Turkey’s foreign policy behavior in a given period can be understood by examining the ruling party and domestic relations, the interests and composition of the governing coalition and prevalent international dynamics. The aim of the article is to show, that paradigmatic shifts in foreign policy and the drivers of Turkey’s quest for autonomous policy space can be understood as an outcome of interrelated transformations at global, regional and domestic levels. After 2010, Turkish foreign policy was marked by a period of „autonomization”, in which the ruling party decided to fill the geopolitical vacuum created in the region after the failure of negotiations with the European Union in the gradual withdrawal of the United States from the local diplomatic chessboard.

In 2002, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) took power in Türkiye and continued political, economic and legal reforms aimed at bringing the state closer to the standards and values of the European Union. Finally, in 2005, Türkiye managed to open accession negotiations, but without any guarantee of future membership. Over time, however, the original promises of reform gave way to increasingly serious violations of freedom of expression and human rights. With the slowdown of democratic changes and the increase in the authoritarian actions of the Turkish authorities, a deadlock in relations with the EU has become noticeable.

Football is an important tool of reproduction of Turkish national identity. The possibility of using sports in the nation‑building process was recognized by the Kemalists. In their view, the role of sport was to modernise Turkish society along the lines of European countries. Nowadays Turkish football is an integral part of the European competition system. On the one hand, the Turkish national team has become a showcase for the country – an element of creating a positive image. On the other hand, it is an institution around which the creation and recreation of national identity takes place. The identity‑forming impact of Turkish football extends beyond Turkey’s borders. Turkish football is of interest to the diaspora, who use it to manifest ethnicity. Football is part of the fundamental dilemma of Turkish identity. In the context of the games, the „Europeanness” or „Easternness” of the Turks is considered.

After the Justice and Development Party (Turkish Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) came to power in Turkey in 2002, Turkish external activity was remodeled. Since then, the deepening of Turkish‑Palestinian relations could also be observed. This change is related to the new doctrine of foreign policy as well as to the conditions of Ankara’s regional policy, which competes with other players for the role of a regional power. The intensity of actions towards Palestine is also influenced by tensions between Turkey and Israel, which are characterized by varying intensity. Despite the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2016, the Republic has not abandoned its pro‑Palestinian stance. The purpose of this text is to analyze Turkish‑Palestinian relations in terms of the main principles determining Ankara’s external activity. Due to subjective disproportionality, it should be noted that Turkey, from the position of a regional player, is taking steps towards Palestine, which has lots of limitations when it comes to political steps. The areas of activity betwen Turkey and Palestine concerns issues such as humanitarian aid, cultural heritage, identity and historical ties, and trade. In its relations with Palestine, Ankara uses institutional soft power tools, which may also serve Turkish strategic aims. In the first part of the article, the main principles and mechanisms of Ankara’s foreign policy was presented together with the strategy that determines the directions of external activity. These principles are the basis for discussing the nature of political relations between the two sides as well as for analyzing economic relations, humanitarian aid and cooperation in the field of culture.

This paper aims at analyzing the evolution of the electoral strategies of the main oppositional political parties to the Justice and Development Party, which has been in power since 2002. Assuming that due to the increasing autocratization of Turkey’s political system, the opposition’s options for action remain limited, and any eventual victory depends on the ability to form electoral coalitions, the paper will trace the political path taken by the AKP itself and the political parties opposed to it until the elections in 2023. At the same time, the question will be asked about the reasons for the defeat of the opposition parties in 2023. The basic assumption here is that the internally diversified National Alliance failed to construct a comprehensive programmatic offer capable of attracting voters of the ruling party on a massive scale and at the same time it failed to deliver a sufficiently satisfactory offer to its own electorate.

The presented publication analyses two interrelated trends in international relations on the example of Belarus. The first trend is the crisis of international legitimacy of the authoritarian regime that blatantly rigged the 2020 presidential election and violently suppressed mass peaceful protests against the lawlessness of the authorities. The second is the aspiration of the democratic forces, led by President‑elect Svetlana Tikhanouskaya, to become a fully‑fledged representative of the Belarusian people in the external arena.

While in the first months after the rigged elections the Belarusian issue was present in the centre of world politics, the attention paid to the situation in and around Belarus decreased as protest activity inside the country decreased. This became particularly evident after Russia launched a large‑scale aggression against Ukraine, which was morally and materially supported by the dictatorship in Minsk.

The reduced attention of international actors on the eastern European country did not stop the active activities of Democratic Belarus. The main support of the opposition forces became the Belarusian emigration, which after the events of 2020 took on a mass character. Its main centres are concentrated in Lithuania and Poland. The main opposition structures are also active there.

Over the past three years, specific formats for the international activities of Democratic Belarus have taken shape, including the creation of foreign representations of the Joint Transitional Cabinet in other countries, support for the activities of so‑called people’s embassies and the accreditation of foreign diplomatic representatives to the Cabinet. Among the obvious diplomatic successes of the Office of Svetlana Tikhanouskaya and the Transitional Cabinet is the creation of the following in September 2022. Council of Europe Contact Group on Cooperation with Belarusian Democratic Forces and Civil Society, and the subsequent adoption by the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly of a resolution on support for Belarusians in exile.

The article examines changes in the foreign policy of Kazakhstan during the transition period of the transfer of power from N. Nazarbayev to K. Tokayev. When analyzing the changes, internal and external factors of foreign policy were identified, relations with priority partners such as: China, Russia, the USA and the countries of Central Asia were characterized; changes in the perception of their foreign policy through the analysis of conceptual documents. The most important internal factors were identified: covid-19, protests in 2022, changes in the institutional design of the political system. The following determining external factors were identified: Russia’s war in Ukraine, sanctions against Kazakhstan’s allies (Russia and Belarus), competition between big actors. In conclusion, conclusions were drawn that the role of China in the foreign policy of Kazakhstan is playing an increasingly stabilizing role, in contrast to Russia and the United States, whose rivalry represents a risk factor.

This study was conducted between October 2022 and January 2023, aiming to elucidate and highlight changes in the political perceptions, concerns, assessments, and aspirations of Armenia’s youth. The main objectives of the study were to discover the concerns of Armenia’s youth regarding the expansion of the war in Ukraine, to find out the potential effects of the Russian‑Ukrainian conflict and the war in Ukraine on the region of South Caucasus, and on Armenia’s security, and to assess the changes that the war has brought about in the lives of Armenia’s youth and society. Armenia’s youth holds two distinct perspectives on the Russian‑Ukrainian conflict. The first group perceives the conflict primarily as a geographical issue, representing another historical phase of global division and a struggle for dominance among superpowers and alliances. This viewpoint considers certain post‑Soviet countries, including Ukraine and Armenia, and some Arab nations like Syria, to be undergoing a modern geographic transformation. In this context, the 2020 Karabakh War has also been viewed. Russia, the West (NATO, EU, USA), and Turkey compete to exert influence over these countries. From this standpoint, the war in Ukraine is viewed as a battleground, showcasing the broader Russia‑West conflict. Conversely, the second group attributes the Russian‑Ukrainian conflict and war to the personal qualities, aspirations, approaches, and issues of the leaders of Russia and Ukraine.

Despite a possible commonality of interests in several spheres (counter‑terrorism, cyber‑security, maritime piracy, confidence‑building and security issues), there are many indications that there will be no fundamental rapprochement between China and the North Atlantic Alliance in the near future. Potential cooperation is blocked mainly by the politics of China, which sees NATO as a tool for the expansion of the United States and its hegemony both in the transatlantic region and beyond. Despite the efforts of several NATO members to initiate dialogue and even cooperation with China in the area of declared common interests (the operation in Afghanistan), these efforts ultimately failed, and since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine the distance between the potential partners has widened even further. In the near term, the state of relations between China and NATO will be mainly a product of the attitude of the United States toward China, and these have entered a phase of fierce rivalry since the Trump era, as well as China’s expressed views on the US’ instrumental use of the North Atlantic Pact to achieve its own goals in security policy.

The dynamically changing international situation requires international relations actors to be ready to constantly change and adapt their strategies. This article aims to look at the relationship of the People’s Republic of China with the North Atlantic Alliance, taking into account the implications of a full‑scale Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2022. NATO is increasingly actively pursuing its Strategic Concept, with the primary focus now on ensuring the security of allies within the treaty area. One of the different – but extremely important – challenges for the Alliance is the PRC, which is systematically pursuing its policy objectives, building its international position, and taking advantage of the opportunities presented by the Russian‑Ukrainian conflict. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether NATO’s response to current challenges and its capacity for an Allied response can affect the security strategies of both NATO and the PRC. The first part of the paper examines the theoretical approaches of Chinese scholars to the policy of non‑alignment (nonalignment). This will be followed by an analysis of the approach of NATO member states to the challenge posed by the PRC, as well as the significance of the existence and functioning of the alliance from Beijing’s point of view. Before pointing out conclusions, the author will highlight the impact of Russia‑PRC relations in the face of the ongoing war, as well as confront already existing ideas about potential cooperation or coexistence between NATO and the PRC in the region. It will conclude with conclusions on NATO’s actions and policy evolution, along with general recommendations, taking into account the most important challenges.

