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Civilization is a concept that ontologically defines the individual and the communities in which it develops. The most global civilization is the one that has emerged in the West. Civilization is not something static, but an organism that draws its roots from the distant past. In this sense, it is fundamental to answer the question of what are the constitutive elements that define Western civilization. This question only makes sense if it is asked in a historical perspective. In this direction the Freemasonry, A Very Short Introduction is a crucial one. It presents the analysis revealing how the history of freemasonry is related to the evolution of Western identity. It has to be read in the light of Niall Ferguson’s monograph The West and the Rest. The present text does so. The book then brings to light the contribution of the brotherhood to the intellectual habitus of what is called the Judeo-Christian civilization, at the present time still predominant on the Planet. The intellectual apparatus of the Freemasonry, A Very Short Introduction permits to elucidate the history of the masonic movement and its influence on events that seem unconnected and coincidental. Thus, this article tries to explain certain historical turning points in South-Eastern Europe, precisely in the light of the masonic alliances, in particular the case of the Illyrian Provinces and the first Slovenian poet, Valentin Vodnik, and secondly, what concerns the emergence of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which the author of the article defines as the result of the masonic strategy (the Grand Lodge of France and the Grand Orient of France).

Context. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is main serum surrogate marker of growth hormone (GH) secretion, used in diagnostics and treatment of GH deficiency (GHD) and acromegaly. Regional, ethnic, racial or nutritional factors obscure cross-population applicability of IGF-1 reference values. Establishment of population- and assayspecific reference values requires sizable representative cohort of healthy subjects. Subjects and Methods. In representative sample of healthy adult population of Serbia (N=1200, 21-80 years, 1:1 male:female) serum IGF-1 was analyzed by Siemens Immulite 2000 assay under uniform laboratory conditions. Upper and lower limit of reference range (5th - 95th percentile) were calculated for each of the 12 quinquennial age intervals. IGF-1 distribution was normalized and standard deviation score (SDS) calculated by Logarithmic and LMS methods. Results. IGF-1 and age correlated significantly, with most prominent decline at 21-50 years, followed by a plateau up to age of 70. Gender differences were not significant overall. Plateau in age-related IGF-1 decline was less prominent in women. Correlations of IGF-1 with body mass index (BMI) or waist to hip ratio (WHR) were insignificant. Superior IGF-1 SDS transformation was achieved with LMS method, while logarithmic method was simpler to use. Conclusions. Normative age-specific serum IGF-1 reference values were established on a representative cohort of healthy adults in Serbia. Our results support recommendations against necessity for gender-specific or BMI- and WHR-specific reference ranges. Populationbased data serve to generate IGF-1 SDS, which is valuable in rational application of consensus guidelines, proper longitudinal follow-up, advancement in efficacy and safety and personalization of treatment targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Implementation of psychosocial interventions in mental health services has the potential to improve the treatment of psychosis spectrum disorders (PSD) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where care is predominantly focused on pharmacotherapy. The first step is to understand the views of key stakeholders. We conducted a multi-language qualitative study to explore the contextual barriers and facilitators to implementation of a cost-effective, digital psychosocial intervention, called DIALOG+, for treating PSD. DIALOG+ builds on existing clinician-patient relationships without requiring development of new services, making it well-fitting for healthcare systems with scarce resources. Methods: Thirty-two focus groups were conducted with 174 participants (patients, clinicians, policymakers and carers), who were familiarized with DIALOG+ through a presentation. The Southeast European LMICs included in this research were: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, (Kosovo is referred throughout the text by United Nations resolution) North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Framework analysis was used to analyse the participants' accounts. Results: Six major themes were identified. Three themes (Intervention characteristics; Carers' involvement; Patient and organisational benefits) were interpreted as perceived implementation facilitators. The theme Attitudes and perceived preparedness of potential adopters comprised of subthemes that were interpreted as both perceived implementation facilitators and barriers. Two other themes (Frequency of intervention delivery; Suggested changes to the intervention) were more broadly related to the intervention's implementation. Participants were exceedingly supportive of the implementation of a digital psychosocial intervention such as DIALOG+. Attractive intervention characteristics, efficient use of scarce resources for its implementation and potential to improve mental health services were seen as the main implementation facilitators. The major implementation barrier identified was psychiatrists' time constrains. Conclusions: This study provided important insights regarding implementation of digital psychosocial interventions for people with PSD in