UKRAINE BETWEEN PEACE AND WAR WITH RUSSIA

After the Crimean Peninsula was invaded and the amplification of conflicts in South-Eastern Ukraine, it has become obvious that Russia's policy is concentrated on preserving its influence and strategic control over the decisions and political directions taken by the States from the former Soviet bloc. To understand the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the West, as well as to anticipate and counteract a possible future evolution of similar events not only in geopolitical risk states such as Moldavia, but also even in NATO members such as the Baltic countries, Romania or Bulgaria, it is worth paying attention to the geopolitical consequences of the loss of Crimea and the South-Eastern provinces by Ukraine. The article analyses the reason, mechanisms and stakes behind the Russian-Ukrainian war, from both a geopolitical and historical perspective. To understand the way in which different hybrid instruments can be used by the Russian Federation to influence the States in its proximity and, in particular, how their combination leads to effective satisfaction of the aims, it is useful to assess and address the systemic risks and vulnerabilities of States in the concerned areas of Russia and the West in recent years. Keywords: Ukraine; Russian Federation; Crimea; Russian-Ukrainian war; hybrid warfare; limited warfare; maskirovka.

ONE ARMY, TWO SYSTEMS. MILITARY JUSTICE IN TRANSYLVANIA, DURING THE SECOND CAMPAIGN OF THE WAR OF REUNIFICATION 1918-1920

In the middle of the campaign for Transylvania’s liberation, Consiliul Dirigent (the political structure designated to temporarily govern the province) of Sibiu had decided to support the efforts of the Romanian army and ordered the establishment of a Territorial General Commandment meant to begin recruitment in Transylvania, Banat and within the territories in Hungary inhabited by Romanians, in order to constitute some volunteers’ units. Out of their ranks, 6th and 7th Army Corps were established, recruited exclusively from Transylvanians regardless of their nationality. Based on 1st Decree passed by the Consiliul Dirigent of Sibiu, all the former Austro-Hungarian laws, ordinances, regulations and legal statutes issued prior to December 18th1918, when Transylvania was proclaimed independent of Budapest, were kept temporarily in force. Within this context, militaries of the divisions recruited from Transylvanian were subject to military jurisdiction under Austro-Hungarian Military Criminal Code of 1855, whereas Romanian militaries who were under the command of Transylvanian Headquarters were subject to the jurisdiction of Romanian laws, implicitly to the Code of military justice

RELEVANT PRINCIPLES IN THE ECHR AND CJEU JURISPRUDENCE REGARDING NATIONAL SECURITY

The European system ensuring the protection of human rights is nowadays one of the most advanced in the world. However, there are also areas of activity where clarification and improvement are constant demands. Counter-terrorism measures considered or adopted in Europe, in particular those that increase mass surveillance, the collection and storage of electronic information or the protection of personal data are such areas. Some of these measures give more intrusive powers to the intelligence services to channel decisions in the direction of the executive branch, without the necessary judicial guarantees being established in a state governed by the rule of law. Keywords: community law; ECHR; CJUE; national security.

OPERATIONAL APPROACH OF LAND FORCES IN THE HIBRID CONTEXT

Visualizing the various operational contexts of recent Land Forces’ employment, there were many situations where the nominated structures also faced unconventional adversaries, even though, initially, the nature of operation had been identified as having a conventional pattern. This particularity is perpetuated more and more aggressively, determining the conventional military structures of the Land Forces to operate in order to face both regular and irregular forces, even within the same AO. Based on these coordinates, the article triggers to identify the principles needed to adjust the operational approach of Land Forces, so that the organic structures can perform in engaging the adversary from AOs within current and future operations. Also, a subsidiary objective of the present research is to identify the mutations at the level of ACOAs based on which the adjustment of FFCOAs will be made. Keywords: hybrid operational approach; ACOA, FFCOA; regular forces; irregular forces.

STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGIES TO BE USED IN COMMAND AND CONTROL SYSTEMS

With the diversification of risks and threats in the multidimensional operational environment, in variable geometry conflicts, state-of-the-art technology must be used at all times in the architecture of command and control systems. This will ensure optimal response conditions both at the planning level and at the level of the execution of the military operation/action. Real-time communication, horizontally and vertically, between tactical level forces, operational and strategic level command and support structures, and with other institutions with security and defence responsibilities can only be ensured and protected by using advanced technologies. Not to be neglected at all is the training of the human resource for an efficient use of equipment as well as the algorithms and processes for making an efficient decision-making process, in line with technical, technological and artificial intelligence developments. Keywords: command and control; artificial intelligence; efficiency; technologies; 'Information Technologies.