This article describes the possible course of the battle of Taiwan. The paper presents the Chinese policy towards Taiwan, conclusions drawn from the war games conducted by the Pentagon, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and civilian think tanks, the military potential of both sides, and the battle scenario. During the actual research, studies and articles published in Forbes, Business Insider, Taiwan News, Lowy Institute, War on the Rocks, NBC News, China Power, Military Times, Reuters, and Daily Guardian, along with reports of think tanks such as the Atlantic Council and RAND, reports of the US Congress, and reports of Military Ballance were used. The Chinese Invasion Threat: Taiwan’s Defense and American Strategy in Asia, a book written by Ian Easton, turned out to be a particularly useful source of knowledge. According to the author of this article, a „forceful solution” for the Taiwanese issue by Beijing is possible in the future and the Western world should seriously analyze its possible course. This is evidenced by numerous statements of Chinese politicians, the desire to change the current global balance of power, the continuous growth of China’s economic power, the expansion of the PLA’s power projection capabilities in terms of an invasion of the „rogue province”, and regular war games and violations of the Taiwanese air defense identification zone. If there was a battle of Taiwan, from the point of view of the People’s Republic of China, it would be crucial to isolate the island, to quickly eliminate the enemy’s anti‑aircraft and anti‑missile defenses by means of missile and cyberattacks, to paralyze the command system, to gain air superiority, and then to land on the beaches from which operations would be then carried out inland. From the point of view of the Taiwan Armed Forces, the most important thing would be to survive the first days of massive air and missile attacks, to disperse their forces, and then to attack the enemy by exploring its weaknesses, i.e., shooting down selected planes and helicopters, sinking ships in the Taiwan Strait, interrupting supply lines, and then inflicting as much damage as possible during the ground combat.

The People’s Republic of China’s political and military involvement in East Asia has increased in recent years, and tensions on the Korean Peninsula have affected China’s security. This article examines China’s security strategy in the region with a focus on the Korean Peninsula. It focuses on contemporary threats to China’s national security that may come from the Korean Peninsula. It aims to analyze three major issues that threaten Chinese security: North Korea’s nuclear program, the U.S. presence on the Korean Peninsula, and tensions in inter‑Korean relations. All of these threats are intertwined and implicate each other.

There are many indications that China’s unquestionable successes in expanding its own reserve of economic and military power have simultaneously awakened the national pride and ambitions of the Chinese people. This, however, has led to an awareness of China’s limited ability to shape the international environment and to pursue its own interests in the international arena. As a result, the Chinese have adopted a revisionist policy with the aim of finally undermining the existing global order – after all, the ultimate goal is to achieve the position of hegemon (with all the benefits and responsibilities that implies). It should be noted, however, that a change of hegemon can only occur through a hegemonic war – which will result in the emergence of a new prestige hierarchy with a pretender as the new world leader. To prepare for a hegemonic clash, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is constantly expanding its economic and military influence (both internally and externally). Above all, China is trying to attract other dissatisfied states into its own coalition, forming the so‑called „revisionist coalition”. To do so, the Chinese offer other countries potentially lucrative trade deals, extensive investment, low- or no‑interest loans and development assistance. This paper intends to popularize the author’s perspective on hegemonic change within international relations – termed „hegemonic realism” as it best reflects the assumptions of the proposed theory. These theoretical assumptions and the author’s model of hegemonic change will be used in the rest of the article to analyze the dynamics of the relations between selected revisionist states and China as a contender for global hegemony. The author’s thesis is that states join the revisionist coalition in order to increase their own military and economic power. The case study will focus on China’s relations with Russia, Pakistan and Iran – all of which are seen by the author as key allies of the PRC on the Asian continent – due to their resources of power and revisionist policies. The study used secondary research sources, including academic publications and journalistic articles in Polish and English. Three methods were used in the research process: comparative analysis, historical‑critical method and desk research method.

The article is devoted to the issue of the classical Chinese view of diplomacy. Their consequence was the creation of the tributary system. The tributary system was developed during the Ming dynasty. The legacy of the tributary system influences China’s foreign policy today.

The article is divided into two parts. In the first part, the author discusses the functioning of the tribute system. It describes the stages of its formation and the imperial institutions responsible for the empire’s foreign policy. In the second part, the author analyzes the influence of old traditions on the foreign policy of the PRC after 1978. He describes the issue of Sinocentrism that still influences the Chinese view of the world. The author described China’s influence in selected Asian countries. It also talks about the most important Chinese initiatives in the international arena.

Contemporary China is perceived as a country that has effectively remodeled its economic system. It may seem that optimized control mechanisms over the economy effectively eliminate any possibility of abuse, including those of a financial nature. Nevertheless, the introduced facilitations for foreign capital transfers also resulted in an increase in the scale of money laundering, defined as the illegal process of making large amounts of money generated by criminal activity appear to have come from a legitimate source. Since the beginning of the 21st century, China has made intensive efforts to implement financial crime prevention mechanisms and has tried to introduce tools functioning in this area in high developed countries. The article attempts to analyze the anti‑money laundering policy applied in the People’s Republic of China. The genesis, assumptions and goals of the reforms are presented. There is also an assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of the implemented solutions.

This article explores the issue of demographic policy in People’s Republic of China in the context of social security. The article attempts to assess the impact of the demographic problems of the PRC on the social security of its citizens. The analysis is intended to answer the questions: whether and how reforms related to China’s demographic policies have affected the level of social security in the country.

In recent years, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has pursued an increasingly active climate and energy policy at both the national and international level. The increased interest in environmental issues is reflected in the declarations that have been made and the investments that have been undertaken. The Chinese government is aware that the fight against climate change is crucial to ensure the security and well‑being of society. In this article, the author will present the measures taken by the PRC and indicate their impact on shaping security in the country.

Due to the largest number of Orthodox parishes in Ukraine compared to the post‑Soviet countries, Russia strives to maintain its influence there by all means through the functioning of the UOC MP, and religious conflicts have become an inseparable element of Ukrainian reality. There is a long‑term conflict between the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and the supporters of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate. Due to the propaganda of hatred against the UOC PK, and later KPU, parishioners of the UOC PM name people who attend masses in KPU dissenters and „strays”, and the church itself – non‑canonical, even after obtaining the tomos in 2019. On the other hand, supporters of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine nominate the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate as an instrument of Russia’s propaganda policy. The Russo‑Ukrainian war reopened discussions about the status of the UOC PM in Ukraine.

The aim of the article is to expand knowledge about regional minorities in the Russian Federation. The subject of interest will be the characteristics of Cossacks, Pomors and Siberians as a potential threat to state security. The work will discuss models of taming these minorities, which should be understood as forcing them to obey, a type of active ethnic policy, as a result of which the sense of distinctiveness is limited to the cultural dimension, omitting the socio‑political aspect. Models of taming through division, taming through securitization and taming through identity disruption have been distinguished.

Terrorist organizations based on the ideology of Islamic fundamentalism are increasingly involved in various criminal activities in order to generate income for their own functioning and continuation of terrorist activity. These include: money laundering, human trafficking, drug and arms smuggling, cybercrime, illegal tax systems, extortion, robbery, trade in cultural monuments etc. Al‑Qaeda and the Islamic State are the most prominent examples of Islamist terrorist groups with extremely extensive and diverse financial systems. The aim of the article is to analyze the process of financing fundamentalist terrorist organizations of Al‑Qaeda and the Islamic State from the sources coming from organized crime. The study also attempts to describe and analyze financing of terrorist activities, its classification, as well as sources of financing of Al‑Qaeda and ISIS, with particular emphasis on criminal proceeds and their comparison in terms of similarities and differences.

The Middle East region has played an important geopolitical and geoeconomic role throughout human history. This was due to its geographic location, which made it a kind of „bridge” in trade connecting Europe with Asia and Africa. Nowadays, one of the key aspects is the significant oil deposits located in these areas, as well as the converging geopolitical interests of regional and global powers. This has led to the region becoming one of the key geopolitical and geo-economic areas in modern international politics. Historically, the region has been dominated by states with authoritarian or monarchical regimes. In late 2010 and early 2011, however, there were mass uprisings in a number of countries in the region seeking to improve the political and socioeconomic situation of the societies living there, and the uprisings were later dubbed the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring changed the political landscape of the region, which especially affected the regimes in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen. The Arab transition has had a number of political, socioeconomic and geostrategic effects. The situation in individual countries is inextricably linked to regional and global politics. Geopolitical and geo-economic factors and conditions are key, taking into account the roles of global and local players, i.e. the United States, China, Russia, Turkey, Israel, Iran or Saudi Arabia. The Arab Spring intensified the geopolitical rivalry and spread it to Syria. The article attempts to characterize the definitions of the concepts of geopolitics and geo-economics. The main objective was to present the changes in geopolitical and geo-economic conditions in the Middle East region after the events of the Arab Spring of 2011.

