Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2pzkn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-15T23:59:20.078Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Integrating the past: regional integration and historical reckoning in Central and Eastern Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

John Gledhill
John Gledhill*
Affiliation:
Global Politics, London School of Economics, London
*
*Email: j.g.gledhill@lse.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article considers how regional integration in Europe has informed processes of collective remembrance and transitional justice in Central and Eastern Europe. By taking the cases of Romania, Poland and the Czech Republic, two claims are made. First, although European institutions have not initiated top-down projects of historical reckoning, activists who have an interest in promoting engagement with the recent past have been able to draw the political, financial and/or judicial weight of European institutions behind particular reckoning initiatives, on an ad hoc basis. Second, the nature of the projects that have been realized with the assistance of European resources has varied across the region, according to the extent of prior efforts to promote collective remembrance and transitional justice at the national level. Where there have previously been constraints on historical reckoning, activists have drawn “Europe” behind efforts to promote national-level confrontations with particularly national experiences of communist rule. By contrast, where there has previously been extensive state sponsorship of collective remembrance projects and/or processes of transitional justice, European resources have been used in support of efforts to raise awareness of the repressions of communist rule, and transitions from that system of rule, among a wider, international audience.

Keywords

collective remembrancetransitional justiceEuropean regional integrationPolandRomaniaCzech Republic
Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 39 , Issue 4 , July 2011 , pp. 481 - 506
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, Tom. “Restitution and Transitional Justice in the European Court of Human Rights.” Columbia Journal of European Law 13.1 (2006-7): 1–46. Print.Google Scholar
Anderson, Benedict R. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso, 1983. Print.Google Scholar
Appel, Hilary. “Anti-Communist Justice and Founding the Post-Communist Order: Lustration and Restitution in Central Europe.” East European Politics and Societies 19.3 (2005): 379–405. Print.Google Scholar
Băsescu, Traian. “Discursul preşedintelui Romăniei, Traian Băsescu, prilejuit de prezentarea Raportului Comisiei Prezidenţiale pentru Analiza Dictaturii Comuniste din Romănia.” Presidency of Romania, 18 Dec. 2006. Web. 3 Nov. 2009.Google Scholar
BBC. “Secret Police Row grips Romania.” BBC News Channel, Online. 17 Aug. 2006. Web. 29 Mar. 2011.Google Scholar
Bell, Duncan. “Introduction: Memory, Trauma and World Politics.” Memory, Trauma and World Politics: Reflections on the Relationship between Past and Present. Ed. Bell, Duncan. Houndsmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. 1–29. Print.Google Scholar
Blacksell, Mark, and Martin Born, Karl. “Private Property Restitution: The Geographical Consequences of Official Government Policies in Central and Eastern Europe.” The Geographic Journal 168.2 (2002): 178–90. Print.Google Scholar
Bouška, Tomáš, and Pinerová, Klára. Czechoslovak Political Prisoners: Life Stories of 5 Male and 5 Female Victims of Stalinism. Prague: PoliticalPrisoners.Eu. 2009. Web. 7 Aug. 2010.Google Scholar
Brems, Eva et al. “Transitional Justice in the Case-Law of the European Court of Human Rights.” Working Paper. University of Ghent, 2010. Print.Google Scholar
Bunce, Valerie. “Rethinking Recent Democratization: Lessons from the Post-communist Experience.” World Politics 55.2 (2003): 167–92. Print.Google Scholar
Edukacji Obywatelskiej, Centrum. “Let's Talk About Freedom: About the Program.” 21 Oct. 2008. Web. 7 Aug. 2010.Google Scholar
Cesereanu, Ruxandra. “The Final Report on the Holocaust and the Final Report on the Communist Dictatorship in Romania.” East European Politics and Societies 22.2 (2008): 270–81. Print.Google Scholar
Ciobanu, Monica. “Criminalising the Past and Reconstructing Collective Memory: The Romanian Truth Commission.” Europe-Asia Studies 61.2 (2009): 313–36. Print.Google Scholar
CNSAS (Consiliul Naţional Pentru Studierea Arhivelor Securităţii). “Learning History through Past Experiences: Ordinary Citizens under the Surveillance of Securitate during the 1970s–1980s.” Bucharest, 2009. Web. 7 Aug. 2010.Google Scholar