low-resource settings by including perspectives from four stakeholder groups in five LMICs in Southeast Europe – a population and region rarely explored in the literature. The perceived limited availability of psychiatrists could be potentially resolved by increased inclusion of other mental health professionals in service delivery for PSD. These findings will be used to inform the implementation strategy of DIALOG+ across the participating countries. The study also offers insights into multi-country qualitative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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We report the occurrence of non-indigenous Branchiodrilus hortensis (Stephenson, 1910) in Serbia and its rapid spread in Southeast Europe. These new findings were observed at locations about 1000 Rkm downstream from the nearest known record in the Danube (in July 2008) in the middle part of the river section in the Slovak- Hungarian part. Branchiodrilus hortensis was registered for the first time in Serbia in September 2018 during routine monitoring of the Danube River in the lower part of the river section. Since then, we have continuously found this species in the Serbian part of the Danube, and it has spread to the main tributaries and canals of the Danube basin. These new records are a valuable contribution to the knowledge of this species’ distribution. Recent findings and the native distribution of this worm suggest that its introduction in the Danube was probably human-mediated, and it has successfully established its niche in the new environment. At this phase we cannot predict the possible effects of its presence on aquatic ecosystems and therefore further monitoring of its distribution and population dynamics is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Horizon 2020 project National Initiatives for Open Science in Europe—NI4OS Europe supports the development of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) by integrating 15 countries in Southeast Europe into the governance structure of this new pan-European research environment. Through a qualitative secondary analysis of the data collected during the project, the paper focuses on the main instrument developed by the project with the aim of enabling the integration of the partner countries in the EOSC—a network of national Open Science Cloud Initiatives (NOSCIs)—and explains how the concept of NOSCI and a wide range of related activities, tools, services, and resources foster research and open scholarly communication. The paper has three main sections: the first identifies challenges to scholarly communication in Southeast Europe, the second describes the methodology used to deal with these challenges revolving around the concept of NOSCI, whereas the third presents a set of indicators to track the change generated by project actions and discusses the impact of this methodology and project outputs in the area of scholarly communication.

This study aims to examine the external debt sustainability in the transition economies of Southeast Europe, some of which are among the developing countries, by wavelet-based unit root tests. In this framework, the unit root test was applied to the gross foreign debt variable, and the variable consisting of the ratio of the gross foreign debt to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the countries and their stationaries were examined. Each country differs depending on the time dimension in the analysis. However, in general, starting from the 2000s until the second quarter of 2020, the data were taken as a quarter. The data were first tested for linearity and the FWKSS and WKSS unit root tests were applied to the nonlinear data. According to the test results, external debt is sustainable in Romania and Bulgaria for both variables in the analysis. However, it has been observed that foreign debt is unsustainable in North Macedonia and Slovenia for these two variables. In terms of the gross external debt variable, external debt was sustainable in Albania and Croatia. However, in terms of gross external debt/GDP ratio, it has been found that foreign debts are unsustainable in Albania and Croatia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Race and racial formations and categories define global systems of power and are not bound by history or culture. Nevertheless, with few noted exceptions, race as a category of analysis has largely been rejected and rendered inapplicable within Slavic, east European, and Eurasian Studies. This unwillingness to expand categories of critical analysis has created a void in our area and field of study, shaping a false sense of racelessness. Without the inclusion of race critical theories into our classrooms and scholarship, our students are left with minimal tools to address difference and social exclusion. In this article, we turn to critical perspectives to highlight some ways that race is being meaningfully incorporated into scholarship about the region. We illustrate why engagement with race and racialization is helpful for analysis, urgent, and necessary. Finally, we also address how our field can better prepare students as they engage these subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the legal context and institutional features of a system of state-imposed constraints in wholesale and retail trade in foodstuffs in Western, Central, and Southeast European countries and regions. It introduces an innovative developmental typology of state intervention in this domain based on a sequence of implemented stages and intensity of state involvement with private ownership and freedom of trade. The typology is instrumental in enabling cross-country and cross-regional comparisons in the period under study. The regions under study are represented by doublet countries: