Legal and Social Exclusion in New Europe: A Comparison of Baltic States, Slovenia and Croatia

Raspad SSSR-a i Jugoslavije proizveo je 22 nove nacionalne države. Nove države državljanstvom uređuju odnose između individue i zajednice; pritom vlade mnogih država ostavljaju stotine tisuća ljudi bez državljanstva, bez osnovne legalne zaštite. Tko pripada, a tko je isključen, kako i zašto iz političke zajednice novih država, temeljno je pitanje rada. Na ta pitanja pokušava se odgovoriti teorijski i analizom slučajeva Estonije, Latvije, Litve, Slovenije i Hrvatske. Rad prati nastanak i promjenu državljanskih zakona i politika te njihovu prilagodbu Europskoj uniji. Inicijalna dodjela državljanstva u svim je promatranim državama prioritet dala etničkom identitetu i time oblikovala kategoriju »isključenih«. Promjene »iznuđuje« Europska unija, a države reagiraju sličnim politikama uključivanja – manjina i imigranata – s varijantama koje ne ugrožavaju temeljne standarde EU-a. Međutim, usprkos očekivanju, samo članstvo u EU nije značajno utjecalo na politiku prema »drugima«, zaključuje autorica te navodi primjere »otvorenih pitanja« za svaku promatranu državu.The collapse of the USSR and Yugoslavia has produced twenty two national states; they regulated relationship between citizens and community via rights to citizenship. By the same token, hundreds of thousands were left aside without this right, therefore without basic legal protection. This paper examines who belongs and who is excluded, how and why − from the political community of the new states. The author is trying to find the answers to these questions in theory and via comparative case analyses of Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia and Croatia after 1990. The author traces the emergence and change in citizenship and minority laws and policies and their harmonization with the standards of EU. Initially awarded citizenship in all the observed countries gave priority to ethnic identity and thus formed the category of »excluded«. Changes are being »extorted« by the EU, while new member states react with similar policies of inclusion − both of immigrants and minorities - with variants that do not threaten core standards of the EU. However, the author concludes that, despite the expectations, being the EU member state did not significantly affect policies towards »others« within new EU member states. This conclusion is endorsed with the examples of »open questions« for each observed state