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Russian foreign policy initially did not place a high priority on the issue of Syrian Kurdistan. Relations on the governmental level with Iran, Turkey,Iraq, and Assad‘s Syria overshadowed this issue that remained extremely marginal until 2011 despite the Kurdish ties of the long-time leader of the Syrian Communist Party, Khaled Bakdash.
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When we consider the European Union’s general policy towards the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Kurdish: RêveberiyaXweser a Bakur û Rojhilatê Sûriyeyê, hereafter simply NES), we must assume that the European Union (EU) does not have any single policy towards the NES. Indeed, it is hard to speak of a EU coherent foreign policy on anyissue.1 In recent years, we became accustomed to complaints about the lack of a broad European policy on defence and foreign affairs, as well as exhortations to create a common continental approach to international security issues. Presently, each Member State moves with considerable autonomy, taking care primarily of its national interests and reacting mostly to domestic grievances, whilst the European bloc in itself seems to move steadily towards irrelevance in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)region, where global and regional powers have reduced European influence.Recent events, such as the Turkish invasion of areas of northern Syria in October 2019, have only confirmed what analysts have been saying about EU foreign policy in the last years: ‘that the EU has little influence over the course of events in Syria’ (Pierini, 2016).
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The crisis in Greece affected everybody and not only Greek citizens and companies. It affected also the neighboring countries like Bulgaria. The current article aims to analyse what are the consequences of the crisis in Greece for the Bulgarian economy and what are the prospects for further enforcing these effects. It focuses on such issues like trade relations between Bulgaria and Greece, foreign direct investments, the influence of the crisis in Greece to the tourism sector in Bulgaria, the role for the financial markets, the Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, unemployment rate and other factors in the Bulgarian economy.
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Global supply chains are a contemporary manifestation of international business, which allows different economies to utilize their competitive advantages to a greater level and participate in certain stages of a final product manufacturing process. One of the fundamental powers for their development in Bulgaria is the process of regional integration and in particular the preparation for accession and the subsequent membership of the country in the European Union. The supranational rules that apply to all member states, the free movement of goods, services, workers and capital and the step-by-step implementation of a common currency are the factors that let the Bulgarian economy restructure itself and participate successfully in global supply chains as a supplier of value-added goods and not as an exporter of raw materials.
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The European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) is an important part of the EU Cohesion Policy, which aims at economic, social and territorial cohesion between regions and countries in the EU. A part of it are the cross-border cooperation programs that have a positive effect on the development of border areas through joint activities and challenges in different areas. In the new programming period 2014 – 2020 the priorities and objectives of ETC have changed and developed in the light of the changing circumstances in the environment, social and economic problems and globalizing world. This paper examines these changes, the new priorities of cross border programs and analyzes the cross-border programs of Bulgaria with its neighbors Serbia, Macedonia and Turkey in the past and current programming period. A comparative analysis is made of their main objectives, priority axes and budget perspectives. The report summarizes the findings for the future of cross-border cooperation in the EU and Bulgaria's participation in it.
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The international flow of technological information and its successful integration into domestic production and management processes are essential for the ability of catching-up economies to compete on the global marketplace and to narrow the technological gaps they face compared to developed countries. Among the most important dynamic effects of regional economic integration is the enhanced possibility of technological transfer among participating countries. The European integration provides such an opportunity for the technological laggard Bulgaria. The objective of the paper is to provide an analysis of market-mediated international transfer of technology in Bulgaria following its EU accession through the following channels: foreign trade, foreign direct investment, licensing. The results show that the process of technological catching-up is not an automatic process and in the case of Bulgaria does not occur as expected given its EU membership.
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The present report analyses the nature and the chronology about the Doha Round of Negotiations as well as the main elements of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the EU. Then the author analyses the links between the Doha Round and the CAP, including the positions expressed by the EU and by the developing countries during the course of negotiations.
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The first decade of the 21st century was accompanied by increased price volatility and price spikes in commodity markets. This caused a chain reaction in the world economy. The changes that took place had not only an economic but also a social dimension. Price volatility is expressed through the transfer of uncertainty from the financial sector to other sectors of the global economy. At the time of the collapse of the capital markets, commodities recorded record turnovers. New financial instruments have appeared to allow the avalanche-like increase in the positions of institutional speculators in commodity markets. In the short term, increased uncertainty is crucial for the price stability of the food. For example, through its impact mechanisms, climate change may cause another 115 million people worldwide to face chronic hunger and reach a total of more than 700 million people. For our country, the volatility of grain prices is of strategic importance.
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This publication presents the main results of the research project "International Competitiveness of Export-Oriented Industries in Bulgaria", funded by the state budget from the Fund "UNWE Research", implemented during the period December 2009 - December 2011. The goal of this project is to analyze and assess the international competitiveness of the export-oriented industries in Bulgaria and to propose recommendations at the macro-, meso- and micro-level for its increase. The study utilizes a wide range of general scientific and specific methods for assessing the international competitiveness of export-oriented industries in Bulgaria. The SWOT analysis has a central place to present the main competitive advantages and disadvantages of the industries and the challenges they face. The main sources of statistical information are the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria and the Eurostat. For the implementation of the project objectives a special questionnaire has been developed, distributed in the 6 planning regions among managers of companies from the identified export-oriented industries.