France and UK for the Western European (WE) region, Germany and Austria for the Central European (CE) region, and Bulgaria and Yugoslavia (including its legal predecessors) for the Southeast European (SEE) region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This issue consists of eleven papers dedicated to migrations of individuals and/or communities in Southeast and Central Europe. The concept of its topic is interdisciplinary - it is comprised of papers which examine the migration phenomenon, combining research methods of ethnology and social anthropology, sociology, history and political science. Despite the immense diversity of migration types researched, a significant number of them is, in their different ways, directly or indirectly, connected to the war (the first six papers). Economic reasons are also at the core of many migrations, and can be, but not necessarily so, connected to the war and the crisis common in post-war regions. In addition, personal reasons represent a possible motive for initiating migration, as shown in several papers. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 177027: Multietnicitet, multikulturalnost, migracije - savremeni procesi]

The moral philosophy of management and the effects of the dominating doctrines in public policy and decision making, in wider terms means to question what kind of relations, once applied, these doctrines and strategies created between state, groups and individual rights. The EU accession of Southeast Europe countries represents a unique chance to understand the real capability and superiority of technocratic solution, as a dominating doctrine in accession processes, exerted in situations of limited capacities in decision making, lack of established democratic institution, which presume weak capabilities in setting up long term strategies. A unique chance to test the real value of the so-called cold and rational solutions in public decision making. In this case the trade off is between the kind of society this political and managerial doctrine creates, how much the interests of those who mandates the “technocratic power” by the power transfer process are still in balance or under consideration.

This paper focuses on a set of factors related to the opportunity motivations of early-stage entrepreneurs, such as entrepreneur's perceptions and socio-demographic factors. The research area of this paper includes: fear of failure, social networking, entrepreneur's knowledge, skills and experience, and perception of business opportunity; and socio-demographic characteristics of entrepreneurs, such as the age, gender, level of education and household income. The data has been provided by Adult Population Survey, as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. The sample includes data collected in 2014, from 12,023 adults by interview methods, which implies valid answers of 692 early-stage entrepreneurs, i. e. a total of 415 early-stage entrepreneurs driven by opportunity motivation. The respondents are located in the Southeast Europe (SEE); and settled in six countries: Greece, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia. According to SPSS Statistics, the empirical research was processed using the Binomial Logistics Regression. Two hypotheses were set up to test the conceptual model. According to the theory and research results, the model consisted of determinants related to the opportunity motivations of early-stage entrepreneurs, has been developed. Motivation as a dependent variable has been measured by the TEA Opportunity index. Thus, the opportunity motivation is found to be related to the entrepreneur's perception, and socio-demographics factors. Determinants such as the fear of failure and perception of business opportunity contribute to a higher likelihood in the modelling opportunity motivation. The age, gender, level of education and household income also contributed to the developed model. The lower and middle household income of entrepreneurs, secondary degree education, gender as a male, and the entrepreneurs' age about 45-64 significantly added to the model prediction. Social networking and KSE's did not have a significant role on the entrepreneur's motivation according to the empirical results and the developed model. In addition to improving theoretical material from the field of entrepreneurship, the model also contributes to this work.

At the end of the 20th century, the territory of the countries that came into existence with the dissolution of former Yugoslavia became the grounds on which conflict of interest between global superpowers started to take place, particularly that between the USA and Russia. The manner in which the two rivaling giants attempt to secure their interests in the region differs immensely. On the one hand, the USA secured its involvement in the region by establishing itself as a mediator in ending the wars in the 90s (BiH, Kosovo) and this grip got even stronger with the help of the so-called Euro- Atlantic integrations and inclusion of the newly formed Balkan countries into NATO (Slovenia, Croatia, Albania). On the other hand, Putin’s Russia pulls leverage through energetic projects in Serbia, Montenegro and BiH. The most obvious culmination of the Russo-American diplomatic conflict in the region occurred in Montenegro, which escaped the sphere of Russian influence following a series of affairs involving Russian secret agencies, much to the benefit of the USA. After the incident Russia started exert its corruptive influence and set boogey-traps for „Western” initiatives aimed at political stabilization at the region. This spoiling influence (BiH, Kosovo, Macedonia) has as its agenda the strengthening of Russian geopolitical influence in Europe, destabilized through the Ukranian crisis and the annexation of Crimea.

