίνοντας έμφαση στην Ιπποκράτεια ρήση "Το προλαμβάνειν μείζον εστίν του θεραπεύειν ".