Council of Europe. “Lustration must not turn into revenge against former collaborators.” Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe. 19 March 2007. Web. 28 Oct. 2010.Google Scholar
Czech Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. “Activities During the Period of the Czech Presidency of the EU.” 2009. Web. 21 Nov. 2009.Google Scholar
Czech Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. “Twenty Years After: Central and Eastern European Communist Regimes as a Shared Legacy – Programme.” n.d. Web. 25 Jul. 2010.Google Scholar
Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union. “EU2009.CZ. Conclusions of the Public Hearing in the European Parliament Organised by the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union.” 18 Mar. 2009. Web. 19 November 2009.Google Scholar
Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union. “EU2009.CZ. European Conscience and Crimes of Totalitarian Communism: 20 Years After.” Event manager, Jana Hybášková. 2009. Web. 19 November 2009.Google Scholar
David, Roman. “Lustration Laws in Action: The Motives and Evaluation of Lustration Policy in the Czech Republic and Poland (1989-2001).” Law & Social Inquiry 28.2 (2003): 387–439. Print.Google Scholar
Departamentul de Comunicare Publică, Preşedintele Romăniei. “Comunicat de presă.” 5 Apr. 2006. Web. 12 Oct. 2010.Google Scholar
DG Education and Culture. “DG EAC–European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (2008) –Enemy's Daughters.” n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2010. <interculturaldialogue2008.eu>..>Google Scholar
Dragović-Soso, Jasna. “Conflict, Memory, Accountability: What Does Coming to Terms with the Past Mean?” Conflict and Memory: Bridging the Past and Future in [South East] Europe. Ed. Petritsch & Vedran Dzihic, Wolfgang. Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2010. 29–46. Print.Google Scholar
ECHR (European Court of Human Rights). Brumšrescu vs. Romania (Application no. 28342/95). Strasbourg, 23 Jan. 2001. Web. 8 Aug. 2010.Google Scholar
ECHR (European Court of Human Rights). Case of Luboch vs. Poland (Application no. 37469/05). Strasbourg. 15 Jan. 2008. Web. 8 Aug. 2010.Google Scholar
ECHR (European Court of Human Rights). “Case law of the European Court of Human Rights: Summary of Selected Judgments and Decisions on Property Restitution/Compensation.” CoE Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs, Strasbourg. 10 Feb. 2011. Web. 31 Mar. 2011.Google Scholar
ECHR (European Court of Human Rights). “Chamber Judgment: Matyjek vs. Poland.“ Press Release. 24 Apr. 2007. Web. 31 Mar. 2011.Google Scholar
ECHR (European Court of Human Rights). “Chamber Judgments concerning Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia and Turkey.” Press Release 517. 17 Jul. 2007. Web. 31 Mar. 2011.Google Scholar
ECHR (European Court of Human Rights). “Grand Chamber Friendly Settlement Judgment, Broniowski vs. Poland.“ Press Release. 28 Sep. 2005. Web. 25 Oct. 2010.Google Scholar
ECHR (European Court of Human Rights). “In a Pilot Judgment, the Court Adjourns the Cases concerning Properties Nationalised during the Communist Era in Romania pending General Measures at National Level.” Press Release No. 742. 12 Oct. 2010. Web. 25 Oct. 2010.Google Scholar
Efrim, Lucia. “CEDO: Fondul Proprietatea nu functionează.” Ziarul Financiar. 31 Jan. 2007. Web. 25 Oct. 2010.Google Scholar
Elster, Jon. Closing the Books: Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2004. Print.Google Scholar
European Commission. “Action 4: Active European Remembrance – Selections 2008.” Brussels. 2008. Web. 21 Apr. 2010.Google Scholar
European Commission. “Commission Legislative and Work Programme 2009. Acting Now for a Better Europe.” COM(2008) 712 Final. Brussels. 5 Nov. 2008. Web. 27 Jul. 2010.Google Scholar
European Commission. “Communication Plan on the 20+5 Anniversaries: The 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Iron Curtain and the 5th Anniversary of EU10 Enlargement.” Prepared by DG Communication. Brussels. 13 Jul. 2009. Supplied to the author by DG Communication.Google Scholar
European Commission. “Europe for Citizens Programme 2007-2013. Programme Guide.” Brussels. Jan. 2009. Web. 27 Jul. 2010.Google Scholar
European Commission. “List of Approved Projects. Action 4 – Active European Remembrance 2009.” Brussels. 2009. Web. 11 Aug. 2010.Google Scholar
European Commission. “Programme ‘Europe for Citizens 2007–2013’ – Action 4 – Active European Remembrance Projects 2007 – Selection Results.” Brussels. 2007. Web. 21 Apr. 2010.Google Scholar