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The regional response over Southeast (SE) Europe to the climate warming in global and continental scales has been confirmed to have essential impact on the agriculture and forestry since the middle of twentieth century. Normal variations in weather throughout a growing season cause variations in harvest and, generally, the impact could be large in terms of production amounts and economic returns. Agriculture is sensitive to the changes in weather and climate, and the occurrence of extreme events threaten the agricultural systems. Forests are particularly sensitive to climate change, because the long life-span of trees does not allow for rapid adaptation to environmental changes. This study provides an overview of the spatial patterns and the long-term temporal evolution of the following agrometeorological indices: growing season length, accumulated active temperatures and biologically effective degree days. Hence the focus is on the Growing season length, its start and end dates are analyzed separately. All indices are computed from the daily mean temperatures which, in turn, are derived from the output of the MESCAN-SURFEX system analysis of the collaborative initiative UERRA. The geographical domain of interest is Southeast Europe, and the assessment is performed at a very high spatial resolution on annual basis for the period 1961-2018. We find strong evidences of essential increase in the considered indices which dominates spatially over the low-elevated areas of the domain and is statistically significant at 5% level. Key message is also the revealed asymmetry of the increase in the most relevant index, the growing season length: its total lengthening is linked more to the shifting to earlier date of the start, rather than to its later cessation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Kosovo’s agriculture initiatives have allowed for opportunities to spur vegetable production, little has been done to address how efficient are farmers at using inputs. The state of input efficiency in growing potatoes is examined in the study using farm survey data. There is also a comparison of potato yields as a measure of productivity with different countries in Southeast Europe and with some emphasis on input use. After accounting for suspected bias with the bootstrap input-oriented model, input efficiency ranged from 0.39-0.91 with an average of 0.73. Depending on the farm, a naive model would induce a bias of 0.04-0.17 in input efficiency use. This bias can vary with sample size. Additionally, the findings suggest an encouraging input efficiency advantage for farmers who care about their soil quality as they practice potato production. One policy implication of the results suggests further input use decreases because the sampled farms are found to operate under decreasing returns to scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the elevation‐warming relationships across the Carpathian Mountains, using the 0.1° × 0.1° gridded daily air temperature dataset developed within the CARPATCLIM project, in order to understand the spatial patterns of annual and seasonal temperature trends and test the hypothesis of enhanced warming with elevation. Temperature trend and elevation‐warming analyses were conducted over the 50 years of the dataset (1961–2010). The vertical variations of five key isotherms relevant for the development of cold‐climate weathering, presence of permafrost (−2°C, 0°C, +2°C, +3°C) and spread of forest vegetation (July +10°C) were also examined. The Carpathian Mountains are under visible annual and seasonal warming (stronger in the summer and winter), both daytime and nighttime. The warming process shows a great spatial inhomogeneity, but is more pronounced in the lowlands of the region, generally below 1,000–1,200 m. The correlations between elevation and warming rates across the Carpathians have been found both to be positive and negative, while mostly significant at the 5% level. Evidence of enhanced warming with elevation was found to be related to the minimum temperature increase mostly across the NW and SW Carpathians, at both annual and seasonal scales (winter, summer and spring). Less prominent EDW signals have been identified in the NE, E and S Carpathians (summer), as well as in the NE Carpathians (spring). Parts of the detected temperature trends and EDW signals have been considered to be an effect of the changing atmospheric circulation (i.e. westerly intensification especially in the winter), although other mechanisms and processes could be involved (e.g. snow‐albedo feedbacks in the spring). These results could serve as a reference for further investigations of climate warming effects across the Carpathian Mountains region (e.g. ecological and geomorphic), especially in relation to the augmented summer heat stress (e.g. more frequent heatwaves) and milder winters (e.g. less freezing days). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enlargement fatigue has descended upon the European Union (EU) institutions, which remain focused on resolving the Brexit crisis and ongoing internal reforms. This multi-faceted phenomenon has directly caused the so-called accession fatigue in potential EU members, which are increasingly turning to other geopolitical alternatives. Russia and China are the new dominant powerbrokers in the EU’s immediate neighbourhood, courting political and business elites in EU candidate states and offering an alternative foreign policy option which contrasts with the stalled EU enlargement process. This paper discusses the rise of these external powers in the EU’s immediate neighbourhood, suggesting three scenarios for the future of the Balkan region where the EU, Russia and China are more vigorously vying for influence than ever before.

