THE EUROPEANIZATION OF THE FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY OF ROMANIA. FROM THE WARSAW PACT TO THE THREE SEAS INITIATIVE
THE EUROPEANIZATION OF THE FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY OF ROMANIA. FROM THE WARSAW PACT TO THE THREE SEAS INITIATIVE

Summary/Abstract: After the fall of the communist regime in 1989, Romania followed the European route in the following years; however, its centralized state institutions hindered the Europeanization process. This study explores the background and the impact of the Europeanization process in Romania by presenting the implementation of this process and describing how Romania’s foreign and security policies were impacted by it. An attempt is made to determine whether the Three Seas Initiative is a new stage that helps in consolidating the Europeanization of the Romanian foreign and security policies. The research proposes a conceptual framework for understanding the Romanian Europeanization process separated in three different phases: transition, integration, and consolidation. Concerning the research methodology, this study will apply a narrative historical and an analytical method. This article begins by outlining the first steps made by Romania in the transition phase that were decisive in shaping the success of the Europeanization process, focusing on issues of foreign and security policies. Subsequently, the paper emphasizes the important role that Romania’s early participation in the Common Foreign and Security Policy played in the EU accession process. Moreover, the article emphasizes the significant role that Romania had in securizing the Black Sea region for the European Union. It concludes by addressing how the participation in the Three Seas Initiative coincided with a new stage of Europeanization. Romania’s participation in the Three Seas Initiative could represent a further opportunity to consolidate its foreign and security policies.

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