Europa Wschodnia i Kaukaz Południowy: dziesięciolecie Partnerstwa Wschodniego

Author(s): Andrzej Szeptycki / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

The article aims to analyze the region of Eastern Europe and South Caucasusfrom the perspective of the EU Eastern Partnership programme. Ten years afterits initiation, the region remains unstable both politically and militarily. It is stillstruggling with post-Soviet heritage, such as corruption and authoritarian tendencies.While some countries (Armenia) try to counter these challenges, in others (Moldova)there was a significant deterioration of democratic standards. Such a situationseems to indicate the weakness of the EU’s policy mechanisms towards its Easternneighbourhood.According to the EaP assumptions, the cooperation with the countries of theregion is conducted on the case by case basis. This results in the separation of theEastern neighbours of the EU into two subgroups: the first one is made up of Ukraine,Moldova, and Georgia, which in 2014–2017 concluded association agreements withthe EU, providing for the creation of Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas,and were offered a visa-free regime; the second one gathers Belarus, Armenia, andAzerbaijan, with which cooperation is more limited.Russia’s policy remains a key challenge both for the countries of the region and theEU. The Russian Federation is striving both to increase its influence in the countriesof Eastern Europe and South Caucasus, and to limit their cooperation with the EU.An important instrument, though not the only one, of the expansive Russian policyin the region are the frozen conflicts affecting Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia,and Azerbaijan. In the case of Belarus, progressive integration of this country withRussia should not be excluded.

Conference Program

Author(s): / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Conference Program

References

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The Budget Support System in Eastern Partnership Countries

Author(s): Elżbieta Kaca / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Here we present the general aims and characteristics of budget support in the EaP region, the volume of support and a breakdown by country. Budget support is the predominant EU tool in the Eastern Partnership countries, as around 60% of bilateral financial resources are scheduled to be spent through such means. This comprises financial assistance supporting government reforms and paid directly to the state budget of a specified country. Therefore, it requires close cooperation between the national administration and the EU delegation, ensured by frequent communication as well as the participation of common monitoring committees. Two types of budget support have been in use in the EaP region: general budget support and sector budget support. Under the former, funding is provided for a broad range of reforms planned by the government for a given period of time, for instance, implementation of the association agenda or action plans. The latter, sector budget support, goes for reforms only in a given sector, e.g., energy or health. Sector budget support has been the dominant form of support in all of the EaP countries except Armenia, where general budget support was employed.

Ukraine: Too Big for School

Author(s): Elżbieta Kaca / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This section presents how budget support has been used in Ukraine. Sector Budget Support (SBS) is the predominant EU assistance tool in Ukraine, with around 60% of all EU aid to the country planned to be spent in this way in the years 2007–2013. Six agreements were signed in the sectors of energy, energy efficiency, trade facilitation, environment, transport, and border management, and another is awaited in energy for an overall sum of €389 million. However, in total Ukraine received payments of no more than one third of this amount (€111.14 million) because since 2011 the EC has limited transfers for all operations. The main reason for this was non-fulfilment of a precondition on PFM, as since 2011 the country’s public procurement law and budgetary transparency have significantly deteriorated. This crucial condition ensures that funds are not fraudulently used. After two years of futile discussion on the implementation of this condition, the Ukrainian government finally adopted a PFM strategy in September 2013 (not made public) as this issue was made an EU condition to sign an AA.