By recovering and interpreting the hidden technological variability in the first pottery at Ilindentsi-Massovets, this paper reveals the innovative adaptations to local conditions that the adoption of pottery production, as a new technology, must have involved. Seventy-one samples were analysed using low-resolution binocular microscopy and high-resolution petrographic and scanning electron microscopy. The variety established within each of the major components in pottery production at the site is interpreted in the context of the local raw materials (availability) and technological approaches (decision making), thus reaching beyond the traditional interpretative models that suggest large-scale uniformity in Early Neolithic pottery production across extensive European regions.

This article belongs to a forthcoming special cluster, "Contention Politics and International Statebuilding in Southeast Europe" guest-edited by Nemanja Džuverovic, Julia Rone and Tom Junes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The precise form of internalization of the provisions of the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in domestic law is crucial in ensuring its long-term effectiveness. Experiences in the Western Balkans raise important questions about the role of minority (or community) rights legislation in deeply divided societies. This article uses the case-studies of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and the Republic of North Macedonia to highlight key themes and limitations that have emerged. Comparative analysis reveals a surprising divergence of approaches to internalization in the region. The article further demonstrates that the 'nation-cum-state paradigm' remains prevalent, despite the premise of universality. It argues that such legislation can play an important symbolic and practical role, but that legal internalization needs to be seen as an ongoing process. It concludes that attention needs to be given to ensuring the continued particularization and adaptation of such legislation in light of both the limitations and changing circumstances, providing a key lesson also for other divided societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The legal framework for occupational safety and health is a key factor in effective policy implementation in this area at the local level. Employees in local self-government units perform tasks of immediate interest for the local population and, because of that, their workplace safety and health is an important issue. Given that there is not much research on the safety and health of employees in local self-government units in the countries of Southeast Europe, there is a need for the analysis of the protection provided by the applicable regulations. The conducted research shows that this category of employees is not specifically recognized either in the regulations on occupational safety and health or in the regulations on local self-government. It is desirable to improve the quality of legal protection which will contribute to the improvement of the workplace safety and health of these employees and will improve the quality of work in local self-governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The paper presents the content of the Laudatio honoring Professor Francesco Guida, to whom Babe°-Bolyai University granted on 31 October 2019 the title of doctor honoris causa. Professor at Roma Tre University, chairman of the Italian Association of Southeast European Studies and of the Romanian-Italian Center for Historical Studies, director of the Interdepartmental Center for Research on Central-Eastern Europe, Russia and Eurasia, in his scientific career Professor Guida consistently followed three major research directions, the history of Romania, of Bulgaria and of Greece, but he has also written studies on Hungary, Russia, Serbia and Poland or on other countries in Southeast Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the content of the lectio magistralis delivered by the recipient at the doctor honoris causa ceremony hosted by Babeş-Bolyai University. It broadly outlines the relations between the political events that took place in the Italian Peninsula and in Central and Southeastern Europe in the nineteenth century, in the period of national revivals. Thus, in Italy, the struggle of the Greek insurgents against the Sultan quickly created the myth of an independent Greece. Conversely, Garibaldi's conquest of the South created a new myth that became popular and desirable throughout Europe. As to the Romanians, their interest in Italy increased as a result of the formation of the unified Italian national state and they paid particular attention to the victories of Garibaldi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay takes a critical and reflective look at two recently published books on contentious politics in the Balkans and Eastern Europe: Social Movements in the Balkans (ed. by F. Bieber and D. Brentin, Routledge 2018) and Ideology and Social Protests