Reasons for EU double standards: comparative overview of the cases of the Erased and the Non-citizens

Abstract

On the basis of a comparative analysis of the case studies of the Slovenian Erased and the Latvian Non-citizens, the paper endeavors to identify the reasons for the EU involvement in the latter, but not the former case. These two situations are recognized as similar enough to be compared, and endure the counter-argumentation that the different EU approach is conditioned by the specifics of the local context, not by double standards. Hence, the paper comes to a conclusion that the involvement in Latvia has been conditioned by the fear of the potentially violent conflict, the existence of a proactive kin state, and a minority, significant in number, as well as the explicitly discriminatory legal framework that was in collision with the EU economic acquis. Thus, it has been inferred that double standards occur due to the lack of EU and international interest in these situations of human rights violations, where the powerful kin state and the minority, significant in number, are absent, do not have a potential to develop into a violent conflict, do not derive from explicitly discriminatory legal provision, and do not challenge the fundamental market freedoms of the EU.

The EU: Power(less) in Statelessness? The Case of the Baltic States

“…Both countries have demonstrated legislative innovation creating a sui generis legal status for its endemic statelessness. Similar geopolitical fluctuations in the beginning of last decade of 20 th century brought other examples of statelessness in the countries that became the EU Member States, such as Czechia, where conditions for the expulsion of a Roma minority were created (Cahn 2012: 304) or Slovenia, where human rights violations toward the Erased went unnoticeable in EU integration process (Vrbek 2015). While assessing the EU conditionality, tracking legislative amendments would not give a full picture of real socio-political change that the EU is allegedly aiming to produce (Sasse 2008: 855).…”

The Dark Side of the Moon: Nationalism, Human Rights, and the Erased Residents of Slovenia

“…This gap in the narrative of Slovene national history has been filled by many academics, who have extensively criticized and elucidated the erasure. For instance, the erasure has been discussed in the context of law and legal studies (Kogovšek Šalamon 2007, 2010, 2011a, 2011b, 2012; Vrbek 2015), Slovene nationalism (Zorn 2007, 2009; Bajt 2010), media discourse (Vezovnik 2010), political discourse (Vezjak 2007), the politics of exclusion and totalitarianism (Gregorčič 2007; Jalušič 2007; Dedić, Jalušič, and Zorn 2003), citizenship and statelessness (Blitz 2006), and everyday life (Lipovec Čebron and Zorn 2011). In recognition of this year’s 25th anniversary of the erasure, this article examines the event in the light of modern nation-state rationalities 1 .…”