A Cross-Country Picture: Towards More Efficient EU Aid

Author(s): Elżbieta Kaca / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The EU approach in the Eastern Partnership countries is to financially support concrete reforms: sector budget support operations are most commonly in use. Theoretically, such a tool, given teeth by precise conditions and indicators, should allow the smooth completion of the sector integration planned in the scope of the EaP. In practice, an analysis of the first years of use (2007–2013) shows that this instrument has potential in countries willing to integrate with the EU, while in the others its use has limited impact on guiding comprehensive reforms. The pace of fulfilment of budget support conditions differed much among the partners. This resulted mainly from the various level of willingness of the EaP governments to conduct Euoriented reforms. For Moldova and Georgia, the political will to integrate with the EU is clear, as proved by their determination to sign an AA. On the contrary, Armenia and Ukraine withdrew from signing such deals, a step that confirmed they were not interested in or were hesitant about EUbacked reforms. In Armenia, the EU had to stop support for DCFTA implementation and reshape its assistance, whereas for Ukraine the new pro-European government has signed the political part of the AA after an internal crisis. Azerbaijan is a case apart, as budget support was aimed to develop sector cooperation, but in the meantime it has shown it is not interested in complying with aid conditions on PFM: in this case, the EU help is rather useful in terms of advice on the directions of some reforms. Therefore, one can distinguish two groups of countries, EU-oriented and non-EU-oriented, with the latter being interested only in some sector cooperation.

Locuinţa socială din România în context european

Author(s): Daniel-Gabriel Valceanu / Language(s): Romanian Publication Year: 0

The chapter presents an analysis of theRomanian social house in an European context.

China and USA: Trade war in the case of Huawei

Author(s): Piotr Bubrowski / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The author analyzes the China-US trade war in the case of Huawei by giving the Huawei company description, the history of conflict, the characteristics of the trade war image in Chinese media.

Приносът на газовата инфраструктура на Румъния за енергийната сигурност на Балканите

Author(s): Svetla Boneva / Language(s): Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

The objective of the research is to present the importance of the gas infrastructure of Romania for the energy security of the Balkans. The research methods used in the study involve elements of retrospective analysis, content analysis, table presentation and generalization of the main ideas of key strategic and regulatory documents on the topic. This is a conceptual study and a posteriori research approach has been followed for its development. The thesis of the paper is that Romania is a key player for the Balkan countries and the wider EU region gas security. Romania possesses a high capacity of installed and functioning powers for transition, generation and storage of natural gas, which is the main factor for its important role in the Balkan region and the EU energy security. The results of the research represent generalizations and analyses of the role and importance of the Romanian gas infrastructure for the region. The research results provide ground for evidence-based recommendations and decisions on the future policy measures in the gas energy sector and their implementation

Бессарабия XIX – XX ст.: мультикультурный субъект европейской истории или ее геополитический объект?

Author(s): Vitali V. Stetskevych / Language(s): Romanian Publication Year: 0

Până la formarea Republicii Moldova, Basarabia nu a fost niciodată un stat independent, deci un subiect valid pe eşichierul relaţiilor internaţionale europene. De fapt, Basarabia a fost permanent un obiect al intereselor geopolitice, care au depăşit cu mult interesele populaţiei locale. Aceste interferenţe geopolitice au avut un rol important în modelarea identităţii culturale a locuitorilor Basarabiei, aflaţi într‑o zonă de interferenţe culturale multiple. Faptul acesta a reprezentat, pe de‑o parte, un beneficiu, însă, pe de altă parte, a fost şi o sursă de confuzie în ceea ce priveşte construirea unei identităţi coerente şi bine structurate.

ZAVNOBIH: POLITIČKA IMAGINACIJA PRAVEDNOG RATA

Author(s): Nerzuk Ćurak / Language(s): Bosnian,Croatian,Serbian Publication Year: 0

The transcripts from Sarajevan State Anti-fascist Council for the National Liberation of Bosnia and Herzegovina session witness the dedication of its councilors towards the present. This implicates an intense connection of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Yugoslavian geopolitical imaginary (B&H as a homeland within a homeland). At the same time, it develops a discourse – an indisputable one – of a unified Bosnia as a political community being built as a state. The third ZAVNOBiH session, unfortunately, did not develop enough strength to deepen and pull the true levers of the state citizenship imagined within the earlier grand freedom charter from Sanski Most. However, the epochal success of the Sarajevo session lies in its development of a territorial identity of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a socially, economically and culturally conscious space. This success is an epochal success – especially when compared with B&H’s current arrested development. Today, this country is left without its unified space, reduced to a mere territorial sum. It is also deprived of its unique trinational togetherness, reduced to a nationalistic negation of the ZAVNOBIH itself, a translation of the “3 in 1” formula into a “big, acephalous nothing”. The fact that the third ZAVNOBIH session was held in Sarajevo witnesses the building of Bosnia from the state of war to the state of peace as a political community – from the periphery of a just war (Bosnian Krajina) towards the center (Sarajevo), which used to be an extremely important symbolic and political message about its core state community. This community grew as a natural, decentralized entity, but with a clear, leading, all encompassing topos from a place (that is not Belgrade, nor Zagreb) where its unique plural identity is forged. Our only option is to proceed with forging.