in Eastern Europe (V. Stoyanova, Routledge 2018). Focusing on regions somewhat neglected in scholarly analyses of the recent global upsurge of protests, these books aim to fill the gap by highlighting some contextual and regional specificities: a position of economic and geo-political (semi)periphery, weak or unconsolidated democratic institutions, post-socialist and transitional environments, societal (ethnic) divisions, etc. By critically assessing both contributions, in a manner that looks for their complementarity, this essay: examines the characteristics of popular mobilizations and grievances in Southeast and Eastern Europe; questions dominant narratives of political and economic transition and EU integration; re-evaluates socialist heritage and post-socialist political trajectories; discusses the (im) possibilities of articulating political alternatives to representative democracy and free market economy; and addresses the burden of conflicting memories and attitudes towards the region’s socialist past (and, in case of post-Yugoslav states, ethnic conflicts from the 1990s). [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 43007]

Research area of this study includes determinants that have an influence on international ventures of early-stage entrepreneurs, nascent and new business owners. The research implies determinants such as: entrepreneurial motivation, innovation activity, use of new technology and demographic factors - gender and age. Data for the research was provided by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor database; the sample covers data of early-stage entrepreneurs who settled their business in Southeast Europe. The methodology of empirical research provides a presentation of statistical research by using Probit regression and concept of marginal effects. According to the aim of this paper, the model was created by setting the determinants that influenced the internationalization activity. The research results show that increase-wealth opportunity motivated early-stage entrepreneurs, internationalize more than the necessity entrepreneurs or early-stage entrepreneurs driven by the motive of independence. Early-stage entrepreneurs, who use new technology and prefer radical innovations, are more oriented on foreign markets and customers. Also, there is a significant influence of demographic factors such as entrepreneurial gender and age on internationalization activity. Analysis of entrepreneur's internationalization at the country level shows the differences between the countries of Southeast Europe.

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainability indicators are based on the attempt to measure or determine the path of development of the economy in two directions: sustaining human wellbeing, or preserving the capacity to provide wellbeing. The research has been conducted to assess sustainability in the Southeast Europe, represented with a group of 10 countries with the 15 multi-metric indicators. A cluster analysis was performed on the set of indices to check the formation of distinctive clusters. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia constitute first cluster, proving small differences among data. Second cluster consists of Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania, while last cluster consists of only Greece and Slovenia.

This study presents the results of a landslide susceptibility analysis applied to the Vrancea-Buzău seismogenic region in the Carpathian Mountains, Romania. The target area is affected by a large diversity of landslide processes. Slopes are made-up of various types of rocks, climatic conditions can be classified as wet, and the area is a seismically active one. All this contributes to the observed high landslide hazard. The paper analyses the spatial component of the landslide hazard affecting the target area, the regional landslide susceptibility. First, an existing landslide inventory was completed to cover a wider area for the landslide susceptibility analysis. Second, two types of methods are applied, a purely statistical technique, based on correlations between landslide occurrence and local conditions, as well as the simplified spatial process-based Newmark Displacement analysis. Landslide susceptibility maps have been produced by applying both methods, the second one also allowing us to simulate different scenarios, based on various soil saturation rates and seismic inputs. Furthermore, landslide susceptibility was computed both for the landslide source and runout zones—the first providing information about areas where landslides are preferentially triggered and the second indicating where landslides preferentially move along the slope and accumulate. The analysis showed that any of the different methods applied produces reliable maps of landslide susceptibility. However, uncertainties were also outlined as validation is insufficient, especially in the northern area, where only a few landslides could be mapped due to the intense vegetation cover.