The main objective of the article is to examine the Arab revolutions in the early 2010s in a context of establishing democracy, in order to determine what lessons can be learned from the experiences. It starts with an overview of the revolutionary movement – the Arab Spring, that swelled across the MENA region, overthrowing some long-standing authoritarian regimes. Next, it analyzes the uprisings to indicate political, economic and social successes and failures in parts of the region. Finally, in the summary of the study, based on the conducted examination, the author discusses the results of the analysis and explains why these findings are important and thought-provoking.

The revolution in the Arab world, the wave of attempts by individuals to establish genuine democracy that began between 2010 and 2011 in one of the most sensitive regions of the world, the Middle East, and North Africa (MENA), challenged some of the region’s entrenched autocratic political structures. The region is warming twice as fast as the global average due to the effects of climate change. Yields are expected to decline, and food production is expected to be disrupted in many areas, increasing food prices and market volatility. Limited efforts by governments to address this had increased the likelihood of political instability in previous years.

This study thus attempts to establish a real and logical connection between the Arab Spring and the effects of climate change. The Arab Spring has shown that political instability is partly triggered by people’s basic needs for materials such as food and water. Climate change could therefore be a trigger for this meta-event. This study addresses this issue using the method of event extraction. This paper argues that climate change and its impact on the lives of people in the region allow for a reasonable claim that this phenomenon is related to the Arab Spring, as it is primarily due to food and water stress.

This text was inspired by the events of the Arab Spring, a wave of activation of the societies of North African countries and some countries in the Middle East region to carry out pro-democratic reforms, and improve the economic situation. The comparative analysis in this article focuses on two countries in the Persian Gulf subregion, namely Bahrain and Yemen. The internal situation in both countries translates into security dynamics throughout the region, which is why these countries are of interest to Iran and Saudi Arabia, both of which are in competition with each other to gain the greatest possible influence throughout the region. The comparative analysis is based on three factors: political, social and economic. These aspects had a huge impact on the events that occurred in 2011 in these countries. The analysis on events in individual countries focused mainly on countries in the Maghreb region, or at least Syria. The trials that took place in Bahrain and Yemen did not receive as much attention as events in other countries. Undoubtedly, regional actors had a keen interest in the events taking place in these countries, which also translated into their involvement in the events under discussion. A comparison of the Arab Spring in Bahrain and Yemen can be helpful in the process of identifying certain structural problems in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.

The Arab Spring was an important phenomenon in the history of the Middle East. The events that took place at the time, changed the situation in the region. This article is an attempt to analyse the impact of the Arab revolutions on Israel’s security. The subject of analysis is an assessment of the events that took place in the countries of the region: Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. The author will also write about the actions of Hezbollah and the Palestinians. All of this is intended to answer the questions of whether, to what extent and why Israel’s security has changed as a result of the phenomena initiated by the Arab Spring.

The aim of the article is to analyze the causes and origins of the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border and the actions of the EU aimed at solving it, as well as to determine the significance of the crisis for the EU immigration and asylum policy. The main research hypothesis is the assumption that the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border has shown the problems and weaknesses of the EU in the development of immigration and asylum policy, the most important of which is the lack of instruments to quickly respond to the actions of third countries instrumentally using migrants.

Non-governmental organisations, in the face of crises, play a key role, and their activities result in saving people’s lives and health, alleviating suffering and caring for their dignity and rights. This study identifies the legal conditions for the provision of humanitarian aid, and describes the actions taken by selected NGOs in the context of the Polish-Belarusian border crisis (2021-2022). Non-governmental organisations have offered material, legal or informational support (forms of aid that most often occur in the face of crises such as war). However, the crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border has its own specificity. The activities of the organisations and the state authorities were not linked, which was largely due to a different interpretation, including legal, of the situation.

Ukraine and Belarus were linked by a common history, similar culture, language and border. It seemed that these countries were difficult to divide, and despite Alexander Lukashenko’s authoritarian rule, friendly relations would last for years. However, the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine in February 2022, including the attack from the territory of Belarus, clearly destroyed – it seemed – the deep cooperation that had been built for over 30 years. In the article, the author will try to answer how this huge shift in bilateral relations took place, and whether the opposite actions are possible in the future.

The crisis on the European Union’s eastern border was probably one of the possible key security threats in Central and Eastern Europe in 2021. In the face of the deteriorating situation on the Polish-Belarusian border, the idea of engaging the People’s Republic of China as a mediator became relatively popular in Poland – as evidenced by numerous articles on leading Internet portals (such as Money.pl, Onet.pl or Rp.pl) and the increased interest in this topic in social media (observed by the author in discussions on Twitter in particular). At its core was the belief that the two countries represent an important place in China’s economic policy – with a particular emphasis on their transit role within the New Silk Road. This article is intended as an attempt to answer to what extent this concept may have come to fruition, and how much do Minsk and Warsaw really mean to China?

The main goal in this article is to explore the causes and nature of economic migration from the Republic of Moldova. The conceptual and analytical frame­work is based on the widening and deepening of meanings of security, as part of the transition from traditional, Cold War, state-centric understanding of security to the multisectorial approaches of security. Two relevant sectors of security are selected in this study, namely economic security and societal security, because they provide in-depth understanding of economic migration from Gagauzia and Transnistria. The methodology is based on interviews taken with migrant work­ers from the two regions and on interpretation and analysis of research findings. Before discussing the findings, we documented migration experiences of migrant workers who belong to different ethnic groups, tracing their pre-migration situ­ations and post-migration life. Also, we documented how their economic aspira­tions and ethnic identity shaped their migration intentions and perceptions of different countries of destination.

The article addresses the cultural security of ethnic and national minorities by analysing the example of the Turkish minority in Bulgaria. It is the most signifi¬cant minority in the country, present there for several centuries. Moreover, the Turks, alongside the Pomaks and some Roma, constitute part of Bulgaria’s most considerable religious minority – the Muslims. The preservation of their identity and the protection and development of their cultural heritage, i.e. the fundamental elements of cultural security, are conditioned by many exogenous and endogenous determinants. The most important ones include the policies of the state of residence and the home state, demographic factors, the nature of the settlement, and economic factors, among others. On the other hand, one can distinguish the preservation of the Turkish language, the protection of material cultural heritage, and the possibility of intergenerational cultural transmission among the challenges of cultural security for Turks in Bulgaria. The main research problem is to situate the cultural security of the Turkish minority in the broader context of the socio-political and economic changes occurring in Bulgaria. In the theoretical part, the cultural security of ethnic and national minorities is defined, and then the concept of cultural genocide and securitization of ethnic and national minorities were introduced as selected threats to cultural security. The next part presents the policy of the communist authorities towards the Turkish minority, the negative consequences of which are still noticeable today. It is followed by the outlined contemporary situation of the Turkish minority after 1989 in the context of the possibility of preserving and developing its culture and cultural identity. The considerations conclude with a detailed analysis of selected problems of cultural security of the Turkish community, which limit the opportunities for the Turks to use their undoubted advantages in maintaining their cultural security – the number of people, territorial concentration, a strong sense of identity, geographical proximity to Turkey. Therefore, the Turkish minority faces the necessity to take measures to strengthen these assets and eliminate the factors adversely affecting its cultural security level.

Radicalism and extremism are concepts that are closely intertwined in the formation of state security policy. They are invoked both in the area of national and local policies. It seems necessary to refer to the definitional sphere of the aforementioned concepts, which often seem to be abused and freely interpreted. Although in most countries there is no legal definition of radicalism and/or extremism, there are instead many government programs relating to countering these phenomena, since both are linked to a specific form of political violence, i.e. terrorism. The results of terminological and conceptual analyses of the definitions of extremism and radicalism indicate a consistent search by researchers for a common interpretive denominator to concretize the aforementioned phenomena in terms of the broader social sciences (including security sciences).

The article aims to indicate the lack of transparency in the definition of phenomena/processes in the area of conceptualization of issues related to radicalism and extremism, and attempts to organize them. The context of consideration is the events related to the radicalization of a group of young Muslims from Delft (the Netherlands), whose members undergoing the process of radicalization were recruited to Syria.

Immigrants from the former Soviet Union came to Israel under various circumstances motivated by political, economic, social and security factors. Their greatest number came to the Jewish State in migration wave of the 1970s and, above all, the „great Russian Aliyah” of the 1990s. Next numerous groups emigrated in 2000-2009 and 2014-2019. Also the number of Ukrainian Jews coming to Israel increasing due to the open Russian aggression in Ukraine. Expatriots from the former Soviet republics are another component of Israeli multiculturalism. A peculiar community among the Russian-speaking newcomers are the post-Soviet oligarchs, businessmen and billionaires, who have an influence on the socio-political life of the country, especially in the institutional sphere. Worth noting thing is the current tendency to combine Soviet and Jewish elements in the field of historical policy and to supplementing the Israeli historiography of the Second World War with Soviet components. The main objective of this article will be to analyze the role and importance of the Russian-speaking Jewish community in Israel. The text will be an attempt to answer the question to what extent and on what spheres the merge of two communities – local Israeli and immigrant can be observed.