European Commission. “Romania: 2005 Comprehensive Monitoring Report.” COM (2005) 534 Final. Brussels. 25 Oct. 2005. Web. 29 Jul. 2010.Google Scholar
European Parliament. “Declaration of the European Parliament on the Proclamation of 23 August as European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism.” Brussels. 23 Sep. 2008. Web. 3 Aug. 2010.Google Scholar
European Parliament. “Discussion of Mandate of Polish MEP Bronisław Geremek”. EP Press Release. 25 Apr. 2007. Web. 19 Oct. 2010.Google Scholar
European Parliament. “European Conscience and Totalitarianism (Debate).” Strasbourg. 25 Mar. 2009. Web. 25 Nov. 2009.Google Scholar
European Parliament. “European Parliament Decision of 9 October 2008 on the Approval of the Joint Declaration on Communicating Europe in Partnership.” Brussels. 9 Oct. 2008. Web. 7 Aug. 2010.Google Scholar
European Parliament. “Proposed Hearing of the Commission on Crimes of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes (8 April 2008) (Debate).” Strasbourg. 21 Apr. 2008. Web. 17 Nov. 2009.Google Scholar
Fundaţia Culturală ‘Negru Vodă', Făgăraş. “Remember: Keep Alive the Past Memory For the Future.” n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2010.Google Scholar
Grosescu, Raluca. “The Political Regrouping of the Romanian Nomenklatura during the 1989 Revolution.” Romanian Journal of Society and Politics 4.2 (2004): 97–123. Print.Google Scholar
Haas, Ernst B. The Uniting of Europe: Political, Social and Economic Forces, 1950-1957. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1958. Print.Google Scholar
– pamięć kobiet, Herstoria. “Herstory – Women's Memory of the Past.” n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2010.Google Scholar
Horne, Cynthia. “International Legal Rulings on Lustration Policies in Central and Eastern Europe: Rule of Law in Historical Context.” Law & Social Inquiry 34.3 (2009): 713–44. Print.Google Scholar
Horne, Cynthia. “Late Lustration Programmes in Romania and Poland: Supporting or Undermining Democratic Transitions?” Democratization 16.2 (2009): 344–76. Print.Google Scholar
Huntington, Samuel P. The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century. Norman: U of Oklahoma Press. 1991. Print.Google Scholar
Institute of National Remembrance. “About the Institute.” n.d. Web. 3 Aug. 2010.Google Scholar
Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. “Chronology: Coming to Terms with the Totalitarian Past.” n.d. Web. 30 Jul. 2010.Google Scholar
Irwin-Zarecka, Iwona. Frames of Remembrance: The Dynamics of Collective Memory. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1994. Print.Google Scholar
Jambrek, Peter. ed. Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes: Reports and Proceedings of the 8 April European Public Hearing on Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes. Ljubljana: Slovenian Presidency of the European Union, 2008. Web. 24 Nov. 2009.Google Scholar
Killingsworth, Matt. “Lustration and Legitimacy.” Global Society 24.1 (2010): 71–90.Google Scholar
King, Charles. “Remembering Romanian Communism.” Slavic Review 66.4 (2007): 718–23. Print.Google Scholar
Kosar, David. “Lustration and Lapse of Time: ‘Dealing with the Past’ in the Czech Republic.” European Constitutional Law Review 4.3 (2008): 460–87. Print.Google Scholar
Kozminski, Andrej. “Restitution of Private Property: Re-privatization in Central and Eastern Europe.” Communist and Post-Communist Studies 30.1 (1997): 95–106. Print.Google Scholar
Kuti, Csongor. Post-Communist Restitution and the Rule of Law. Budapest: CEU Press, 2009. Print.Google Scholar
Laffan, Brigid. Integration and Co-operation in Europe. London: Routledge, 1992. Print.Google Scholar
Moran, John. “The Communist Torturers of Eastern Europe: Prosecute and Punish or Forgive and Forget?” Communist and Post-Communist Studies 27.1 (1994): 95–109. Print.Google Scholar
Nalepa, Monika. Skeletons in the Closet: Transitional Justice in Post-Communist Europe. New York: Cambridge UP, 2010. Print.Google Scholar
Nedelsky, Nadya. “Czechoslovakia, and the Czech and Slovak Republics.” Transitional Justice in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. Ed. Stan, Lavinia. Abingdon: Routledge, 2009. 37–75. Print.Google Scholar
Nedelsky, Nadya. “Divergent Responses to a Common Past: Transitional Justice in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.” Theory and Society 33.1 (2004): 65–115. Print.Google Scholar
OFICC. n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2010.Google Scholar
Opona. “Futurama: About.” 2010. Web. 7 Aug. 2010.Google Scholar
Osiatynski, Wiktor. “Poland Makes Witch Hunting Easier.” The New York Times. 22 Jan. 2007. Web. 3 Aug. 2010.Google Scholar
