Comparative Southeast European Studies 71, no. 3, 2023, has been published in Open Access: https://www.degruyter.com/journal/key/soeu/71/3/html
It features a thematic section: Accession Twenty Years On — Experiences, Expectations and Effects on the European Union
The Budapest-based economist András Inotai has conceptualised a thematic focus that is very pertinent not only with an eye on the recent elections in Slovakia and Poland:
Andrea Éltető and Tamás Szemlér (Hungary), Aleksandra Polak, Christopher A. Hartwell and Katarzyna W. Sidło (Poland), Iulia Monica Oehler-Șincai (Romania), Lucia Mokrá and Hana Kováčiková (Slovakia) as well as Maja Bučar and Boštjan Udovič (Slovenia) present, on the basis of comprehensive data, the (pre-)history and present of the EU integration process in the respective five countries. Their studies offer a sound basis for further policy-oriented and historical research on the experiences and developments since the socalled "Eastern Enlargement" of 2004/2007, opening up a research field dearly in need of expansion in order for the European Union to consolidate politically and tackle the challenges ahead. The authors' focus is on economic performance, sociopolitical change, the aftermath of the Covid-19-pandemic and the consequences triggered by the Russian war against Ukraine. The latter concern the European Union as a whole, but especially those member states which share a territorial border with Russia and/or Ukraine: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania.
Bojan Aleksov and Nicholas Lackenby analyse the relationship between church and state in Serbia since the election of the new Patriarch Porfirije in February 2021. They show how the entanglements between political and clerical power in the country remain strong, but how, with the new Patriarch, the interests of the clerical and the political elites have been increasingly diverging.
In the Open Section, Tijana Matijević contributes a Critical Essay with whom she commemorates the work and life of Dubravka Ugrešić, who passed away in March 2023.
Accession Twenty Years On – Experiences, Expectations and Effects on the European Union Guest Editor: András Inotai
András Inotai Accession Twenty Years On – Experiences, Expectations and Effects on the European Union: Introductory Remarks 265
Andrea Éltető and Tamás Szemlér Hungary in the European Union – Cooperation, Peacock Dance and Autocracy 272
Aleksandra Polak, Christopher A. Hartwell and Katarzyna W. Sidło Physically Present but Spiritually Distant: The View of the European Union in Poland 300
Iulia Monica Oehler-Șincai Romania: A Case of Differentiated Integration into the European Union 333
Lucia Mokrá and Hana Kováčiková The Future of Slovakia and Its Relation to the European Union: From Adopting to Shaping EU Policies 357
Maja Bučar and Boštjan Udovič The Slovenian Perception of the EU: From Outstanding Pupil to Solid Member 388
Article
Bojan Aleksov and Nicholas Lackenby “Symphonia”? A New Patriarch Attempts to Redefine Church–State Relations in Serbia 412
Critical Essay
Tijana Matijević The Age of Skin and the Epoch of an Author: A Eulogy to Dubravka Ugrešić 434
Book Reviews
Vladimir Petrović Iva Vukušić, Serbian Paramilitaries and the Breakup of Yugoslavia. State Connections and Patterns of Violence 448
Jasna Dragović-Soso Jacqueline Nieβer, Die Wahrheit der Anderen: Transnationale Vergangenheitsaufarbeitung in Post-Jugoslawien am Beispiel der REKOM Initiative 451
Christian Voss Lana Bastašić, Mann im Mond. Erzählungen 454
Jacqueline Nießer Julianne Funk, Nancy Good and Marie E. Berry, eds., Healing and Peacebuilding after War. Transforming Trauma in Bosnia and Herzegovina 457
Miranda Jakiša Jasmina Tumbas, “I am Jugoslovenka!” Feminist Performance Politics during and after Yugoslav Socialism 461