Today, we see crimes against humanity in the 21st century in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region within the borders of China. Human rights violations experienced by Uyghurs living in the aforementioned geography for centuries are not a new development, but they remain up-to-date. The state’s approach to the Uyghur people has evolved into a new dimension with the camps, which are described as vocational training centers by the state and also known as political re-education camps and internment camps in the literature. These camps, which are part of the state’s security policies, have inevitably been the subject of many research, especially in the context of human rights violations. This article explores how political re-education camps, unlike others, are represented in some Western media sources and in the Chinese media, using the method of critical discourse analysis. The analysis revealed that the camps have been a part of a panopticon-like society and places where the lives of Uyghurs are surveilled from every angle, and both violation of rights and political indoctrination have been experienced. However, these places have been portrayed by the Chinese media as places where minorities have been rendered safe, enabling stability, security and development.

The article deals with polish public policy issue towards the Roma community living in Poland on the example of Lubusz voivodeship. It presents the most important effects and effects of the policy towards the Roma community in Poland in recent years. The authors characterized the genesis of the creation as well as the main guidelines of government programs for the Roma community in Poland and its impact on the life of this minority group, social and civic integration in the context of the security of this group and local security on the example of Lubusz voivodeship. An extremely valuable element of the article is to present effects of this politic in recent years from the perspective of the Roma community in Lubusz voivodeship, in particular what has been done for its so far and what gives it such a program, how it contributes to the improvement of life the Roma community in this part of the country.

The article was devoted to the power corporation, the registered Cossack organizations, inspired by one of the subethnos of the Russian nation. The aim of the study was to show their place in the national security system of the Russian Federation. A hypothesis was put forward and positively verified that registry Cossacks constitute an important element complementing the ineffective system. The attention was focused on the military security system and the security and public order system, although the problem was also shown in the context of other subsystems of the Russian national security system.

The aim of the article is to define and characterize the key premises proving that the implications of the Polish-Lithuanian dispute in 1919-1922 adversely affected the security of the reborn Polish state. The analysis was based on archival material collected in the Archives of the Józef Piłsudski Institute in America, as well as on the available literature.

It was accepted that the escalation and continuation of the Polish-Lithuanian dispute had a negative impact on the security of the Polish state in the years 1919-1922. It adversely affected the position of the Polish state in various security areas.

The arguments presented allow us to state that the Polish-Lithuanian conflict in 1919-1922 affected various security areas of the Second Polish Republic. It has adversely affected both the internal security and external security of the state. It concerned military threats in connection with the activities of the Lithuanian army and temporarily organized partisan units as well as boiled down to numerous non-military threats.

The subject of the research is the main directions of Polish historians’ study of the results of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact on 23 VIII 1939 in the geopolitical collapse of Poland in September 1939. In the last thirty years, research has been conducted in the following areas: study and analysis of printed sources (articles of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, additional protocols and comments to them); study of memoirs of Polish diplomats as a useful source for analyzing the foreign policy concept of diplomacy of the II Rzeczpospolita the prewar political crisis; analysis of the international situation of Poland and Polish-Soviet-German relations in August 1939; analysis of the attitude of the French and British governments to the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact and its impact on the fate of Poland (assessment of the Polish-English declaration of non-aggression of 25 VIII 1939); international legal and political assessment of the diplomatic activities of Foreign Minister J. Beck in August 1939.

The purpose of the paper is to show the most important dimensions which shaped the German-Ukrainian relations in the year 1991 and and the rest of the 90s. Nature of these relationships remained asymmetric. There is no doubt that good relations with Russia were a priority for Germany in the 1990s compared to the former Soviet republics. The reasons for this can be found in many factors: political, economic and historical. The German-Ukrainian relations were strongly determined the German-Russian relations which were the main point of reference for Berlin’s eastern policy.

The presented publication provides a brief analysis of the development of Belarus after the gaining of state sovereignty. After the final collapse of the USSR (XII 1991), Belarus had the opportunity to independently shape its domestic and foreign policy. The young state, having received rapid international recognition, began to put into practice the division of branches of government, to involve active citizens in a discussion about the prospects for the the country.

The author tries to find out the reasons for the transformation of Belarus from a parliamentary republic to an authoritarian state that began after the first presidential elections (VII 1994). It is argued that this transition at the initial stage enjoyed the support of the majority of the population, who, in conditions of low political culture, associated the socio-economic difficulties of the transition stage with democratic transformations. The establishment of a personal dictatorship in Belarus has led to the gradual degradation of the main state structures.

The researcher sees the main reason for the desire of many Belarusians to return to the Soviet order in the incompleteness of the Belarusian nation-building, in the split of society into several identity groups, in the absence of a collective strategy for finding answers to the challenges of the time.

The article emphasizes the thesis that the Russian leadership played a negative role in the development of Belarus, which in practice did not recognize the independence of the post-Soviet state, denied the uniqueness of the Belarusian language, culture and historical narratives. Lukashenko’s pro-Soviet and pro-Russian views were supported by the Kremlin, which, under the guise of various support, sought to establish control over the Belarusian regime. In February 2022, Moscow used the territory of Belarus to invade Ukraine, greatly questioning the sovereignty of the neighboring country.

Mass protests in Belarus against the gross falsification of the presidential elections (VIII 2020) demonstrated that the Belarusian society rejects the authoritarian regime, its domestic and foreign policy. The regime, in its actions to get out of the deep crisis, placed the main emphasis on brutal repression against dissent. This makes the future of the Belarusian state poorly predictable, makes it dependent on many internal and external circumstances.

The article contains theoretical considerations on the scope of meaning of the notion of energy security, energy transformation and the power sector. The author describes the main goals of the European Union’s climate and energy policy as the main factor influencing Poland’s energy policy. The article also defines the horizontal goals of the energy transformation described in the strategic document Poland’s Energy Policy until 2040.

This paper was inspired by the conference entitled „Three Seas Initiative‑a roadmap for Ukraine”, which took place on 27 VII 2021 at the headquarters of the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center in Kyiv. This article aims to present the projects proposed by the Ukrainian side at the mentioned conference and compare them with the currently ongoing Three Seas Initiative (3SI) priorities involving Ukraine. Representatives of the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure proposed a list of six key projects for Ukraine: the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline, the North‑South gas corridor, the Black Sea Motorway, FAIRway –a project to regulate navigation on the Danube river, Digital Via Carpatia and Digital Platform for Hydrographic Database Monitoring in the 3SI region. In Ukraine, the co‑implemented projects include diversification of gas supply sources and integration of gas infrastructure in the 3SI region, Transport Exchange in the 3SI region, construction of the second railway track between Koper (Slovenia) and Divača (Croatia) hubs, Digital Platform for Hydrographic Database Monitoring in the 3SI region, and Via Carpatia. The comparative analysis of the listed groups of projects presents an attempt to answer the question: What is the actual participation of the Ukrainian government in 3SI projects? Is involvement in 3SI projects financed from EU funds a real chance for the Europeanisation of Ukraine or is it just a way to build its gas, road or digital infrastructure?

The article examines the conflict over the idea UN peacekeeping mission in eastern Ukraine between Ukraine and Russian Federation. The analysis of the conflict is based on a critical approach to the official narratives which is containing references to the UN peacekeepers in 2015‑2021. It was established that the first time the idea UN peacekeeping mission appeared in the Ukrainian political discourse immediately after the signing of the second part of the Minsk agreements (Minsk‑2). It found itself in the center of international discourse after Russian President V. Putin initiated the submission of the draft resolution to the UN Security Council. The Russian approach to the peacekeeping mission was formulated in a strict connection with the implementation of the Minsk agreements and did not allow their interpretation. Generally, the Russians’ Federation („defensive concept”) and Ukraines’ („broad mandate”) approaches are developing and adapting the concept of modern peacekeeping to the interests of the conflict parties. Russian‑Ukrainian narratives are the basis for an in‑depth understanding of the conflict nature and possible ways to resolving. The using of propaganda tools to promote multidirectional approaches to UN peacekeepers has taken the conflict to a higher level. The analysis of the communications the peacekeeping mission includes negotiation formats which the issue was discussed. Such negotiating platforms were the Normandy format, the Munich Security Conference, the UN General Assembly, the Surkov‑Volker track etc. The UN Security Council did not become an additional channel of communication, because it was not possible to coordinate and bring together the Ukraine’s position and the Russians’ Federation ones. Attempts to agree on a peacekeeping mission within the framework of the implementation of the Minsk agreements created a negotiation deadlock and the exclusion of this item from the agenda of international negotiations. The article focuses on the factor of formation the public support for the scenario of conflict settlement which is based on the UN. The issue was investigated on opinion polls and an arbitrary selection of plots, which are formed the evidence base for assessing the influence the civil society in decision‑making in Ukraine. At the same time, it shows the humanitarian aspects that would have the potential to influence the conflict settlement processes in Donbass.

