Conference SHIFT in foreign publications
In the context of cooperation with the Gagauzia-based NGO “Pilgrim Demo” as well as the international organisation “Crisis Management Initiative” (CMI), the institute has been involved in various consultancy activities over the last few months, all aimed at facilitating the process of reforming the autonomy arrangement of Gagauzia.
In 1994, the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia (Gagauz Yeri) in Moldova was provided special juridical status. The region has approx. 161.000 inhabitants and hosts several ethnic and linguistic groups: Gagauz, Bulgarians, Moldovans, Russians and Ukrainians. In December 2015, a parliamentary working group consisting of members of the Moldovan Parliament and members of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia visited the Autonomous Province of Bolzano/ South Tyrol to study the local autonomy arrangement as a good example of minority accommodation. Elisabeth Alber, Carolin Zwilling and Greta Klotz presented the South Tyrolean Autonomy within the Italian and European Context and discussed intensively principles and challenges of the local autonomy, especially with regard to education, the bilateral cooperation between the State and the Autonomous Province, as well as regional parties.
As part of the cooperation with the NGO “Pilgrim Demo”, carried out with funding from the British Embassy to Moldova, Francesco Palermo, Jens Woelk and Karl Kössler have been involved in drafting the interdisciplinary study “Implementation of Competences of Gagauz Yeri: Challenges and Perspectives”. The primary objective is to uncover the strengths and weaknesses of the current autonomy framework and thus provide advice that serves as a basis for negotiations towards its improvement. This study, drawn up by local experts, is characterized by an interdisciplinary approach that focuses not only on strengths and weaknesses of the legal framework, but also explores non-legal preconditions for the proper functioning of the autonomy, for example, in terms of economic development and institutional capacity of Gagauzia’s public authorities. The role of the three EURAC researchers was to review the study and to point out, from a comparative perspective including various European experiences, the most salient issues for this region’s autonomy.
In February 2016, Francesco Palermo (keynote speaker) and Greta Klotz were invited to an international conference in Gagauzia entitled “SHIFT: Challenging solutions for Gagauz Yeri Territorial Autonomy” which took place in the village of Advarma. In the panel, both gave a talk on the role of external actors in developing territorial autonomies. Francesco Palermo spoke on the role of international actors in promoting autonomy, the representation of autonomous territories in international organizations and, last but not least, the huge possibilities of informal means such as transnational and cross border cooperation. Greta Klotz underlined the opportunities that cross border cooperation offers by discussing the practical and successful example of cross border cooperation between Tyrol, South Tyrol and Trentino.
Greta Klotz and Karl Kessler,
NEWSLETTER, Institute for Studies on Federalism and Regionalism, 2016 # spring issues