This study explores the conflict management styles of German and Serbian managers in multinational organisations in Serbia. Contrary to most previous cross-cultural studies on conflict management styles, we have analysed not only the impact of the dimensions of individualism vs. collectivism on conflict management styles, but the effect of power distance dimension also. Moreover, none of the previous studies have analysed the conflict of management styles of managers in Southeast Europe, let alone the influence of intercultural interactions in multinational organisations in that region. Our study is based on the survey of 205 German, and 214 Serbian, managers in German multinationals in Serbia. The findings reveal that German and Serbian managers use different conflict management styles and that the status of the conflict partners and gender affect managers' conflict management styles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young people are an important factor in every society, particularly in post-socialist societies, that have experienced mostly formal, but not quite substantive changes. Basing on the perspective of sustainable change, this paper aims to explore the openness to change as the value among young people in post-socialist countries of Southeast Europe. At the beginning of 2019, the voluntary and anonymous online survey was conducted on the sample of 1419 young people in seven post-socialist countries of Southeast Europe: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia. Shalom Schwartz’s model (1992; 2012; 2017) on basic human values was used as a research tool. Openness to change, according to Schwartz, means “freedom of thought and action and a propensity for change” as opposed to the value of conservation, which means “obedience and limiting one’s actions to maintain the status quo” (Schwartz, 1992). The results of the MANOVA indicate that there are no statistically significant differences in the respondents’ level of openness to change across the observed countries. Still, there are statistically significant differences concerning the economic status of respondents: openness to change is more important to respondents of lower economic status. One can assume that young people who live in poverty are more affected by transitional problems of their societies and need sustainable changes more than their peers who have an average or above-average economic condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The External Incentives Model (EIM) was designed to explain the Europeanization of the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) through the EU's accession conditionality. This article asks how relevant the model remains beyond its original context. We examine recent data and research on the EU's impact in two additional contexts: post-accession developments in the CEECs and the Southeast European countries currently in the accession process. We find that the model generally accounts well for the variation in Europeanization across domains and countries. More specifically, the credibility of incentives stands out as a crucial condition for the success of EU conditionality. At the same time, we note omissions and limitations of the original model: first, the model works with highly abstract conditions that require contextual specification to render them more meaningful and better testable. Second, the EIM starts from generally favourable, but underspecified, background conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research covers an evaluation of the impact of education system, educational, scientific and other institutions on the economic growth in nine countries of Southeast Europe (SEE). The main hypothesis is the following: GDP pc growth is significant and positively correlates with the indicators of the state of education system. In addition to educational institutions, there are other social and economic indicators on which education and science depend, namely the budget and fiscal system, corruption and protection of intellectual property rights, which also have positive and significant impact on GDP pc. The stated fields are interactive. Besides GDP pc, the analysis includes another 11 variables. Factor analysis for the variables grouped into two factors shows high significance. The F-test result shows significance of the regression model. ANOVA test, too, confirms the aforementioned significance. Both variables (the first and second factor) have positive direction with GDP pc. The results show significance of the institutional-educational variable, while the impact of educational population in the model is not sufficiently significant. Econometric analysis has mainly confirmed the initial hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to explore how much power as a value in general, power in the sense of domination, and power over natural and social resources is important to students in Southeast Europe, whether it differs among states and what significance does it have in relation to other values. In order to achieve the objective of the study, Schwartz's PVQ-RR questionnaire was used, which has been widely used in international research of values and turned out to be the most reliable instrument for that sort of research. The study was performed using a quantitative survey method in seven states of Southeast Europe (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Hungary, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Serbia). The descriptive analysis of ranking shows how power as a value is the lowest ranking value in the states of Southeast Europe as it is the case also in Western states, where such research has already been performed. Among the observed countries of Southeast Europe, there are statistically significant differences in the value of power as domination considering an individual state, while there are no statistically significant differences in the value of power over natural and social resources in the states of Southeast Europe. Taking into consideration the lack of such studies in this geopolitical area, it becomes apparent that further and more detailed research is needed regarding social values for students and also for the general population in Southeast Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulium reptans (Linnaeus, 1758) and Simulium reptantoides Carlsson, 1962 are two species of the Simulium reptans group whose distribution is unclear because of their confusing taxonomy and systematics. Their genetic variability is well known for populations in northern and central Europe and shows that both species have two forms; however, the genetic variability of these species in southern and eastern Europe is unknown. To identify the status of these two species in southeast Europe, mtDNA was extracted from 19 individuals from 12 localities across the Balkan Peninsula. