Turkish Policy towards the Wider Black Sea and the EU Connection

2017 ◽  
pp. 113-128
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
N. A. Samoylovskaya

In January 2015 K. Grabar-Kitarovic was elected as President of Croatia. She identified the integration of Southeast Europe countries into European and Euro-Atlantic institutions and strengthening the cooperation between the countries of Central Europe as a national strategic interest. In her opinion the 12 European member countries of the EU located between the Adriatic, Black and Baltic seas have great potential for regional cooperation in the framework of the EU and the transatlantic community. This potential depends on the geographical position and features of common economic and cultural development. In the presented work is described the evolution of the concept of “the Baltic-Adriatic-Black Sea” and the prospects of its promotion in the countries of Eastern Europe. Special attention is paid to the impact of the initiative on the economic and strategic interests of Russia in Eastern Europe.


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3 (2017)) ◽  
pp. 261-283
Author(s):  
Evangelos Siskos ◽  
Konstantia Darvidou

Most European Union and Black Sea Economic Cooperation countries are net importers of petroleum and natural gas. Searching for new deposits and construction of new pipelines can improve energy security in the region. The problem is topical for Greece which has a developed refinery industry and needs to improve its trade balance to repay the accumulated external and public debt. Several new pipeline initiatives through Greece can support relations between the EU and BSEC countries. The paper provides previous research review about energy dependency and the effects of trade, production and transportation of hydrocarbons. Next we provide analysis of the effect of the trade on balance of payments in both the EU and BSeC countries. Import dependency of GDP on oil and natural gas is especially large in Malta, Georgia, Ukraine, Serbia and Latvia. On the other hand Russia and Azerbaijan are large net exporters of hydrocarbons. Then we analyse the impact of mining on labour market and refinery industry development. On average larger value added in mining leads to larger employment at least for males and middle age group of people. But the effect largely varies across countries and time periods. Together with construction of new pipelines growth of extraction can result in dozens of thousands of new jobs in Greece. There is a close link between value added in mining and compensation of employees in that industry. We have found evidence that the clustering effect between mining and manufacture of refined petroleum products and coke exists only in some EU countries.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Reisner

The book series European Studies in the Caucasus offers innovative perspectives on regional studies of the Caucasus. By embracing the South Caucasus as well as Turkey and Russia, it moves away from a traditional viewpoint of European Studies that considers the countries of the region as objects of Europeanization. This second volume demonstrates this by looking into forms of inter-regionalism in the Black Sea–South Caucasus area in fields of economic cooperation, Europeanization of energy and environmental policies, discussing how the region is addressed in the elaboration of a new German Eastern Policy. In the section on norm diffusion, the contributors assess the normative power strategy of the EU and its paradoxes in the region, its impact on civil society development in Armenia, and democracy promotion in Georgia. In the section on legal approximation, issues of a global climate change regime and competition law in Georgia as well as penitentiary governance reform in the South Caucasus according to EU standards and policies are analyzed. All contributions also review regional or local contestations for the topics discussed here.


Author(s):  
Sedat AYBAR

This paper examines the impact of co-operation between Turkey and  the US upon Turkish trade and investments towards the Black Sea  region. The study is particularly important in the conjuncture of the  US withdrawal from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and in the wake of signing a free  trade agreement with the EU. An additional matter of importance  relates to the improved Turkey – Russia economic collaboration especially after the “jet” incident and American  involvement with the Middle East. Significant part of the latter is  economic as the US has also explicit economic interests in the  Eastern Meditteranean. A gravity model has been employed using  ordinary least squares on a panel data with fixed effects to analyse aggregate trade. We have also categorized export groups of  Turkey and the US separately. Our findings for both Turkish and the US exports indicate that per-capita GDP of Black Sea countries are  highly persistent and positively correlated with increased efficiency  gains and trade volumes. Regression results show that the US  exports to the EU member countries are on average less than to  those non-EU member Black Sea countries. Hence, we question  whether a possible co-operation between the US and Turkish  companies can help gaining better access to the Black Sea market for their exports.


Author(s):  
Serhii Feduniak

The author analyzes subregional projects that could add dynamics to the process of European integration in the situation of substantial conceptual and institutional crisis of the European Union what directly affects the efficience of implementation of the EU projects (Eastern Partnership). Here the aurhor means reload and activation of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development GUAM and conceptualization the Baltic-Black See Union as isntitutional instruments of sub-regional stability in the context of deep crisis of Euroipean security. The consequences of sub-regional instutitutionalization for the EU and its prograns will be complex and multi-dimention. Firstly, there will be the rise of stability and security on the EU eastern flank as a compensation for its non-sufficient security elements as well as NATO low readiness for Russian threat. As soon as activation of Russian neo-imperial revisionism seriously undermines the EU Eastern Partnership Program and hampers the integration of the post-soviet states into the European and Euro-Atlantic in stitutions, establishment of both above-mentioned institutions will give a serious integration impuls for the European civilization and acceleration of the appearance of new wave of the EU members. The other result of institution building will be development of transport and logistic infastructure in the context of the implementationa bilateral EU-China trans continental projects resulting the growth of the EU poterntial as a leading global economic and political player. It is proved that ODED-GUAM and the Baltic-Black Sea Union could become substantial factors of the support of the European Union in whole and its Eastern Partnership Program particularly in case substantial work is being made by the interested states. But the main precondition of the activation pf sub-regional projects is political will and startegic interests of western elites. Keywords: European Union, EU Eastern Partnership, Organization for Democracy and Economic Development GUAM, Baltic-Black Sea Union, subregional integration.


