European stability initiative

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The European Stability Initiative e. V. (ESI) is a think tank based in Berlin with offices in Brussels , Istanbul and Vienna .

history

The ESI was founded in Sarajevo in 1999 after the Kosovo war . Its first members were young staff from international organizations such as the OSCE and the World Bank . The focus of activity is on the countries of south-east Europe with a view to European unification. The aim of the work is to increase the understanding of this region, especially in the west. The chairman is the Austrian sociologist Gerald Knaus . The ESI is generally funded on a project basis. The sponsors include the Swedish development agency Sida , the Mercator Foundation , the Open Society Foundations of George Soros and the ERSTE Foundation . Previous sponsors included the Robert Bosch Foundation , the Government of Sweden , the Open Society Institute , the Rockefeller Foundation , the European Commission , the Federal Foreign Office , the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Körber Foundation .

According to its own information, the initiative has a total annual budget of € 540,000.

Projects

During the refugee crisis in Europe in 2015 and 2016, ESI staff developed the “Merkel Plan” ( EU-Turkey Agreement of March 18, 2016 ), a program in which between two and five hundred thousand Syrian refugees from Turkey are transported directly to Germany should be to relieve Turkey. At the same time, a repatriation agreement is to be implemented with Turkey and all refugees who reach Europe via the Aegean Sea or the Turkish-Greek border with Greece are to be deported to Turkey. Parts of the plan were implemented in the Turkey Agreement of March 18, 2016. In this context, ESI director Gerald Knaus emphasized at an event in March 2016 that there was " no alternative" to cooperation with Turkey in order to prevent the EU from being " orbánised ". After the failed coup attempt in Turkey , he warned that the agreement between the EU and Turkey would fail. He admitted that since March 20, 2016, only 468 people have been sent back to Turkey. On February 3, 2017, Gerald Knaus published in a circular mail a “Malta Plan” in which the current “Dublin regulation” is to be replaced by a joint European border and asylum service. Combined with return agreements, this should make it possible to stabilize migration at a low level of around 100,000 people per year without disregarding the Geneva Refugee Convention.

Influential publications

  • Islamic Calvinists , an essay on the social upheaval in Anatolia .
  • On Mount Olympus , an essay on the dubious dealings of the UN with the human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina .
  • Balkan Express , a documentary series in collaboration with ORF and 3sat .
  • The Schengen White List Project , a successful initiative to facilitate the issuing of Schengen visas for residents of the Balkans , chaired by former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Sybille Hamann: One who set out to understand Europe. Gerald Knaus knows what the future Europe could look like. He advises politicians in Brussels and Washington. Only Vienna ignores him In: Die Zeit , 13/2006
  2. ^ ESI: About ("Europe's think tank for South East Europe and enlargement")
  3. ^ ESI Donors
  4. ↑ bosch-stiftung.de ( Memento of the original from July 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bosch-stiftung.de
  5. ↑ rbf.org ( Memento of the original from June 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rbf.org
  6. ↑ supporters. European Stability Initiative (ESI), accessed on March 17, 2016 .
  7. ^ Daniel Bax: "900 people per day" TAZ from March 6, 2016
  8. ↑ Vincenzo Capodici: "The" Merkel Plan "on the refugee crisis" tagesanzeiger.ch of October 6, 2015
  9. ↑ Irene Brickner: "EU Commissioner Hahn: Union-wide asylum system" possible at short notice " Der Standard from March 13, 2016
  10. ↑ zeit.de August 1, 2016: "Plan B would be much worse" (Interview)
  11. ↑ ESI: Newsletter February 2017
  12. ↑ esiweb.org (PDF; 706 kB)
  13. ↑ esiweb.org
  14. ↑ esiweb.org (PDF; 195 kB)
  15. ↑ esiweb.org
  16. ↑ returntoeurope.org
  17. ↑ esiweb.org