A KEY ELEMENT IN ENSURING THE CONTINUITY OF THE MILITARY CENTERS ACTIVITIES, UNDER THE CONSTANT PRESSURE OF CONTAMINATION WITH THE SARS-COV-2 VIRUS

In the event of a pandemic, the priorities for any commander must be focused on protecting their own personnel, maintaining combat capability and carrying out the missions. The personnel protection measures are implemented in a unitary and gradual conception depending on the pandemic evolution in the area of responsibility. The appearance of increasingly contagious viruses and the promotion of their rapid spread globally through the diversity and complexity of land, air and naval transport, forces us to reconsider our position on the following issues: training and recruitment of staff; making stocks; adaptation of protection measures, in particular of personnel; optimization of operating procedures based on clearly defined principles. Keywords: military centers; planning; personnel protection; protection measures; circuits; risk areas.

MULTILATERALISM, DEMOCRACY, CONCERT OF POWERS: RUSSIA’S RED LINES

The debate for resettling the world is in its pick. Different states are proposing nuanced approaches and solutions that would enable a better grip on the global governance of their own interests. Concepts are relativized and revisionism is carefully hide beneath respect for the international rules and commitments. As is the case with democracy, embraced by all international players and subject to numerous interpretations by several actors. Multilateralism doesn’t seams to mean the same for different stakeholders and new initiatives are challenged from the positions of a raising fear to be let aside in the big debates about the future world. But fact is that continuity will play a role, a sophisticated system holding all alternatives will be in place and privileging one or another form is just a matter of global choice, appeal and influence of a project or another, a model or the next. This multiple circles coexistence model could be challenge by the new initiatives and their influence, the number of participants and their geopolitical footprint at the global level.

THE PERSISTENT CONFLICT, A CHARACTERISTIC OF THE CONCEPT OF APPROACHING THE HYBRID WAR IN THE EASTERN EUROPEAN OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

The Contemporary Eastern European operational environment is a complex system of actors, weapons and weapon systems, circumstances and conditions that manifest themselves in well-defined areas and that can directly influence decisions to use military capabilities. It may include both enemy and neutral or allied enemy forces and systems participating in the persistent conflict, as well as the culture of the population, the physical environment, local resources, the technological level, the political decision-maker and the executor. The lessons learned from the first part of this century convinced us that the Eastern European operational environment is quite conflictual; constantly changing at local and regional level, it falls into a dynamic, persistent and complex context, which, combined with energy blackmail strategies favor the emergence of hybrid dangers and threats to the stability and security of the Eastern European area. Through this article I want to give a firm and documented answer to questions related to: the conception of approaching the persistent hybrid conflict; the tendency of some actors to persist in tensions in the area of Eastern European insecurity and their concern to maintain the persistent conflict as a form of modern manifestation of Eastern European Community relations. Keywords: operational environment; persistent conflict; hybrid threats; hybrid operating system.

THE CHARACTER OF INTERDEPENDENCE BETWEEN ISR STRUCTURES FOR LAND UNITS AND THOSE OF AIR AND NAVAL UNITS

Connecting ISR structures from Land Units with ISR structures of Air and Naval units, represents a real challenge, for assuring the whole information cycle in a flexible, robust, and complex architecture in order to create a common known image and to assure support for the commander of the Joint Forces Group in taking the best decisions. The importance of achievement interconnection between ISR structures at all level of hierarchy and from all categories of forces is determined by impredictibility of operational environment, and the necessity of shortening response time during decisional process. Keywords: intelligence; reconnaissance; surveillance; Land Forces; Air Forces; Naval Forces; Joint Forces Group.

THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION ENERGY POLICY, AN INSTRUMENT FOR RECONSOLIDATING THE STATUS OF HIGH POWER

The disintegration of the USSR in December 1991 marked the end of the Cold War. Many foreign policy analysts were quick to point out that Russian Federation had ceased to be a threat to the Western world. Despite facing a multitude of economic, social and military problems, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin the Russian state managed to be reborn. Russian Federation's miraculous return was made possible by the successful implementation of a policy of economic centralization that overlapped with a period of rising global oil prices. Economic prosperity encouraged the Russian Federation government to return to the old practices of the Soviet period, succeeding in unbalancing the fragile states of Eastern Europe and once again endangering the peace of the entire continent. Keywords: Russian Federation; Cold War; Crimea; hydrocarbons; conflict.