Democratization through European integration: The case of minority rights in the Czech Republic and Romania

A Lost Opportunity? A Critique of the EU's Human Rights Policy Towards Turkey

“…16 For instance, there have been links between efforts by Romania and Hungary to resolve their minority issues and their membership expectations vis-à-vis the EU [Ram, 1999]. So far, this has not been the case for Turkey: EU policy has included neither a firm accession commitment nor a clearly defined comprehensive accession strategy to support Turkish efforts to resolve minority issues and to align the political and human rights system with that of the EU.…”

“…Yet, although Slovakia's human rights policy and its approach to the Hungarian minority were incompatible with EU norms, the EU allowed Slovakia to benefit from the accession strategy and gave it a clear commitment to EU accession [Ram, 1999]. Even the European Parliament supported this position; it stated that although there are serious problems with the country's Hungarian minority and with functioning institutional democracy which are totally not acceptable for us, we must open up the Community programmes and financial instruments to participation by Slovakia, with a view to deepening and strengthening of contact and of the 38 MEDITERRANEAN POLITICS common political ground between Slovakia and the European Union' [European Parliament, 1996a: 6].…”

“…As Melanie Ram argues, Romania started from the lowest possible base regarding the denial of human rights, lower than any other applicant country, but has benefited from the EU accession strategy [Ram, 1999]. The EU has financially supported a number of NGOs and projects in Romania through the PHARE programme, dealing with the strengthening of democratic institutions and public administration to prepare the country to meet political and legal membership requirements.…”

Cultural Attitudes of Romanian Youth

“…Hungarian representation in political institutions in Romania coupled with the real or imaginary support from Hungary seemed to work as safety valves protecting the Hungarian population from further marginalization within Romanian society. These events furthermore facilitated recognition of Hungarians' status in Romania, which translated into the establishment of Hungarian-language schools and universities (Ram, 2006). The attention to the needs of the Hungarian minority by the Romanian government has intensified in the last years, despite the occasional opposition (Ram, 2006).…”

“…These events furthermore facilitated recognition of Hungarians' status in Romania, which translated into the establishment of Hungarian-language schools and universities (Ram, 2006). The attention to the needs of the Hungarian minority by the Romanian government has intensified in the last years, despite the occasional opposition (Ram, 2006).…”