Roundtable CITIZEN’S RIGHTS AND CHALLENGES TO DEMOCRACY IN CROATIA

On Thursday, 21 March 2019 at 10:30 in the Aula of the University of Zagreb, Centre for Democracy and Law Miko Tripalo organized a roundtable Citizen’s Rights and Challenges to Democracy in Croatia. This roundtable is part of Centre Miko Tripalo’s Jean Monnet project entitled European Values in a New Member State: Croatia in the First Five Years of EU Membership, co-financed by the European Union.

Speakers at the roundtable were: Dario Čepo, Faculty of Law University of Zagreb and Centre Miko Tripalo, also moderator of the debate; Višnja Samardžija, Institute for Development and International Relations and Centre Miko Tripalo; Zrinjka Peruško, Faculty of Political Sciences and Centre Miko Tripalo; Vedran Đulabić, Faculty of Law University of Zagreb and Centre Miko Tripalo. The foreign speakers at the roundtable were: Karlis Bukovskis, Latvian Institute of International Affairs and Koenraad De Cenuninck, Ghent University (Belgium).

Tvrtko Jakovina, President of the Management Board of Centre for Democracy and Law Miko Tripalo, gave the opening speech and welcomed all the guests, members and friends of Centre Miko Tripalo and members of foreign embassies. He stressed that Centre Miko Tripalo is actively engaged in a number of topics: clientelism, decentralization, youth, but with this project it seeks to stimulate public debate on European values ​​in Croatia and examine their impact on certain segments of public life. Dario Čepo, academic coordinator of the project, said that Centre Miko Tripalo showed its interest in European integration, a process in which Croatia should not be a passive actor. During the roundtable discussion speakers will try to answer the question of what Croatia can offer to the European Union, and what can be learned from other member states on the issue of European values.

Presentation topics:
EU Federalist-Intergovernmentalist Dichotomy in Populist EU
Karlis Bukovskis, Latvian Institute of International Affairs

Support for the European Project in Croatia or Euroscepticism?
Višnja Samardžija, Institute for Development and International Relations and Centre Miko Tripalo

Challenges to the Role of the Media in a Democracy
Zrinjka Peruško, Faculty of Political Sciences University of Zagreb and Centre Miko Tripalo

Trends in Local Democracy in Belgium
Koenraad De Ceuninck, Ghent University (Belgium)

Decentralization and Local Democracy in Croatia
Vedran Đulabić, Faculty of Law University of Zagreb and Centre Miko Tripalo

European Values and Their Influence on Democracy in Croatia
Dario Čepo, Faculty of Law University of Zagreb and Centre Miko Tripalo