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the existence of two species with 7.38-7.94% divergence. Each species was comprised of two clades, with 2.31% and 1.43% interclade divergence for S. reptans and S. reptantoides, respectively. This study revealed the presence of both species across the Balkans and that S. reptans occurs in this area in only one form (S. reptans B), while S. reptantoides is found in two genetic forms (A and B). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change projections of precipitation and temperature suggest that Serbia could be one of the most affected regions in southeastern Europe. To prepare adaptation measures, the impact of climate changes on water resources needs to be assessed. Pilot research is carried out for the Lim River basin, in southeastern Europe, to predict monthly flows under different climate scenarios. For estimation of future water availability, an alternative approach of developing a deterministic-stochastic time series model is chosen. The proposed two-stage time series model consists of several components: trend, long-term periodicity, seasonality and the stochastic component. The latter is based on a transfer function model with two input variables, precipitation and temperature, as climatic drivers. The Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency for the observed period 1950–2012 is 0.829. The model is applied for the long-term hydrological prediction under the representative concentration pathway (RCP) emissions scenarios for the future time frame 2013–2070. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Democracy is backsliding throughout Southeast Europe but there are no signs of full democratic breakdown. Instead, political parties and their leaders incrementally undermine challenges to governmental authority while keeping electoral contest largely intact. This article introduces a special issue that aims to examine and explain democratic decline by looking at the prevalence of illiberal politics across countries and issues. In order to overcome the limitations of fixed regime classification we adopt a procedural lens and look into governing practices that gradually tilt the electoral playing field. Utilizing the concept of Illiberal politics allows us to examine sets of policies enacted by political parties in government with the aim to remain in power indefinitely. By tracing democratic decline in Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania, and Croatia we observe different patterns of weakness, but also common causes arising from weak institutions and inherited governance practices that preserve executive dominance, patronage, and informality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I focus on the context in which levees were constructed on the Lower Danube, along the Bulgarian–Romanian border. I argue that after World War II, while the two states shared the management of the river in this region, Romania pursued a techno-nationalist hydraulic policy, which led to the complete damming of the left bank of the Danube with levees. Bulgaria also succeeded in building levees on its side of the Danube, that is the right bank of the common border; however, Bulgaria used different technologies and its building works proceeded at a different pace. Techno-nationalism as delineated in this article considers nation-states as basic units in the analysis of technologies. Technological development is not a flowing process, as it becomes entangled with the interests of nation-states seeking legitimation. Hydraulic technology may strengthen nation-states, and in some circumstances leads to the emergence of nationalistic ideologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a dynamic panel generalized method of moments (GMM), this paper examines the dynamic impact of banking sector performance on economic growth in thirteen Southeast European countries over the period 2000–2015 by taking into account human capital, investment, and trade openness, among other factors. The main empirical finding suggests a positive and significant impact of banking sector performance on economic growth, which implies that banking efficiency is among the main determinants of overall economic growth. Further, the impact of investment, human capital, and trade openness is found to be positive and significant. The major policy recommendation is that the governments in the respective countries should foster their banking system because of its direct impact on economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the European peripheries, Southeast Europe stands out as a specific periphery. In a historic view, it is rooted in a Byzantine and Ottoman past. Industrialisation and urbanisation arrived with considerable delay, to be intensified by varieties of Communist rule after World War II. Since 1989/1992, post-socialist transformation was accompanied by the break-up of Yugoslavia and several wars. After stabilisation, eight nation-states have applied for EU membership, and four have joined since. For the metropolises (and capital cities) of this region, integration into the European and global economy has increased their status as gateways for investment and traffic -- tending to leave their own, the periphery's periphery, behind. Large urban development projects are being planned and built in all metropolises of Southeast Europe, as symbols of new nation-states and anchors for investment capital. In the name of national priorities and technocratic necessities, special legislation tends to by-pass local powers. All these topics are analysed in the five articles on "Peripheral Metropolises -- Urban Dynamics in Southeast Europe" that follow, to which this article offers an overview and introduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main research objective is to determine the impact of Europeanisation on the nature protection system in the countries of Southeast Europe. Europeanisation is presented in the research through legislative and institutional changes due to the adoption of the European ecological network - Natura 2000. Comparative analyses were made in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Data collection was primarily done through participant interviews in the establishment of Natura 2000 and secondary through all available relevant literature. After that, a policy analysis was carried out through a thesis and subthesis based on the main goal. The conclusion was presented as a confirmation of the main thesis that Europeanisation led to changes in Southeastern Europe's nature protection system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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