scholarly journals (Re)securitisation in Europe: the Baltic States and Russia

2018 ◽  
pp. 103-129
Author(s):  
Sandra Fernandes ◽  
Daniel Correia

Relations between the European Union (EU) and Russia have entered a more difficult era with the 2004 enlargement and the annexation of Crimea in 2014. The three Baltic states are new EU member states that share threat perceptions vis-à-vis Moscow. The article unpacks securitisation processes in the three Republics and how they have evolved after 2004 and 2014, as compared to the previous period of independence initialled in 1991. By exploring discourses, identity formation by strategies of othering and policy changes, we argue that re-securitisation is currently undergoing after a period of softer securitisation in the aftermath of EU accession.

2006 ◽  
pp. 118-132
Author(s):  
R. Simonyan

The article analyzes social and economic changes, which have occurred in the Baltic states after their EU accession. It reveals new tendencies in the development of this new region of the united Europe that plays a significant geostrategic role for Russia.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 75
Author(s):  
Tomas Bekišas

This paper aims to determine Lithuania’s, Latvia’s, and Estonia’s parties’ positions on the European Union (EU) and to ascertain whether these party positions mirror their voters’ positions on the EU. Analysis suggests that parties in this region have rather varied positions on the EU, with the exception of hard-Eurosceptic views, which are absent in Baltic states’ party systems. This paper also indicates that parties in the Baltic states tend to mirror, with some exceptions, their voters positions on the EU. This suggests that there may be additional factors determining parties’ positions regarding the EU in the Baltics.


Author(s):  
Tanel Kerikmäe ◽  
Archil Chochia ◽  
Max Atallah

Integration with the European Union has been far less distressing for the three Baltic States than for numerous other accessing countries owing to their strong societal impetus to (re)join Western political, economic, and legal culture after they regained their independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. However, the accession of these states—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—had several distinctive features related to constitutional background and settings, which heavily influenced problem solving between government and the EU institutions. In general, the controversial issues regarding how to solve the problems with supranational power have never been dramatic with regard to the Baltic States, which leads to the assumption that often the governments have taken rather compliant positions. The latest cases, such as the European Stabilization Mechanism, indicate the change in paradigm: the three Baltic States are more aware of the margin of appreciation and actual borderlines between policy making- and decision making. Today, in setting up an EU-related agenda, more skills than previously are needed in finding allies and choosing partners. The road the Baltic States took in joining the EU was a difficult one, nor has their role in the EU been easy. Should a small state with a big initiative be allowed to mentor other member states regarding that initiative, meaning in particular Estonia and its digital development? Another peculiar aspect of the Baltic States is their (inter)relationship with Russia. Considering themselves a bridge between East and West, the Baltics have been active in Eastern Partnership and Development Aid initiatives and have also spoken out strongly against intervention in Georgia and Ukraine. This position sometimes complicates any EU attempt to achieve consensus on foreign policy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-76
Author(s):  
Gabriela Belova ◽  
Nikolay Marin

The article scrutinizes the Baltic States and their century of independence which have been the focus of interest of various sciences. On the occasion of the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of the independence of the Baltic States – Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia – some parallels could be drawn with the historical, economic and political development of these countries and Bulgaria. These parallels are not only found in the political and legal period but are contained in different stages, which shows the interesting legal and political nature of the Baltic States and some of their common problems and events with the countries of Eastern Europe and, in particular, the example with Bulgaria. The article has also drawn attention to a significant problem that the three Baltic States and Bulgaria have to deal with, namely the demographic crisis. This problem is particularly important in the light of migratory pressures that the countries outlining the external borders of the European Union are facing and it involves systematic and long-term efforts.


Author(s):  
Vladimir Olenchenko

In 2019, the Baltic states passed the 15-year mark of membership in the European Union. This anniversary was not celebrated in the Baltic states or in the EU and did not attract attention of other countries. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the Baltic states chose not to join the CIS, but to join the EU. For Russia, the Baltic states are immediate geographical neighbours, which generate conflict in bilateral relations. The purpose of the study is to examine how the Baltic states' membership in the EU affected the main characteristics of their development and to what extent anti-Russian orientation of the Baltic foreign policy is due to EU membership. Achievement of this goal is seen through the solution of two tasks. The first is to study the current state of the Baltic economies. The second is to analyze the Baltic states conflict in relations with Russia within the EU. For the study, the method of comparing the statistical data of the EU for 2004-2019 was used in relation to the Baltic countries, as well as a comparison of the contractual obligations of relations between Russia and the EU with the practice of the Baltic countries. The results of the study show that the Baltic economies, despite long enough EU membership, remain subsidized. Conflict between the Baltic states and Russia does not directly come from the legal basis of their membership in the EU but is mostly due to several other external factors.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus D.W. Stoffels

In this study, the author addresses the intriguing, topical but little-studied question of whether the (old and new) EU Member States should, upon accession to the EU, be obliged to introduce the euro. To begin with, he examines—while deliberately ignoring the problematic exchange rate convergence criterion—whether introducing the euro should in principle be obligatory. After having answered this question in the affirmative, he takes a closer look at the exchange rate convergence criterion. He concludes that a country’s formal participation in the ERM II is a necessary but insufficient requirement for that country to meet the exchange rate convergence criterion. However, since ERM II membership is, for its part, voluntary, this also makes a country’s decision to introduce the euro completely voluntary. Accordingly, a Member State like Sweden is entitled to simply circumvent introducing the euro by simply refraining from participating in the ERM II. The author continuously refers to how different groups of Member States have been treated in the past with regard to them introducing the euro.


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