Given text represents an attempt to show propagandistic approach and relevant activities from Russian Federation towards Georgia before the conflict in August 2008 and afterwards. On the other hand, after the August 2008, the actions turned into a mode of information warfare, which became a growing tendency to influence Georgia’s information space.

The Czech Republic is one of those European countries where direct democratic instruments, such as referendums, are rarely resorted to at the state level. Only the country’s accession to the European Union (2003) was decided in this way in the Czech Republic.

On the local level, on the other hand, the Czech experience with referendums is rich. Between 2006 and 2021, more than 300 referendums were held, an average of more than 20 per year. The issues dealt with in these referendums included infrastructure issues, the location of wind power plants or the storage of radioactive waste.

The future of the use of referendums more widely than before in the Czech political system will depend, among other things, on the outcome of the parliamentary elections to be held in the autumn of 2021. The Czech Pirate Party, which has a significant chance of winning this election, is in favour of using this type of voting far more often than before.

The location of national minorities in the territory of the Slovak Republic is regulated by numerous national acts, the most important of which are the constitution, the law on the use of national minority languages and the law on the state language. References to national minorities can be found in many other acts, such as the Act on counteracting discrimination, the Act on Upbringing and Education and the Act on Radio and Television. The issue of minorities is also raised in bilateral agreements, an example of which is the agreement on good neighbourliness and friendly cooperation between the Slovak Republic and the Republic of Hungary. The legal situation of minorities in Slovakia is also influenced by international organizations to which Bratislava belongs. In this case, the Council of Europe’s most significant influence, the European Union, the Central European Initiative and the United Nations. Over the years, the Slovak authorities have also created institutions responsible for activities for national minorities, and among them, an important function is performed by the Government Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Republic for National Minorities. This article aims to analyse the legal acts and institutions regulating the legal status of national minorities in Slovakia. The publication is also intended to show that the issue of minorities is covered in many legal solutions, and the Slovak authorities have developed a system of protection and support for this community over the years. The author used the institutional and legal method.

This article refers to an event that caused an avalanche of controversy and disputes, destroying the idyll officially decreed by local politicians in the relations between the two parts of the city divided by the state border – Cieszyn and Česky Těšin. The event was the ceremonial unveiling of a replica of the Czechoslovak boundary post from the period of the First Republic, in the center of Česky Těšin, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the division of Cieszyn Silesia between Czechoslovakia and Poland. The aim of the article is, firstly, to reconstruct the discourse that accompanied this event, and secondly, to analyze the local politics of memory, in which individual narratives and undertaken actions fit in. The article consists of three parts. The first presents the characteristics of Cieszyn as a city divided by a state border. The second describes an event that caused a series of deep controversies in Polish‑Czech relations. The third part analyses the content of the discourse referring to the symbolic meaning of a replica of the Czechoslovak boundary post from the period of the First Republic. It is placed in the center of Česky Těšin to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the border dividing the city into two parts and the establishment of the youngest city of the First Republic – Česky Těšin.

The main research goal was to establish whether the states that emerged as a result of the decomposition of the Yugoslav federation, in the first period after „becoming independent”, were interested in establishing cooperation within joint regional projects. Moreover, which of them showed the greatest activity in this field, and which the least. In this regard, ‘thematic’forms of regional cooperation in the fields of economic and social development, energy and infrastructure, security, judiciary and home affairs, building human resources were taken into account. As the analysis shows, the most popular was the partnership for economic and social development, in which the countries taken into account showed almost equal increased activity, except Slovenia which, as the analysis shows, was least interested in participation in such alliances. This topic is too little discussed especially in the Polish literature on the subject dedicated to hence, in my opinion, there is undoubtedly a need for in‑depth political science in this area, reflection on these issues is of cognitive value both for the discipline of political science and administration, as well as security science. The article was written mainly with the use of a research method appropriate for the discipline of political science and administration – the case study method.

The National Security Strategy is one of the state’s critical documents, which sublimates the knowledge of the security environment, possible forms of endangerment, and the proposed guidelines for ensuring the security of a nation. Dynamic processes in the geopolitical global, and regional environment, globalization of forms and content of possible security breaches, continuous arms race, and the dominant changed hybrid physiognomy of war are dominant vectors of influence on a national security strategy of every nation. In 2019, the Republic of Serbia adopted its recent National Security Strategy. The paper analyzes the declared foreign policy determinants of Serbia’s national security strategies, intending to critically oppose them with current threats to Serbia’s s national security. Based on the comparative method and analysis of current documents, with respecting the political and economic reality, the paper provokes the proposed priorities with possible development trends while respecting internal and external entities’ influence on developing the national security system and state of the Republic of Serbia. The paper critically exploring the declared determinants of foreign policy in Serbia’s national security strategies by means of analysis of current documents and comparative methods.

The end of 2019 brought reports of a new disease emerging in China. At the end of the year, the first SARS‑CoV‑2 infections were recorded in the Hubei province, and in January it began to appear in other regions of the world, including Europe. On 11 III 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new disease as a pandemic.

The coronavirus highlighted the vulnerabilities and imperfections of state systems regardless of latitude and world position. In order to deal with the spreading virus and at the same time to prevent economic and social collapses, states imposed numerous restrictions on citizens. North Macedonia was also in the same situation, and the purpose of this article is to present the situation in the context of government initiatives taken in the period from January 2020 to June 2021.

The broad definition of the national security concept has always been a highly contested subject in Turkey. Yet, the existing studies have not addressed much‑needed focus on the relationship between this obscure definition of the concept and its impact on police‑military relations. To fill this gap, this paper analyzes police‑military relations in Turkey in light of the historical development of the national security concept. In this regard, in this paper it is argued that the imprecise and all‑encompassing use of national security concept remains unchanged in the aftermath of the civilianization process of the 2000s. As the national security concept continues to maintain its extended meaning, the convergence of police‑military roles persists but gets to be reformulated. Yet, under these circumstances, the police appear to be like the great beneficiary of this convergence of roles as the military tutelage regime came to an end and the civilian control of the military has been fully established. 

Jewish settlement is one of the most important elements of the long – term contradictions between Israel and Palestine. Moreover, the legal status of the outposts is problematical. The main objective of this text is analysis the significance of Jewish settlement in the context of the Israeli – Palestinian conflict and to try to answer the question how high in the hierarchy of the State of Israel priorities is the Jewish settlement. In a content of this article there such matters as security wall with its functions and consequences for Palestinians in the context of Jewish settlements, issue of an administration of the West Bank and the case study describes example of the Kfar Etzion and Sheikh Jarrah.

The political transformation that started at the end of the 80s required the newly elected governments of both Central and Eastern Europe to modify and – in some cases – even develop from scratch legal regulations allowing for a proper functioning of such countries in a completely new political reality. By starting with the presentation of the political Trianon discourse in the inter-war and people’s democracy periods, the author is going to analyze the attempts of the very first Hungarian government (led by the Hungarian Democratic Forum between 1990 and 1994) after the political transformation that aimed at regulating the legal status of diaspora living in countries neighboring with Hungary.

Of all losers of the first World War Hungary had been the most penalized. That included the losing of over two third of its territory and nearly as much of its population. Albeit paying lip service to the right of self-determination, the victors delegated 5,5 million people into a minority position (whilst for some this meant no change, yet brought difficulties). It was only 5,2 million about whom it could be claimed on ethnic grounds – in part with reservations – that their fate as that of a community improved.

In the areas annexed by Romania, the socio-economic processes of the wider region prevailed in the studied period. The greatest change took place during Communism’s four decades. The main objective of the centrally managed economy was industrialization, and soon the national-communist leadership aimed at creating a „homogenized society”.

Population growth of four decades after the second World War came to a halt due to mass emigration and decline in birth rate in the early 1990s; the number of population falling by nearly 4 million to date. In proportional terms the loss of the 16,8 million strong Romanians (2011) and the 1,2 million strong Hungarians was near identical during the 2002–2011 period. By 2011, the number of Transylvanian Germans counting 600 000 prior to the second World War had been reduced to 36 000. The number of the half a million strong in 1930 Jews had fallen to a few hundred. At the same time, the number of Romani increased to 621 000. The Hungarian indigenous minority in Transylvania see the survival of their community in the realization of autonomy in Székelyland, and in Northwestern Transylvania.

The „Trianon” is perhaps the most famous historical term in Hungary. 100 years ago, on June 4, 1920, restrictive peace conditions were imposed on Hungary at the Grand Trianon Palace in Versailles. Apart of the loss of territory, 3,5 million Hungarians remained abroad. In Hungarian historical awareness, the Treaty of Trianon is a symbol of catastrophe and national humiliation. The change of „Greater Hungary” into „small” Hungary. To this day, the effects of the treaty have had an impact on Hungary’s politics, economy and culture.

The First World War caused very deep and fundamental changes in Central and Eastern Europe. The biggest loser of the war was the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Kingdom of Hungary as one of its parts was dissolved in the framework of Trianon Peace Treaty. The new Hungary could retain only 28,6% of the former territory and 36,5% of its former population. After 1920 the League of Nations was planned a new collective European security system.

