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.