An Historical itinerary of Eastern Europe about self determination and sovereignty

Making part of the activities of a research project sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research, the conference was designed in two sessions. The first one focused on historical legacy, self-determination and sovereignty in the 20th Century perspective; while the second one was devoted to the European Integration as a new political subject for reformulating the concepts and the political procedures of self-determination and sovereignty after the Cold War.
The papers which were presented during the conference by the scholars from, among others, the University of Bologna, Sapienza University of Rome, University of Siena and the University of Pescara-Chieti covered a large variety of issues among which national minorities and nationalities issues in Russia and the ex-Soviet space. These latest research endeavours and
outcomes were debated in a lively discussion with the audience.
In the first session Giuseppe Motta (Sapienza University of Rome), Sara Barbieri (University of Bologna) and Elena Dundovich (University of Pisa) opened the conference with their
presentation to the subtopic “The Versailles Order, the USSR, and the Rising of the National Structure of the State”. Related to the second subject “The Communist Federal Experience in
Central Europe” Francesco Caccamo (“G. D’Annunzio” University, Chieti and Pescara) gave a historical analysis of the federal model of Czechoslovakia.
In the second session Laura Scichilone, Laura Grazi and Federica Di Sarcina (all University of Siena) presented their outcomes to the subtopic “Enlarging Europe and Reframing Sovereignty:
the Impact of Inclusiveness”. The next contribution was presented by Leonas Tolvaisis (University of Bologna), Giorgio Comai (Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso) and Sara Barbieri (University of
Bologna) and was related to the issue of “Reframing Sovereignty and Managing Diversities Outside the European Union”. With the last sub-issue “Fostering Inclusiveness: Enlargement
Strategies and External Constraints” Ariane Landuyt (University of Siena), Alessandra Bitumi (University of Bologna) and Stefano Bianchini (University of Bologna) closed the conference and
opened the floor for discussions with the audience.
The overall success of the conference benefited from the contribution of numerous scholars and researchers with diverse academic backgrounds. The discussants who participated the
conference were Sergei Sokolovskij (Institute of Ethnography and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences), Alessandro Vagnini (Sapienza University of Rome), Tvrtko Jakovina
(University of Zagreb), Damir Gubisa (University of Zagreb), Darko Gavrilovic (Novi Sad University), Szemlér Tamas (Budapest Business School), Eric Gordy (University College London),
Rytis Bulota ( Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas), Branislav Durdev (Novi Sad University), George Contogeorgis (Panteion University of Athens), Sarunas Liekis (Vytautas Magnus University,
Kaunas) and Robert Craig Nation (Dickinson College, Carlisle).
The above mentioned discussants were invited on purpose to evaluate the progresses of the research carried on by the paper’s authors during the two years since the beginning project
cited at the beginning of the report. The presented results of the projects will be published in a book which is forthcoming on the Longo publications of the Institute for Central Eastern and Balkan Europe.


Institue for Central Eastern and Balkan Europe (IECOB)