Gagauzia: growing separatism in Moldova? OSW Commentary No. 129, 10.03.2014

On 2 February, the regional authorities in Gagauzia - an autonomous region of the Republic of Moldova - carried out two simultaneous referenda. In the first, local residents were asked to declare their support for the country’s integration either with the EU or with the Moscow-led Customs Union (CU); the second referendum sought their opinion on the draft law “On the deferred status of the Autonomous Region of Gagauzia”. Under the proposed legislation, if Moldova were to lose its sovereignty (for example, through the unification of Moldova and Romania, or even as some politicians have argued, through Moldova’s further integration with the EU), the autonomous region would automatically become the independent Republic of Gagauzia. As expected, the outcome of the vote has shown overwhelming support for both the CU and for the draft law. According to the figures released by Gagauzia’s Central Electoral Commission, 98.5% of the voters supported Moldova’s integration with the Customs Union, while 98% voted in favour of the ‘deferred independence’ bill. Support for closer integration with the EU was marginal, reaching just over 2%. Despite the one-sided outcome of the referendum, there is no reliable evidence to suggest that the ballot was rigged. It should also be noted that voter turnout was very high, reaching about 70%. Representatives of the Moldovan Central Electoral Commission, however, believe that the figure may have been artificially inflated by excluding many of the voters currently residing abroad from the count.

The Importance of Foreign Language Skills in the Labour Markets of Central and Eastern Europe: An assessment based on data from online job portals. CEPS Special Report No. 129/January 2016

In a globalised world, knowledge of foreign languages is an important skill. Especially in Europe, with its 24 official languages and its countless regional and minority languages, foreign language skills are a key asset in the labour market. Earlier research shows that over half of the EU27 population is able to speak at least one foreign language, but there is substantial national variation. This study is devoted to a group of countries known as the Visegrad Four, which comprises the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Although the supply of foreign language skills in these countries appears to be well-documented, less is known about the demand side. In this study, we therefore examine the demand for foreign language skills on the Visegrad labour markets, using information extracted from online job portals. We find that English is the most requested foreign language in the region, and the demand for English language skills appears to go up as occupations become increasingly complex. Despite the cultural, historical and economic ties with their German-speaking neighbours, German is the second-most-in-demand foreign language in the region. Interestingly, in this case there is no clear link with the complexity of an occupation. Other languages, such as French, Spanish and Russian, are hardly requested. These findings have important policy implications with regards to the education and training offered in schools, universities and job centres.

Rhenium and osmium concentrations and isotopic compositions in altered ocean crust rocks at ODP Site 185-801

Re and Os concentrations and Os isotopic ratios were determined for composite samples prepared from volcanoclastics (VCL) and basaltic flows (FLO) from Jurassic oceanic crust (Ocean Drilling Program Leg 185, Site 801 in the western Pacific), with the aim of determining the effect of seafloor weathering on the Re-Os budget. A supercomposite sample, prepared from a proportionate mixture of the various composite powders, served to represent the average composition of the altered oceanic crust [Kelley, K.A., Plank, T., Ludden, J. and Staudigel, H., (2003). Composition of altered oceanic crust at ODP Sites 801 and 1149, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 4(6) 8910, doi:10.1029/2002GC000435.]. Re contents vary from 0.2 to 1.3 ng/g, and from 2.2 to 3.1 ng/g in the VCL and FLO composites respectively. Os contents vary from 0.005 to 0.047 ng/g in the VCL, and from 0.008 to 0.027 ng/g in the FLO composites. The FLO composites have much higher Re/Os ratios and thus have more radiogenic Os compositions (187Os/188Os = 1.38 to 8.48) than the VCL composites (187Os/188Os = 0.32 to 4.40). The VCL composite from the upper section of the crust shows evidence for substantial Re loss and Os uptake, consistent with oxidative weathering processes. However, Re uptake during weathering processes under more reducing conditions, evident in the FLO samples from throughout the section and to a lesser extent in the lower VCL samples, more than compensates for this Re loss in the upper VCL. Os concentrations were essentially unchanged by these reductive processes. Model age calculations suggest that Re uptake continued for tens of millions of years after crust formation. Abundant secondary pyrite is found throughout the altered Hole 801C crust in zones of restricted seawater flow, and this may have accommodated an important part of the input Re. The Re content of the supercomposite (~2.2 ng/g) is about 1 ng/g higher than would be expected on the basis of its Yb content. If the results from Hole 801C are typical, they suggest that the Re concentration of at least the upper part of the oceanic crust may be nearly doubled during seafloor alteration. Such large extents of Re uptake would have a significant effect on the oceanic Re budget. Furthermore, assuming that they survive passage through the subduction zone, these elevated Re contents would greatly decrease the proportion of subducted oceanic crust required in the source region to explain the radiogenic Os compositions of many ocean island basalts.