Author(s):  
P. Patias

IASON Project has the ultimate goal to establish a permanent and sustainable Network of scientific and non-scientific institutions, stakeholders and private sector enterprises belonging in the EU and third countries located in two significant areas: The Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions. The main focal points of the project will be the usage and application of Earth Observation (EO) in the following topics: <br><br> &ndash; climate change<br> &ndash; resource efficiency<br> &ndash; raw materials management <br><br> IASON aims to build on the experiences gained by 5 FP7 funded projects, OBSERVE, enviroGRIDS, GEONETCab, EGIDA, and BalkanGEONet. All of the above projects focused on enhancing EO capacities, knowledge and technology in the EU and in neighborhood countries. During their execution time they managed to establish links with a critical mass of research institutions, organizations, public organizations, stakeholders, and policy makers in the Balkan region, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea Basin. IASON intends to create the proper conditions for enhancing knowledge transfer capacity building, and market opportunities in using EO applications and mechanisms in specific research fields that are addressing climate actions resource efficiency and raw materials management.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Svitlana Ovcharenko

The article analyzes the achievements, prospects and issues of Ukrainian cultural diplomacy in the Black Sea region. It outlines different levels of cultural cooperation in the region, in which the goals of Ukraine's cultural diplomacy can be realized: cooperation within UNESCO, cooperation within the Eastern European Partnership, cooperation within the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), cooperation within bilateral cultural contacts. It is emphasized that all formats of cultural interaction complement each other and can have a synergistic effect. It is noted that Ukraine is one of the few countries that has participated in the ICDS testing, and together with Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan can set a precedent for the regional application of this methodology by UNESCO. Ukrainian cultural diplomacy in the Black Sea region is also considered in connection with the state’s European integration obligations under the "Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU". Summarizing the level of activity in the field of cultural diplomacy in the region, it is noted that Ukraine is not fully aware of the importance of cultural diplomacy tools for resolving the conflict situation related to the occupation of the Crimean Peninsula by the Russian Federation. Examining the content of the "Strategy of Public Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine 2021-2025", a recommendation was made to supplement the list of target regions for cultural diplomacy of Ukraine with the Black Sea region as an integral socio-cultural object.


Author(s):  
Ihor Smyrnov ◽  
Olha Liubitseva

Peculiarities of life, military, the diplomatic activity of Doctor of Sciences in Geography, O. I. Stepaniv, as well as her scientific achievements as a Ukrainian geographer and geologist, are revealed. Olena Stepanov was the first woman in Ukraine and the world – a military officer in the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen (Ukrainski Sichovi Striltsi, USS) and the Ukrainian Galician Army (Ukrainska Halytska Armiia, UHA) during the First World War and the Ukrainian Liberation War of 1917–1921, a diplomatic official of the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic and the Ukrainian People’s Republic. Having a doctorate in geography and history, she made a significant contribution to the development of Ukrainian geographical science, including economic and social geography, as well as transport geography and modern understanding of geologistics. The last two areas of geographical science are most fully disclosed in her work “Modern Lviv”, which provides a comprehensive description of the transport infrastructure of Lviv and Lviv region and its importance in the transport system of Ukraine, in particular, emphasizes the central position of Lviv as a transport and logistics hub on the trans-European way connecting the Baltic and Black Seas; identified the main transport routes of Lviv region, important on a national scale; in addition to the main roads, regional and local ones were identified and characterized. The characteristics of transport routes were combined with the indication of the most significant industrial enterprises of Lviv region; tourist and recreational areas and centres which were located on the ways of transport routes were indicated, as well as the tourist specialization of these centres (in textbooks on the geography of transport of the Soviet era, it was not mentioned at all); such transport and logistics indicators as road congestion, traffic intensity on them were used, as well as their historical names were given and their significance in the past was revealed. O. I. Stepaniv’s scientific works remain relevant today. This applies not only to the problems of the geography of transport communication in modern Lviv but also to current issues of international logistics, in particular, Ukraine’s participation in the Baltic-Black Sea transport and logistics integration system. O.I. Stepaniv’s scientific works on transport geography are of direct importance to the most modern EU project in the field of transport and logistics – the Three Seas Initiative (TSI). The recent TSI Summit in Tallinn (October 19–20, 2020) highlighted the impact of the TSI on the entire Baltic-Adriatic Black Sea region. TSI is open to countries – strategic partners of the EU, including Ukraine. Although the latter is not a member of the EU, it was invited to the first TSI summit in 2016 andis currently an active participant in many projects under this Initiative, without having formal membership in the TSI. Ukraine should continue to cooperate with TSI, especially with Poland, in such important infrastructure projects as the Gdansk-Odesa highway, the railway Viking project, the development of gas infrastructure within the North-South corridor (involving Ukrainian underground storage facilities of “blue fuel”), etc.


Subject The decision to restart the TurkStream natural gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey. Significance The agreement on August 9 between Russian and Turkish Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan to resume the TurkStream project relaunches their partnership in the energy sector. This had been frozen as a result of Turkey's shooting down of Russian Su-24 jet last November. Impacts Turkey could start importing up to 15.75 bcm additional natural gas under the Black Sea by 2019. Such a reduced amount compared with the original plan would seem to allow room in the Turkish gas market for rival suppliers. TurkStream could be extended into the EU only if the European Commission and Gazprom compromise on third-party access to the pipeline.


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