ConflictBarometer_2015

EUROPE
MP Donika Kadaj-Bujupi was arrested. The issuance of arrest
warrants for several other opposition politicians caused
further protests the following day, whereby 13 protesters
were detained. On November 28, the police arrested Kurti
for setting off tear gas as well as twelve other Vetevendosje
party members. On December 23, Kosovo's Constitutional
Court ruled that parts of the agreement with Serbia were
unconstitutional. iti
SLOVENIA CROATIA (BORDER)
Intensity: 1 | Change: | Start: 1991
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
Slovenia vs. Croatia
territory
The non-violent conflict between Slovenia and Croatia over
their shared maritime and land border continued.
After the dispute had been submitted to the Permanent Court
of Arbitration (PCA) in November 2009, a decision was expected
by 2015. On July 22, a Slovenian representative at
the PCA and an official of the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs were accused of collusions. Both resigned the next
day. On July 29, the Croatian Parliament decided to withdraw
from arbitration, although Slovenia deemed this act as illicit.
The same day, the European Commission announced that
the PCA would continue its work without Croatia, in spite of
Croatia claiming the Commission's decision to be outside EC
jurisdiction and refusing to recognize any future decisions of
the PCA.
On November 11, Slovenia began to erect a fence to curb
migration flows at the demarcation of the Slovenian-Croatian
border, respectively on areas Croatia considered its territory.
Slovenia claimed the temporary fence was raised on its territory
and did not violate the border, Croatia, however, urged
the other side to take it down. Police forces gathered on
either side of the fence. jra
SPAIN (CATALAN NATIONALISTS / CATALONIA)
Intensity: 1 | Change: | Start: 1979
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
CiU, UDC, CUP, Together for Yes (CDC,
ERC, DC), Catalan regional government
vs. government
secession
The dispute over secession between the Catalan regional
government and the Spanish central government continued.
On January 14, President of the Catalan government Artur
Mas announced that early regional elections acting as a
plebiscite on independence would be held on September
27. Four days later, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy
denied the plebiscitary character of the Catalan elections.
In a final ruling on February 25, the Spanish Constitutional
Court (SCC) declared the November 2014 Catalan referendum
on independence unconstitutional. On March 30, the
pro-independence parties Convergence and Union (CiU), Republican
Left of Catalonia (ERC), Association of Municipalities
for Independence, and Omnium Cultural signed a preliminary
agreement on independence. The document envisaged the
region's independence before April 2017, given that the
elections in September 2015 would be successful. However,
Rajoy declared the document illegal the following day. On
June 17, the Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC) dissolved
the CiU pact between Catalonia's two governing parties UDC
and Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) due to a
disagreement over Mas' plan for independence. On July
15, CDC and ERC announced that they would run a unified
slate of candidates for regional elections in September. By
signing an election bill on August 3, Mas officially scheduled
the regional elections for September 27. On September 11,
the Catalan National Day, at least half a million Catalans
demonstrated in the regional capital Barcelona supporting
the region's independence. The day of the elections, the
pro-independence coalition Together for Yes obtained the
absolute majority of votes. On October 13 and 15, several
thousand Catalans protested the outset of an investigation by
Spanish prosecutors against Mas regarding the referendum
process in November 2014. On October 27, Together for
Yes and Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) agreed on a draft
resolution about independence. On November 11, the SCC
suspended the Catalan Declaration starting the process to
secede from spain and subsequently declared it unconstitutional
on December 2.
pha
SPAIN UNITED KINGDOM (GIBRALTAR)
Intensity: 2 | Change: | Start: 1954
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
The conflict over the territory of Gibraltar between Spain and
the United Kingdom continued at a non-violent level. On
February 12, Spanish Foreign Minister José García-Margallo
announced plans to issue a 50 euro fee for every vehicle
entering or exiting Gibraltar. Furthermore, he stated that in
his opinion Gibraltar is a part of Spain since every citizen
speaks Spanish. On May 31, Governor of Gibraltar Lieutenant
General Sir James Dutton resigned over the tensions with
Spain. On July 3, the British government accused a Spanish
survey vessel of having entered British waters illegally.
On August 3, Spanish State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Ignacio
Ybáñez confirmed that Spain would like to re-establish a
regional cooperation mechanism in Spain's Campo de Gibraltar
region, Cádiz. On August 9, the British government accused
Spanish police vessels and a customs helicopter of having
entered Gibraltar's territorial waters and airspace illegally,
calling the acts ''a clear violation of UK sovereignty.'' The
Spanish Foreign Ministry denied the accusations and stated
that the area was Spanish maritime territory. On August 25,
Gibraltar stated that Spanish customs officers had fired in
the direction of one of its fishing boats. On August 28, the
British government accused Spain of a further provocation
by permitting a Russian submarine to refuel in the Spanish
Ceuta enclave. pih
TURKEY ARMENIA
Spain vs. United Kingdom
territory
Intensity: 1 | Change: | Start: 1991
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
Turkey vs. Armenia
international power, other
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