In modern Central Europe there is still no shortage of countries whose mutual relations largely determine historical experience, and more specifically a different interpretation and assessment of events from the past. An excellent example of this is Hungary’s relations with neighboring countries, which are marked by events from the second half of the nineteenth century, i.e. the period when the authorities of the then Kingdom of Hungary conducted intensive Magyarization of national minorities and the first half of the twentieth century, as a result of the provisions of the Trianon Treaty, Budapest lost more than half of its area, and 3,227 million Hungarians were outside the country. The Trianon Treaty, which is still a traumatic memory and an unhealed wound, has a great impact on mutual relations.

This article presents the impact of the Trianon Treaty on Hungarian-Slovak relations. Currently, 460,000 Hungarians live in Slovakia, who found themselves in the Republic as a result of the provisions of the said treaty. Importantly, it is the second-largest Hungarian minority in the Carpathian Sea Basin. In addition, it is a compact community, inhabiting the southern area of the country along the Hungarian border, conducting active political and cultural activities, and remaining in strong relations with their motherland. The abovementioned factors and fears of the Slovaks against the revisionist policy of Budapest in the interwar period and in the early 1990s meant that the topic of Trianon permanently inscribed in mutual relations.

The present article is a summary of a 5-year research on historical peripheries of Hungary between 1910 and 2010. The identification of peripheral zones in Hungary in 1910 – which geographers failed to do up to now – contributed to the assessment of mistargeted regional development planning policies in the last hundred years. On the other hand it also caused debates, because many of the backward areas coincided with regions dominated by ethnic minorities, thus strengthening the opinion of the historians of the successor states that Austria-Hungary oppressed national minorities.

The first part of the article summarizes the opinions, interpretations, misunderstandings emerging from this debate around mapping of inequalities and the implementation of geographical methods in historical research. The second part of the article goes further and – by drawing up the regional differences in 2010 – evaluates the development policies of the successor states, claiming that these were not better, than in historical Hungary; the successor states were driven by the same convictions and pursued similar policies toward zones inhabited by minorities as Hungary did. We show that there were remarkable shifts in the extension of backward zones and the question naturally arises when this process began. Using the census data of the 1930s we try to analyze whether some of these changes observable by 2010 can be traced back to WWII (or were generated only later), and if yes, whether these are direct consequences of the new borders drawn in 1920 or, contrary, it was the former processes during the Hungarian rule that culminated (implying that the first 10 years of the successor states was a failure regarding the integration attempts of the new territories). For this a distric level complex development level map of the region was created by combining 10 variables and the patterns in the 1930s were compared to those in 1910 and in 2010.

It is very difficult to group countries and state structures according to the extent of their decentralization or the model they follow in the spatial distribution of power. The bounds of responsibility of local government and the state, the distribution of the roles and tasks between the two stakeholders and the question of centralization and decentralization are issues regularly debated in recent years and today.

This topic is not merely a public administration, financial or state organization issue since these decisions have a direct impact on citizens’ lives through public services.

In my study I wish to introduce this process via Hungary’s example. I also examine how and what those concerned by the financial and political changes, i.e. the population perceived of this most important structural transformation of the period since the transition in 1989. Can it be verified from the consumers’ point of view that the transformation of the local municipal system improves the quality of service provision?

The article focuses on bilateral relations between the Republic of Belarus and Hungary in the context of their membership in the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union. The author made an attempt to define the model of bilateral cooperation between states limited in their actions by membership in regional associations. The features of the development of political dialogue, which was formed under the influence of the national vision and approaches of the EU as a whole, are analyzed. Special attention is paid to the regional format of relations within the Visegrad Group, CEI and the „Eastern Partnership” initiative. The analysis current state of trade and economic cooperation between Belarus and Hungary is made. The author identifies the strengths and weaknesses of relations, and outlines perspective spheres of cooperation.

The active phase of relations between Belarus and Hungary began in the 2000-s, when the parties finally decided on the vectors of their foreign policy. The launch of the „Eastern Partnership” initiative has played a decisive role in the development of political dialogue and economic cooperation on an ongoing basis. Bilateral relations between Belarus and Hungary are an example for building a model of interaction that is not burdened by a common historical past and based on pragmatism. The fairly active political dialogue between the two countries is based on an economic component. In parallel, the parties actively declare the primacy of national interests over collective ones – the EU and the EAEU. At the same time, the analysis indicates, membership in regional associations significantly limits the possibilities of their implementation in practice. This especially affects the trade and economic sphere of interaction. These factors determine the cyclical nature of relations between Belarus and Hungary. Thus, the bilateral format of cooperation within the framework of asymmetric associations is a sufficiently effective mechanism for the development of a full-fledged dialogue. At the same time, it is important to understand that the political component is secondary to the economic one. This approach allows the parties not to overestimate expectations and to develop mutually beneficial, equal relationships based on pragmatism and real opportunities.

This study analyses the first energy and climate package adopted in 2008 (the so-called „20-20-20” package), setting goals for the European Union and the member states by 2020. Then describes the process of shaping the goals of the energy and climate policy of the European Union until 2030. The author focuses on the aspects that affect the electricity sector in Poland, boost renewable energy usage, re‑form the European energy market and reducing CO2 emissions. The text ends with conclusions and recommendations regarding the impact of the European Union’s energy and climate policy on the electricity sector in Poland.

The article describes issue of security of delivery of energy sources – Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) and oil to Poland by the maritime routes. Poland currently uses one LNG terminal and one major oil import terminal, and further developments – Baltic Pipe pipeline from North Sea and another LNG terminal are planned. Security of those routes depends on various factors from security of terminals, safe passage of tankers and required using multiple elements, including security and law enforcement services, naval forces and air defence systems to provide reliable delivery of oil and LNG in case of peace, crisis and war.

Ukraine is the most important transit state of Russian gas to the European Union. The annexation of Crimea in 2014 caused the military conflict what affects mutual business relations between those two countries until today. It was one of the reasons that made Gazprom start thinking of new gas transition installation omitting Ukraine. The purpose of the study is to show current role of the Ukraine in Russian gas transit to the European Union. The first part of the article describes current situation of the gas sector in Ukraine and historical review of relations with Russia concerning gas trade. The second part shows current ways of Russian gas distribution to the EU and the perspectives connected with new gas pipelines projects – Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream. The third part focuses on giving an answer to the question: weather the Ukraine still is to be the Russian gas transit state in the second decade of the 21st century? The study is based on scientific and press articles as well as on information given at official websites of the following institutions: European Union, government of Ukraine, government of Russia, NGOs from Ukraine, Russia and EU states. The article is also based on discussion that took place in Warsaw at 11th of May 2019 during International Conference Quo Vadis Ukraine held by phd research organization „Ucrainica”.

The Ukrainian gas sector has a long history. Ukraine ranks third in Europe in terms of gas potential. Regardless of such great potential, Ukraine still imports gas. There are three gas-bearing regions in Ukraine – Carpathian, Dnipro-Donetsk and Black sea region. Gas production began at the beginning of the 20th century. After the Second World War, Ukraine was the main exporter of gas from the USSR to Eastern Europe. Today, private companies provide the majority of gas production in Ukraine. Currently, the largest gas deposits are mature, and the newly discovered deposits require large investment outlays. The Ukrainian gas pipeline system has strategic importance and it is connected to underground gas storage facilities. Currently, the system works only on 50% of its own capacity due to the decrease in the volume of gas transit through Ukraine from Russia. The biggest problems in the gas sector are corruption related to the issuing of licenses for the development of new deposits and the lack of an appropriate pace of energy reforms. The proper implementation of the 2035 Energy Strategy may help improve the situation in this sector.

In this article, the author describes modern diplomatic relations between Montenegro and Albania. In order to present the close ties between the two countries, will be shown the common history of both nations, which influenced the subsequent development of diplomatic relations. Attention will be focused primarily on the main branches of cooperation and on joint initiatives in the field of protection of national minorities.

The Republic of North Macedonia is a small country on the Balkan Peninsula, which is characterized by the accumulation of many national and ethnic and religious groups in a small area (25 713 km2) – among them are Macedonians, Albanians, Turks, Roma, Vlachs, Serbs or Bosnians, as well as other smaller nationalities and ethnic groups. This article aims to present the origins of the Turks in Northern Macedonia, and at the same time to indicate the reasons for emigration from these areas and to present political parties and organizations representing the interests of Turks and their most important activities for the benefit of this minority. The article also analyze Turkish-Macedonian relations ranging from the proclamation of Macedonian independence to the accession of the Republic of Northern Macedonia to the structures of the NATO in 2020.