Nauka i politika: moderna ruska historiografija o Bosni i Hercegovini

Author(s): Safet Bandžović / Language(s): Bosnian,Croatian,Serbian Publication Year: 0

The periods of deep political and social quakes always bring reconsideration and rearrangement of the events that happened in the past. Disappearance of ideological paradigm, changes in global politics and epochal consciousness affected the return of the pre-socialist past, its romantization and idealization, as well as revisionist change of social determinants that were used for historical interpretations in post-socialist countries with the intense action of politics, nationalism and history in their historiographies. Even the bigger historiographies like Russian, are not immune from political pressure in relation to its own history, and histories of other countries and nations. There are many differences between the Soviet and the modern Russian historiography, as well as their forms. Due to the wish to control history, the international and class principle gave its place to the more active, national one, with the renewal of its identity that is clean from communist influence. Interests and politics of superpowers leave a huge mark in the history of the Balkan nations. Political disputes and positioning affect the historiographies and they play a big role in determining the topics that need to be researched. Dissolution of Yugoslavia and the emergence of new post-Yugoslav states on the European political map worsened the efforts of Russian historians in analyzing and researching their past and modernity. The increase of Russian interest in researching the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina is related to the political crises and conflicts in that area and wider Balkan context. Their attention is mostly focused on the Eastern Crisis (1875–1878.) and the Bosnian / Annexation crisis (1908–1909), dissolution of the SFRY and the “post-Yugoslav” wars. They also do research about the events that occured in this area in the last decade of the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st century.

How Russia Targets the Cognitive Domain to Achieve Its Strategic Goals in Georgia

Author(s): Nino Bolkvadze / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This chapter examines the cognitive domain of Georgia’s information environment and analyses Russia’s attempts to influence people’s perceptions, beliefs, and values in order to advance its strategic goals in Georgia. Specifically, this chapter evaluates which perceptions, beliefs, and values are primarily exploited, who the main targets are, and what tactics are used by Russia to influence the cognitive domain.

The Black Sea’s Strategic Importance of the and NATO’s Role in Countering the Kremlin’s Military Domination

Author(s): Ioan CRĂCIUN / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The Black Sea region has become one of the key geopolitical spaces for the competition between Russia and the West on which the very future of Europe ultimately depends. The Kremlin wants to keep the Black Sea in its sphere of influence through a strategy of regional destabilisation based on a special military operation against Ukraine, the illegal annexation of new territories, historically considered to belong to Russia, and the strengthening of the military presence in these territories or the direct military threat to the states in the region in order to limit as much as possible the possibilities of their accession to the Euro-Atlantic structures. On the other hand, the West is trying to respond to Russia’s expansion with an advanced defence strategy in which the Black Sea occupies a central place. Thus, the Black Sea region, which has traditionally been treated as a less important area, acquires new strategic features becoming a much more militarised, unstable and contested region, a region that is in dire need of a new regional status quo in order to stabilise. Considering this state of facts, this article has as its main objective the geopolitical analysis of the Black Sea region, given that Russia has become the main destabilising factor in the region, as well as the identification of solutions to achieve regional stability based on the increasingly consistent involvement of the North Atlantic Alliance.

Lifting Sanctions Against Russia in the Energy Field as a Tool to Resolve the Global Food Crisis

Author(s): Emil Asenov / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the European Union imposed a significant number of individual, economic and diplomatic sanctions on Russia. An important aspect of the sanctioning policy concerns energy resources imported from Russia into Europe. The implementation of these sanctions is currently taking place in the context of a global food crisis. Russia imposed an embargo on the exports of some of its agricultural products, while also imposing a blockade on Ukrainian ports. As a result of these actions, a number of countries face a prospect of food supply shortages as Ukraine and Russia are among the largest exporters of agricultural products. Resolving these problems requires timely and effective solutions. In conclusion, the article proposes the implementation of mutually agreed measures by the European Union and Russia to counter a global food crisis.

