Federal Yugoslavia and its Successor States: Lessons for Cyprus on Federalism and Power Sharing

The international accepted basis for any reunification of Cyprus is that of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation. In the ongoing negotiations on the Cyprus issues it has long been agreed, that a united Cyprus is conceivable only under the introduction of a federal system. Yugoslavia and its successor states can serve as a model for the positive as for the negative sides of federalism and power sharing between different ethnic and religious groups.

The Balkan region with its large number of successor states of the former Yugoslavia offers a large number of examples of power sharing and reconciliation policy. Lessons from the federal model of Yugoslavia, the reconciliation and the power sharing in its successor states will be developed in the context of the Conference for Cyprus.