Forty years after Cambodian genocide the reconciliation is still in early stage. Despite such long time there was almost nothing done, especially in 20th century, to make that process happened. The article discusses the determinants, reasons and factors that had impact on reconciliation. Determinants can be divided into different categories. First of all the socio-historical background. Circumstances in which Khmer Rouge come to power, their revolutionary approach to economy, implemented reforms, use of children, displacements of people and categorization of citizens had great impact on post-1979 Cambodia. Another determinant is a political one. Policy of post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia rulers stunted the reconciliation. There reason of such actions are multidimensional but the most important one is provenance of People’s Republic of Kampuchea leaders. The most important figures in Cambodia politics are ex-Khmer Rouge soldiers, accused by some of taking a part in genocide. What’s even more confusing, the most powerful opposition party in 1980s were perpetrators themselves and their allies. Even after signing Paris Peace Accords in 1991 until early 2000s there was no will to punish Khmer Rouge officials responsible for genocide. The Cambodian culture of silence, the third determinant, only exacerbates a difficult situation. Cambodians rarely speak about atrocities and harsh past because of fear, shame or trauma. Even in school textbooks until 2009 there was almost nothing said about tragic events which happened between 1975 and 1979. History of Democratic Kampuchea still affects the Cambodian society. Despite sentencing few Khmer Rouge officials in 2010s, there’s still lot to be done also on state-level. Reconciliation and coming back to the state of balance is the main challenge for Cambodia in the nearest future, crucially important to social and political life of this nation.

The article presents the phenomenon of the Israeli outposts in the West Bank. It describes the origins, ways of establishing, sources of financial support of the outposts. There will be examined the Israeli governments’ attitude toward this type of settlement. It should be emphasized that governmental and self-governmental institutions, as well as the World Zionist Organization, are engaged in establishing and developing the outposts in the West Bank. The aim of the article is to explain and to describe this phenomenon in the light of the Israeli law and its consequences for the State of Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The examination is based on the following sources: Sasson Report, Levy Report, Judea and Samaria Settlement Regulation Law, Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, so-called Young Settlement Bill, reports published by Peace Now and B’Tselem organizations. For the research author used institutional, historical analysis and decision analysis methods. It helped to state that the Israeli outposts, despite its illegality, receive wide financial and security support from government and self-governments. The outposts threaten also the peace process. Furthermore, since 2009 Netanyahu’s governments try to recognize and legalize the outposts by legal measures.

The article presents examples of the implementation of the Promethean action on selected directions of cooperation with nations dependent on the Soviet Union in connection with the activity of the authorities of the Second Republic of Poland in the years 1926–1932. The involvement of military authorities in this process was primarily taken into consideration. Prometheism was considered as one of the organised concepts of implementing not only political but also information and intelligence activities.

The author defines the place and importance of Prometheism in the activities of Polish military intelligence in the years 1926–1932. He also distinguishes examples of cooperation with the Promethean nations aiming at strengthening the security of the Second Republic. The archival materials collected in the Central Military Archive in Warsaw-Rembertów and the Archives of Modern Records in Warsaw were used to achieve the objective set.

It should be stated that Prometheism was a significant concept within the involvement of military intelligence in strengthening the national security of the Second Polish Republic. It was evidenced by the Polish authorities’ cooperation with nations dependent on Soviet activities in the East.

Hybrid warfare, which has been conducted since 2014 in Ukraine has become a new geopolitical phenomenon that directly threatens Poland, and thus Euro-Atlantic security, bringing a new group of threats that emerged after the collapse of the bipolar world. The article discusses how the Russian Federation uses hybrid warfare achieve your political goals and support your own interests. The study also includes an assessment of the threat of hybrid war in Poland as well as the genesis and principles of hybrid operations in the modern world.

A lecture by President Gorge Ivanov points to the history of cultural and scientific relations between Poland and Macedonia. Attention was paid to the formation of the Macedonian language, the role of Polish Slavists and the key achievements of Blaže Koneski, who was awarded the doctor honoris causa of the University of Wrocław in 1973. The text is also devoted to the issue of shaping Macedonian identity.

The article discusses the issue of the evolution of the party system of the Republic of Macedonia (from January 2019 – Northern Macedonia). Changes on the political scene were shown against the background of comparative studies with other post-Yugoslav republics and against the background of historical evolution after 1990. The main development tendencies of the party system and nodal premises of structural changes were pointed out.

The membership of the Republic of North Macedonia into the NATO is a strategic priority of the country and the wider region. NATO is a key factor for implementing stability and lasting peace in the region for a longer period. The paper reaffirms that the membership of the Republic of North Macedonia into the NATO is supported by the majority of the citizens of the country, and therefore there is „no-alternative approach” except Euro-Atlantic integration and friendly and cooperative relations for the country with its neighbors. NATO is the key factor for implementing stability and lasting peace in the region. But at the same time, integration of North Macedonia to NATO as its 30th member brings as well as several strategic priorities for the Alliance and it contributes in strengthening the South wing in dealing with the geo-political tensions imposed by the Eastern influences. The paper seeks as well as to explore what are the advantages and factors of quicker respond for NATO membership of Republic of North Macedonia?

North Macedonia’s route to the North Atlantic Alliance was long and full of challenges. In the meantime, the former Yugoslav state had to concentrate its efforts on the political, economic and social transformation which was the result of the declaration of independence by North Macedonia the nineties of the twentieth century. The country began reorganizing the entire state system in the face of the collapse of Yugoslavia. The result of the „open door” policy of NATO and the reforms that the country introduced was the signing of the accession protocol by representatives of the member states and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Nikola Dmitrov at the headquarter of the organization in Brussels on 6 II 2019. The purpose of this article is to analyze the accession process of North Macedonia to NATO, including the political aspects of its course and the importance of integration with the structures of the Alliance.

The Three-Seas Initiative (TSI) opened at the meeting of heads of Central European countries in Dubrovnik in 2016, brings together twelve members of the European Union: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Hungary. Northern Macedonia in 2018 expressed interest in participating in these projects. The state, established in 1991 as a result of the disintegration of the Yugoslav federation, was characterized by permanent instability as a result of armed ethnic conflict with the Albanian minority in 2001, the internal crisis of 2015-2017, and the Greek-Macedonian nomenclatural dispute. The stabilization of the situation in the state allowed the Skopje authorities to make progress in integration with the Euro-Atlantic area to the extent that in February 2019 the Macedonian authorities initialed the NATO accession protocol, and in 2020 they will most likely start negotiations with the European Union. In this context, the attitude of Northern Macedonia to the initiative constructed by those EU countries, which are geographically and partly culturally relatively close to it, was discussed. The striving to achieve synergy between the processes of integration with the EU and NATO resonates in all Macedonian state documents. It seems that the potential partnership with the TSI can be correlated with the integration of Northern Macedonia into the Euro-Atlantic security area. The possibility of Northern Macedonia’s participation in TSI priority projects was determined by energy and transport factors, thanks to which „the europeanization” of the Macedonian gas and road network and independence from LNG liquefied gas supplies from Russia will be possible. This will undoubtedly benefit the internal and external security of Northern Macedonia. An unfavorable factor may be a different approach to the topic among the Macedonian elites: the ruling politicians chose the path of evolutionary partner status, and the opposition decided on a radical move to achieve full membership of Northern Macedonia as soon as possible in the Trinitarian Initiative. An indirect solution seems to be the concentration of authorities in Skopje on internal reforms in order to meet the requirements for candidate countries for membership in the European Union and start accession negotiations as soon as possible. Because the road to the TSI seems to lead through Brussels.

Cybersecurity of states and international organizations is one of the most priority issues in the world at the time. The dynamically developing IT systems and the global reach of the Internet, reaching both individual users as well as public administrations and transnational corporations has not only significantly facilitated the storage, sharing or exchange of information, but also the place of criminal attacks and threats to sensitive data in network. Accordingly, national and non-national actors try to constantly monitor threats stem from cyber space, prevent them or mitigate their effects, so as not to jeopardize the security of them and their citizens or members. This situation also takes place in the Republic of North Macedonia, which in 2018, in cooperation with international partners and extensive public consultations in the country, announced the first National Cyber Security Strategy for 2018-2022. This article aims to analyze the content contained in the above document and the Action Plan attached to it and to approximate the objectives contained therein.

The subject of the article is the state of cultural expression in everyday communication of Macedonian youth. Language is the basis of every culture, and every culture influence language. The author of the text presents what kind of vocabulary is used by teenagers in Macedonia and notes whether the norm of modern Macedonian language is observed by them. It focuses mainly on colloquial vocabulary, internationalisms and abbreviations used by them in everyday statements, which contain both elements of literary language as well as colloquial language. It is deeply rooted in everyday communication.

This article aims to draw attention to the Chinese investments in Belarus and to evaluate the current process of shaping the Belarus-China relations in the system of inter-state relations (against the background of relations with Russia and the EU). The activity of Chinese investors in Belarus arouses a lot of controversial opinions among scientists from Poland and Belarus, despite 100% support of the Belarus authorities. The article is devoted to the issue of the legal and institutional foundations of the Belarus-China cooperation, which show the way of finding a new powerful „supporter” of Belarus in the world, cooperation with whom may result in economic and political benefits. It has become a kind of alternative to Russia cooperation that is achievable only under the condition of mutual acceptance. Article indicates the economic problems of Belarus and describes the attempts of the Belarus authorities to solve them, the question of the importance of Belarus-China cooperation on the Belarus political and economic development.