Biblioraft

Author(s): Tinu Pârvulescu,Sorin Tomuța,Ioana Copil-Popovici,Daciana Branea,Marius Lăzurcă,Dana Chetrinescu,Corneliu Radu Păiușan,Alina Lazoc,Eleonora Pascu,Gabriel Kohn,Cristian Pătrășconiu,Dorian Branea,Valeriu Leu,Florina Jinga,Mihaela Sitariu,Horea Băcanu / Language(s): Romanian Publication Year: 0

Reviews of: 1. Rudiger Wischenbart, Frica lui Canetti, București, Ed. Univers, 1997, în românește de Ana Stanca Tăbărași. 2. Livius Ciocârlie, Cap și pajură, București, Editura Albatros, 1997. 3. Proza feminină austriacă, Iași, Institutul European, 1998. 4. Esterhăzy Peter, Verbele auxiliare ale inimii. Introducere în beletristică, lași, Institutul European, 1997, traducere și note de Anamaria Pop, postfață de Mircea Nedelciu. 5. Bernard Malamud, Butoiașul vrăjit, în românește de Anton Celaru, București, Editura Hasefer, 1998. 6. Witold Gombrowicz, Jurnal, selecție, traducere și note de Olga Zaicik, prefață de Kazimierz Jurczak, București, Editura Univers, 1998. 7. Ladislav Mnacko, Gustul puterii, traducere, prefață și tabel cronologic de Helliana Ianculescu, București, Editura Minerva, 1997. 8. Slavco Almăjan, Metagalaxia minoritară, Novi Sad, Editura Libertatea, Iugoslavia, 1996; Iași, Editura I.N.S.C.R., 1998. 9. Fulvio Tomizza, Materada, traducere de Doina Condrea Derer, Timișoara, Editura Augusta, 1998. 10. Peter Handke, Scurtă scrisoare pentru o lungă despărțire, traducere și postafață de Mariana Lăzărescu, București, Editura Univers, 1998. 11. Methodologische und literarhistorische Studieri zur deutschen Literatur Ostmittel - und Sildosteuropas. Internationales Symposion, Innsbruck 18-19.10.1991 Sudostdeutsches Kulturwerk, Miinchen, 1994. 12. Guy Hermet, Istoria națiunilor și naționalismului în Europa, traducere de Silvia Dram, prefață de Al. Zub, Iași, Institutul European, 1997. 13. Raoul Girardet, Mituri și mitologii politice, Iași, Editura Institutului European, 1997. 14. Allan Janik, Stephen Toulmin, Viena lui Wittgenstein, București, Editura Humanitas, 1998, traducere și note de Mircea Flonta. 15. Aurel C. Popovici, Naționalism sau Democrație, o critică a civilizațiunii moderne, studiu introductiv, îngrijire de ediție, note de Constantin Schifirneț, București, Editura Albatros, 1997. 16. Aurel C. Popovici, Stat și Națiune, Statele-Unite ale Austriei Mari, Studii politice în vederea rezolvării problemei naționale și a crizelor constituționale din Austro-Ungaria, traducere din limba germană de Petre Pandrea, studiu introductiv, note și îngrijire de ediție Constantin Schifirneț, București, Editura Albatros, 1997. 17. Doru Radosav, Sentimentul religios la români, Cluj-Napoca, Editura Dacia, 1997.