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The process of European Union (EU) enlargement following the accession of Bulgaria and Romania will go towards the accession of Western Balkan countries. Region of the Western Balkans is consisted of six countries. Some of these countries have the status of the candidate country (Croatia, Macedonia and Montenegro) while Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has the status of potential candidate, along with Serbia and Albania. Subject of this paper represent an analysis of trade aspects of the relations between BiH and the EU since EU is the most important trade partner of BiH. In addition, the subject of this paper will include an overview of the signing and establishment of CEFTA Agreement between countries in the region because the membership in this free trade zone represents one of the important steps towards EU membership. The goal of this paper is to empirically investigate how the BiH’s products are represented on the EU market and vice versa, what is the structure of its import and export, and in this context, what are the possible problems. Also, our goal is to analyze the possible future improvements for BiH in the context of trade relations with the EU. In the first part of the paper we will briefly provide basic indicators of BiH economy, as well as some indicators of its integration in the global market. The second part of the paper is dedicated to the analysis of foreign trade policy of BiH with the emphasis on the free trade agreements concluded on regional level with CEFTA countries, and free trade agreement concluded with EU by signing the Stabilization and Association Agreement. In the third part we will present the real flows of trade between the EU and BiH. The importance of the EU as a foreign trade partner of BiH will be pointed out. By the analysis of the volume, value and structure of import and export with the EU we will identify the difficulties, but also the advantages that BiH has in trade relations with EU.
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This report aims to examine Bulgaria's export competitiveness in the context of the country's full membership in the EU. This was achieved through an analysis of the dynamics of the value and volume of Bulgarian exports, its diversification in terms of markets and product structure, as well as the factor intensity and technological complexity of our exports to the EU. The obtained results testify that there is yet low export competitiveness of Bulgaria and significant lag when referred to comparable with us countries such as Hungary and Slovakia, and by some indicators, Romania. This is largely due to the relatively low-tech, unfavourable and strategically unpromising export specialization of our economy. Therefore, the state policy aimed at stimulating the export competitiveness should have the long-term goal of improving Bulgaria's position in the international division of labour.
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The year 2019 was a turning point in energy policy. Slovakia, like other EU countries, drafted its long-term climate and energy strategy, an integrated National Energy and Climate Plan for 2021–2030 (NECP). The NECP comes under the Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action (EU/2018/1999) and covers five of the Energy Union dimensions: energy security; internal energy market; energy efficiency; climate action and decarbonization; and research, innovation and competitiveness. Primary responsibility for drafting the NECP lies with the Ministry of Economy. The NECP is an updated version of the 2014 Energy Policy of the Slovak Republic. Energy security is vital to Slovakia and a major issue since the natural gas crisis of January 2009. The year 2019 represented the beginning of a new direction in energy and climate policy and the end of a decade of energy security concerns.
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In recent years, the international system has seen a gradual shifting of the geopolitical and geo-economic centers of gravity. China’s growing power and rising assertiveness under the rule of Xi Jinping, the US trade war with China, and the ever-present threat of North Korea’s nuclear program suggest that the geopolitical shift has been following an eastward vector. This means the most important global processes, which will shape the world in the upcoming decades, are taking place in the Indo-Pacific region.
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2019 brought with it a number of new strategies, instruments and policies. Nevertheless, the old demons returned and our foreign policy and values continued to be undermined. Two main topics dominated – migration and private sector involvement in development cooperation. While migration framed both the beginning and end of the year, caused heated debates, was the reason minister Miroslav Lajčák submitted his resignation to the president (he later withdrew it) and was a politicized in the parliamentary election campaigns at the end of the year, private sector involvement has attracted less public and social media attention and been less prone to open misuse by politicians. Nonetheless both are equally important for development cooperation.
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History can be used as a tool of influence as was highlighted in Annual Review 2014 of Estonian Internal Security Service; “historical propaganda plays a key role in justifying the actions and conquests of Russia’s aggressive foreign policy”. Russia has its own historical policy, which the Kremlin uses for achieving its goals. Various methods of using and (re)-interpreting or manipulation(s) historical facts and narratives are not a new phenomenon in the modern world, but in the 21st century they have become more significant in influencing target audiences. Several modern pro-Kremlin oriented Russian historians and even politicians are manipulating historical facts.
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A study done in 2016 on narratives officially promoted by the Russian Federation through Kremlin-funded media Sputnik, RT (formerly Russia Today), and Pervyi kanal, provided nuanced insight into the agenda regarding the Nordic-Baltic countries (NB8), which the Kremlin was trying to promote internationally. Although the research carried out in 2016–171 showed that Sputnik and RT are not popular among Nordic-Baltic audiences and that out of eight countries Pervyi kanal has higher ratings only in Latvia and Estonia, this selection of media still gives us an understanding about the Kremlin’s agenda and how this agenda has been framed in public communications.