The main incentive for creation of this work was the issue by the People’s Republic of China, their first in the history arctic White Paper. The articulation of the Chinese strategy regarding the High North, has become the source of the main contribution, as it goes for the Beijing’s interests in that distant region. Author, basing on his previous researches, clarifies the role of the White Paper in the foreign and internal policy. He undertakes the circumlocution of the Arctic’s legal status and its economic potential, which for many reasons arouses hot emotions in the world and is to a large extent the mentioned attractiveness of the High North. Thereby, the present research has been carried out using the analysis and synthesis of secondary research material in the form of scientific studies and source texts. The research problems for which answers can be found in this work are questions about sources of Arctic interest on the part of contemporary China and the functions of the first Chinese Arctic white book. In their light, a research hypothesis was formulated that Chinese engagement behind the polar circle (as well as its emanation of the white book) is a testimony to Beijing’s growing global ambitions of worldwide power. The research showed that the reasons for the Chinese Arctic interest are mainly of a military and economic nature, while the Chinese Arctic white paper performs the following functions: it indicates China’s interest in this area and also tries to tone down the potential reaction of the international community that may result from this involvement. Moreover the white book has an important internal function in the form of awakening the national pride of the Chinese people.

In the article the attempt was made to analyze the changes that have happened in the EU policy towards Ukraine after the 2004 and 2007 EU enlargements, especially in a context of the Russia’s aggression in Georgia, establishment of Eastern Partnership, Russian occupation of Crimea and destabilization of the situation in Donbas. The main attention is devoted to the study of the current state of relations between Kyiv and Brussels, as well as the investigation of various types of EU institutions activity or inactivity, which causes slows down Ukraine’s European integration and it is generally harmful to the Ukrainian state.

The article describes the evolution of the gas relations model between Russia and Ukraine, which is important for the European gas market. For almost the entire period after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia kept a dominant position in gas relations with Ukraine. The authorities in Kiev periodically attempted to reduce Moscow’s dominance, but they manifested political declarations rather than real action. In recent years Ukraine has strengthened position in bilateral relations, mainly due to three elements: internal reforms, strengthening of Ukraine’s energy independence as well as the determination of the Kiev authorities to assert their rights in international arbitration. Although significant were the processes taking place in the international environment regardless of the Ukrainian authorities.

This article covers key political factors concering the ongoing process of anticorruption reform in Ukraine. It describes the importance and need of such reform and adresses implemented bills, new institutions introduced with them, conducted tasks and overall perspective of state of reform as in July 2018. The main thesis underlined in article is the crucial role of political will among the Ukrainian policy-makers in implementing legislative mechanisms to effectively combat the issue of corruption in Ukraine.

In the springtime of 2014, incidents, that happened in the eastern part of Ukraine, led to take control over the Crimean Peninsula by the Russian Federation. At the same time, from the Donetsk region, came the information about many acts of violence, directed against the clergy and worshippers of the Christian communities other than the Russian Orthodox Church, supportive for the Kremlin authorities. Those incidents led us to formulate the following research question: what is the situation of the churches on the annexed peninsula? And further, the hypothesis that the situation of the churches on the annexed peninsula, except for the Russian Orthodox Church, has deteriorated. The research material, used in the article, is mostly based on the Ukrainian, Russian and English Internet sources, which have been analyzed in a quantitative and a qualitative way. As a result of these activities, the following communities have been distinguished to be analyzed: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate, the Catholic Church of the Ukrainian-Byzantine rite, the Roman Catholic Church and various Protestant churches. The text, constructed on the „subject-problem” system, has been divided into two main parts and the conclusion section. Following the research, it has been found that the legal position of the churches operating on the peninsula, except for the Russian Orthodox Church, had deteriorated. The admission of the Russian solutions regarding religious laws makes the implementation of the church activities (missional, pastoral, educational and charitable), as well as the cooperation with foreign partners much more difficult. Breach of the previous religious freedom on the Crimean Peninsula can be considered as a form of a persecution. The analysis of our sources allowed us to notify that the scale of repressions that the churches encounter, is diÄ erent. In the most difficult position is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate, competitive with the Russian Orthodox Church. The situation of the Catholic Church of the Ukrainian-Byzantine rite, as well as the situation of the Evangelical churches (well-known for their inner missions) does not look better. The Catholic Church has also suffered from particular difficulties. In the light of the above analysis, we might conclude that the research hypothesis has been positively verified. We have emphasized that the current position of the analyzed churches from the annexed Crimean Peninsula is a consequence of the recent political conditions and the speci' city of the interdenominational relations existing in Ukraine, as well as the close ties between the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church. These connections are also a result of the actions undertaken by Vladimir Putin, in order to find new methods to legitimize his own political power. Consequently, he creates a framework for a „new national myth”, focusing on relations with the Russian Orthodox Church and the church traditions. The difficulties faced by churches described in the text, reflect the practices used in the Russian Federation towards „foreigners” minority communities (perceived as a threat to the confessional security of the country) before 2014. Some of these actions involuntarily led us to connotations with the persecutions of Christians and representatives of other religions, described by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in the first volume of the Gulag Archipelago (1973).

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the independence of Republic of Georgia faced many social, political and economic problems, one of which was the activity of paramilitary organizations and criminal groups at that time. Two of them, the Mchedrioni and the National Guard, have access to weapons, committing crimes against civilians and controlling the resources of the country and smuggling and trafficking, controlling almost every sphere of state and citizenship. Their leaders were the political elite of Georgia, which resulted in the fact that Mchedrioni and Guards’ work was completely impunity, not to say legalized in the state. The following paper outlines the way in which the paramilitary groups operated in Georgia at the beginning of the 1990s, the political influence and activity of the paramilitary groups operating in Georgia, have led the country to function on the edge of poverty, anarchy and violence.

This article analyzes the main directions of the organizational activity held by the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine (ULU) in the camp for prisoners of war from Russian army in Rastatt, Germany since May 1915 until 1917. Representatives of ULU in Rastatt founded schools of literacy and various educational courses, opened camp library and people’s theater, and equipped the church. Besides, the camp saw the creation of several Ukrainian circles and organizations whose members actively participated in the development of national life in Rastatt. Organization and management of the entire cultural and educational work in the camp was handled by the Department of Education of ULU. Members of this department were both civilians and captured Ukrainian officers whose assignment to Rastatt was agreed by the German military authorities. Á e Department of Education saw high personnel turnover as some of its members were assigned to other camps, while being replaced by new employees. During the first stages of the camp’s Ukrainization, the popularity of Russian chauvinist ideas among many Ukrainian POWs made it much more difficult to engage in the promotion of national and patriotic ideas, as well as in cultural and educational work. A lot of POWs were afraid of cruel repressions of the Russian government and the emperor for their participation in Ukrainian work. However, eventually the majority of POWs managed to get rid of these fears and created community „Independent Ukraine” whose leadership grew to lead all directions of Ukrainians’ life and activity in the camp. Due to the activity of the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine, the camp prepared numerous nationally conscious Ukrainians who actively participated in diÄ erent military groups which fought against Russian Bolshevism in 1918-1920.

After the attack of the Third Reich’s army on the Soviet Union, many Cossacks in exile declared their willingness to fight in the German formations against the hated enemy. Also, a significant part of the Cossack population in the Don, Kuban or Terek territories occupied by the Germans enthusiastically welcomed the entering Wehrmacht troops. Shortly afterwards, the Cossacks were permitted to create their local government there, and also received guarantees of cultural, educational and religious freedom. The formation of Cossack troops used by the Germans for reconnaissance and 'fighting the Soviet partisans also commenced. These soldiers were to be treated equally with German soldiers. After a series of German defeats on the Eastern Front in 1943 and after the Red Army had taken the initiative on the Eastern Front, the Cossack formations together with the accompanying civilian population created the so-called Cossack

The reality of the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, which on the one hand has eradicated the notion of violence from the ideational sphere, the sphere of constructing social-political entities, on the other hand, by eradicating violence as a tool of building new social orders, has kept and appropriated its modus, or the ways of organizing of the world, its time and space, associated with the conditions of violence. In the modern and postmodern world, violence turns out to be, not seldom, the basis of sanctioning and reinforcing the mechanisms of power. Symbolic violence – as Bourdieu wanted – the tool of influence by the dominant classes, or the violence resulting from communicative oppression – legitimization of common agreement, consensus, which, transformed into an idea – the basis of the construction of the modern world, are becoming a form of oppression, a form of imposing the only one, worked out as (seemingly) common, vision of this what is and can be a question of a conflict. The sources of such understood visions should be looked for, according to Jean-Luck Nancy, in a particular desire of man, desire, which, when started to be embodied, acquired total forms, and, finally, totalitarian ones: in the desire of transformation of the society into a “masterpiece”. The thing, which was supposed to be cemented by the realized desire (society as a masterpiece), was community, communion [communio], and, finally (as the embodiment of the postulated unity in its total form) communism.