THREE FAMILIES OF CRISES SUPERPOSED, INTERDEPENDENT AND MUTUAL INTERFERING IN THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS PERSPECTIVE

Author(s): Iulian Chifu / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The Coronavirus or Covid-19 pandemic has launched a health crisis with an important impact by accelerating three categories of crises: the dormant and rampant ones that were here long before this crises; the correlated crisis coming from the pandemic explosion and the ways to limit its impact; and the independent crisis, not directly related by Covid-19 but prompted and accelerated by the pandemic. As a result, this lead to a maximum complication for the decision makers since it created overnight premises for a completely different International Relations Perspective. The scenarios for the world of tomorrow and the possible arrangement for a global governance are the aims of our study.

CAPITALISM: WHERE TO?

Author(s): Ionel Stoica / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Mankind is at present at a crossroad, and this fact is valid from a political, economic and social viewpoint. Strong and opposed political and social forces, by the goals they seek, are engaged into a though competition, whose result will decide the way of life for several future generations. From the political point of view, the battle takes place between democracies, on the one hand, and the autocratic regimes, on the other hand. As for the economic and social aspects, the battle develops between the super-rich or the dominant class, and those who struggle to survive. Another facet of this last aspect is represented by the competition that is being carried out between the free market capitalism, combined with the liberal democracy, and the state capitalism, often associated with the illiberal or autocratic political regimes. This paper intends to present and explain the factors that underpin the success of the state capitalism, the way that free market capitalism and the state capitalism coexist at present, as well as the potential for conflict that can appear between the two models of capitalism, with its consequences for global stability. Understanding these aspects is important because the two models of capitalism support distinct models of development and security. We will be focusing more on the state capitalism because we consider that this represents an important force that will shape the global economy in a significant way during the following decades.

O parte a întregului

Author(s): Andrei Corbea / Language(s): Romanian Publication Year: 0

„Pluralitatea” spațiului habsburgic1, pe care Moritz Csaky a definit-o ținînd seama atît de realitățile interne (etnice, lingvistice, culturale și politice) ale Imperiului, cît și de cele rezultate din îmbinarea pe acest teritoriu a unor tipuri extrem de diferite de civilizație europeană, a evoluat pe parcursul unei istorii proprii spre statutul de calitate „fizionomică” fundamentală a regiunii, calitate din care rezultă, paradoxal, tocmai marca sa unitară. Constituirea treptată, deși dificilă, a unui spațiu economic comun - în ciuda disparităților adînci dintre provinciile dezvoltate și subdezvoltate, ca și a relativei întîrzieri în procesul expansiunii capitaliste, cauzate, în comparație cu Anglia, Franța sau Prusia/ Germania, de o tipică imobilitate socio-politică - a facilitat în Europa Centrală un permanent schimb de mărfuri, oameni și idei, pe baza căruia s-a constituit aici cadrul diferențial al unui cuprinzător „spațiu social”. Trăsătura sa cea mai pregnantă ar consta în aceea că, în timp ce în statele naționale moderne, unde conceptul de „națiune” a căpătat concomitent și un sens uniformizant din punct de vedere social, societatea se fragmentează pe „verticală”, în categorii (clase) cu interese sociale și politice divergente, (precum în Germania de după 1871), în cazul nostru persistă un fragmentarism „orizontal”, de sorginte premodernă; pe fondul unui echilibru instabil dintre centralismul programatic al iosefinismului și presiunea particularismelor provinciale sau naționale, acesta se manifestă, fie în chip individual, fie la nivel colectiv, prin coexistența pluralistă a mai multor identități (sau loialități) și sub-identități.

THE GREAT POWER COMPETITION BETWEEN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN THE SYRIAN WAR 2015-2020

Author(s): Mara Sofia CRĂCIUNESCU / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Even though the Cold War ended 30 years ago, the Russian Federation and the United States of America continue the competition for power through different means and by using several instruments. The Syrian war is one of the longest and complex events in which the two states have recently exposed their capabilities. On the one hand, the Russian Federation found the Syrian war as an opportunity to improve its economy, extend its military influence and gain more allies by supporting Syrian regime and situating as a counterweight to USA. On the other hand, the United States of America fought to maintain its economic gains, strategic coalitions and limit Iran power in the region, using as motif the establishment of democracy and counterterrorism. All of these represented the most important assets of each state towards increasing their authority outside their borders and consolidating their power status in the last6 years.