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In an increasingly dynamic digital information environment, online communication patterns are constantly shifting, and hostile information influence activities are continuously adapting to spread influence faster and reach wider audiences. The use of Information Laundering techniques by Kremlin and pro-Kremlin actors is an outcome of this trend. Information Laundering (IL) has emerged as a security challenge in a context where global audiences are becoming highly reliant on online sources to obtain the information that will shape their opinions about current socio-political issues.
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The United Nations (UN), as the most representative representative of the international community, was established to ensure international peace and stability, prevent aggression or other violations of peace, and protect human rights and lives, while respecting the principle that every sovereign state is an equally important member. Therefore, the UN has both the right and the responsibility to take appropriate measures and actions against those who do not comply with international regulations in this regard, including sanctions. The genocide, committed in Srebrenica and neighboring municipalities in 1995, is the most heinous example of inhumane behavior and violations of international norms, which has unequivocally confirmed the ineffectiveness of the international community in preserving peace and preventing human suffering. However, in addition, the UN Security Council further confirmed its inconsistent action through the absence of full and adequate sanctioning of organizers and perpetrators of genocide. Of particular concern is the fact that the UN Security Council, as it did not take effective measures to prevent aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and thus the Srebrenica genocide, did not take appropriate decisions and positions even after the genocide, until today. Despite UN International Court of Justice rulings on genocide in and around Srebrenica, the UN Security Council has never adopted a resolution, which formally confirms this. The aim of this text is to analyze the attitude of the UN Security Council on the genocide in Srebrenica. The research is focused on the decisions, attitudes and other activities of this body during and after the commission of genocide.These influences are determined through the analysis of UN Security Council documents, other international documents as well as national documents of member states. The consequences caused by such actions are also elaborated, which have a very wide range of implications, both for the countries concerned, as well as for society and the wider international community. The concluding remarks emphasize the importance of the decisions made and the views expressed, as well as those not adopted, suggesting alternative procedures, which would possibly represent some satisfaction, but to some extent also direct the future actions of the UN Security Council.
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Relying on a detailed reconstruction of the “nine days of hell”, as ICTY judges characterized the period after the fall of Srebrenica, the public discourse on the Srebrenica genocide is completely dominated by July 1995 topics. However, the representation of earlier periods in historiography, which refer to very dynamic events within Srebrenica during 1992, 1993 and 1994, also occupies a significant place on the scale of research on topics related to the genocide in Srebrenica. Several important books, scientific and professional papers have been published on these issues, in which, for the most part, documents of military units surrounding and attacking Srebrenica were used as basic source material, primarily documentation of the VRS Drina Corps and the Yugoslavian Užice Army Corps. Based on the cited literature and available documents related to the events in Srebrenica from the beginning of 1993, the paper will present a synthesis of the circumstances that preceded the adoption of Resolution 819 in the United Nations Security Council. Relying mainly on the available documentation of UNPROFOR and the United Nations, the aim of this paper is to clarify what the newly appointed safe zone status has essentially brought to this area. Also, the adoption of resolutions related to safe zones was preceded by a series of discussions in the Security Council, with special reference to the question of what these zones should be called. Safe havens, protected zones, demilitarized zones and ultimately safe areas, were some of the proposals and, each of the above terms implied substantial differences in the status of these areas. In this paper, we will try to explain the essential differences between all these names, and finally, offer explanations why the Security Council opted for this name - safe areas. The paper will analyze the main shortcomings of the mentioned resolutions and other documents of the Security Council, ambiguities on the demilitarization of Srebrenica and Žepa, insufficient presence of UN forces, as well as ambiguity of UNPROFOR’s mandate in this area.
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Based on the reference literature, the author observes the perception of the Srebrenica genocide in the domestic and foreign public, concluding that the Srebrenica genocide is a “blood stain on the conscience of humanity”. The author paid special attention to the views of those who deny genocide and glorify war crimes and promote the ideology of hatred. In Serbia, RS and in the international community there are political actors at all levels of state and government as well as in the academia, journalism and all other institutions who are turned in sharing revisionistic narratives about genocide in Srebrenica. Despite the campaign of denial of genocide in Srebrenica which appears in different forms with an aim to revise history and to remove the indisputable facts those efforts mostly stayed without success. Evidences, expert reports, primary sources of varying provenance support the verdicts of the International tribunal for former Yugoslavia and International residual mechanism for criminal courts in Den Hague. Based on these evidences which were thoroughly verified ICTY, Mechanism and International Court of Justice in the Hague confirmed undoubtedly that genocide was committed in Srebrenica in July 1995. The 25th anniversary of genocide in Srebrenica is still performed in the shadow of political games and on the diplomatic stage of international community.
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