Petrescu, Dragoş. “Dilemmas of Transitional Justice in Post-1989 Romania.” Lustration and Consolidation of Democracy and the Rule of Law in Central and Eastern Europe. Ed. Dvořáková, Vladimira and Milardović, Anđelko. Zagreb: Political Science Research Centre, 2007. 127–51. Web. 25 Jul. 2010.Google Scholar
Popescu, Andrei Luca. “Revoluţia romănă: prima condamnare la CEDO.” Romănia liberă. 11 Dec. 2009. Web. 12 Dec. 2009.Google Scholar
Popescu, Andrei Luca. “SRI şi Ministerul Apărării, de acord cu declasificarea documentelor Revoluţiei.” Romănia liberă. 5 Oct. 2009. Web. 10 Nov. 2009.Google Scholar
SAR (Societatea Academică din Romănia). “Property Restitution: What Went Wrong in Romania?” SAR Policy Brief no. 34. Bucharest. September 2008. Web. 31 Mar. 2011.Google Scholar
Smith, Craig. “Romanian Leader Condemns Communist Rule.” The New York Times. 19 Dec. 2006. Web. 15 Nov. 2009.Google Scholar
Stan, Lavinia. “Conclusion: Explaining Country Differences.” Transitional Justice in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. Ed. Stan, Lavinia. Abingdon: Routlege, 2009. 247–70. Print.Google Scholar
Stan, Lavinia. “Introduction: Post-Communist Transition, Justice, and Transitional Justice.” Transitional Justice in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union: Reckoning with the Communist Past. Ed. Stan, Lavinia. Abingdon: Routledge, 2009. 1–14. Print.Google Scholar
Stan, Lavinia. “Poland.” Transitional Justice in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. Ed. Stan, Lavinia. Abingdon: Routledge, 2009. 76–101. Print.Google Scholar
Stan, Lavinia. “Romania.” Transitional Justice in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. Ed. Stan, Lavinia. Abingdon: Routlege, 2009. 128–51. Print.Google Scholar
Stan, Lavinia. “The Politics of Memory in Post-Communist Europe: A Comparative Analysis.” Expériences et mémoire. partager en français la diversité du monde colloquim. Bucharest. Sep. 2006. Web. 2 Nov. 2009.Google Scholar
Stan, Lavinia. “The Roof Over Our Heads: Property Restitution in Romania.” Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics 22.2 (2006): 180–205. Print.Google Scholar
Stan, Lavinia. “Truth Commissions in Post-Communism: The Overlooked Solution?” Open Political Science Journal 2 (2009): 1–13. Web. 8 Oct. 2010.Google Scholar
Szczerbiak, Aleks. “Dealing with the Communist Past or the Politics of the Present? Lustration in Post-Communist Poland.” Europe-Asia Studies 54.4 (2002): 553–72. Print.Google Scholar
Tismăneanu, Vladimir. “Confronting Romania's Communist Past: A Response to Charles King.” Slavic Review 66.4 (2007): 724–27.Google Scholar
Tismăneanu, Vladimir. “Democracy and Memory: Romania Confronts Its Communist Past.” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 617 (2008): 166–80. Print.Google Scholar
Udişteanu, Andrei. “Judecătorul romăn la CEDO: ‘Ìn multe cazuri, Curtea a constatat nefuncţionalitatea Fondului Proprietatea.'” Evenimentul zilei. 14 Oct. 2010. Web. 20 Oct. 2010.Google Scholar
Ursachi, Raluca. “In Search of a Theoretical Model of Transitional Justice.” Lustration and Consolidation of Democracy and the Rule of Law in Central and Eastern Europe. Ed. Dvořáková, Vladimira and Milardović, Anđelko. Zagreb: Political Science Research Centre, 2007. 65–83. Web. 27 Jul. 2010.Google Scholar
Urwin, Derek W. The Community of Europe: A History of European Integration since 1945. 2nd ed. London: Longman, 1995. Print.Google Scholar
Wagstyl, Stefan, and Cienski, Jan. “Tusk's Tussle: Poland's New Leader Has a Hard Task to Find Unity.” Financial Times. 22 Oct. 2007. Web. 30 Mar. 2011.Google Scholar
Welsh, Helga. “Dealing with the Communist Past: Central and East European Experiences after 1990.” Europe-Asia Studies 48.3 (1996): 413–28. Print.Google Scholar
Williams, Rhodri C. “The Contemporary Right to Property Restitution in the Context of Transitional Justice.” Occasional Paper. International Center for Transitional Justice. May 2007. Web. 31 Mar. 2011.Google Scholar
Williams, Kieran et al. “Explaining Lustration in Central Europe: A ‘Post-Communist Politics’ Approach.” Democratization 12.1 (2005): 22–43. Print.Google Scholar
Winkelmann-Heyrovská, Neela, and Mejstřík., Martin eds. Proceedings of the International Conference ‘European Conscience and Communism (2-3 June 2008). Prague: Martin Mejstřík, 2009. Web. 8 Apr. 2010.Google Scholar
Winter, Jay and Sivan, Emmanuel. “Setting the Framework.” Eds. Jay Winter and Emmanuel Sivan. War and Remembrance in the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999. 6–39. Print.Google Scholar
Ziua/Infolegal. “CEDO a decis că Fondul Proprietatea nu funcţioneză.” 3 Mar. 2008. Web. 20 Oct. 2010. <Infolegal.ro.>..>Google Scholar