No 1 (122) (2024)

The article addresses internal political factors that may influence the search for a new common strategy for the Franco-German tandem. The relevance of the article is determined by the lack of alternatives for in-depth cooperation between partners, who are currently forced to develop a joint approach towards the EU reform and clarify the prospects for acceptable convergence of their own socio-economic models. The first part of the article (“France at a crossroads”) analyses the features of the modern development of France and draws a conclusion about the limited freedom of maneuver for President E. Macron to implement his declared reform program. The second part (“The Beginning of a New Transformation in Germany”) argues that Germany has entered a stage of largescale transformations. Politicians and citizens do not know the completion dates of the transformations, the results and the amount of expenses. In the third part (“Strategic Seminar in Hamburg”) the authors show why France and Germany are returning to the concept of shared responsibility. They also reflect on how partners intend to overcome asymmetry and objective differences and urge to monitor and analyse Franco-German tandem developments to clarify the resources necessary for the successful implementation of Russian national programs and adjust the timing of their implementation.

The article analyzes the main forms and methods of NATO’s public diplomacy in the Mediterranean-Black Sea region in the context of significant geopolitical processes taking place in this regional space. The aim of the study is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the policy of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the field of public diplomacy in one of the most strategically important regions of the world. The main objectives include the consideration of the key areas of the NATO Public Diplomacy Division’s work, the analysis of the projects implemented by the Alliance in the sphere of public diplomacy, as well as determining their impact on the geopolitical processes in the Mediterranean-Black Sea region. In order to achieve the overall goal general scientific theoretical methods such as analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction and comparison are used. The conclusion is made that in recent decades the North Atlantic Alliance has been trying to strengthen its potential in the sphere of public diplomacy in the Mediterranean-Black Sea region by various methods because of its strategic importance. Moreover, in the near future NATO will increase its activity in this regional area. Special attention will be paid to developing relations with potential candidates for membership, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Ukraine. Besides, in the medium term, NATO will continue to actively cooperate with Moldova and Serbia, which, despite their officially declared neutral status, are gradually moving closer to the Alliance. Most of the ongoing public diplomacy projects will be openly anti-Russian, because NATO initiatives will be aimed at ousting Russia from the humanitarian sphere of the Mediterranean-Black Sea region’s states.

Based on voting protocols and debate minutes for the Carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) hearings in the European Parliament in 2022–2023 the cases where positions of MEPs from political groups “Identity and Democracy” and “European Conservatives and Reformists” coincided with those of parliamentarians from other parties (particularly opponents from “The Left” and “The Greens”) were analysed. These actions bypassing the “sanitary cordon” were explored together with the content of the CBAM, which made possible to identify the main motivations of MEPs’ voting. Such cases of solidary vote allowed to evaluate the strength of this barrier, the applicability of theories of two-dimensional nature of ideological space and the prospects of coordinated actions of selected parties after the European parliament elections 2024. These ad hoc coalitions were facilitated by the differences in attitudes to amendments. Among significant factors ensured Eurosceptic MEPs to express the same views were reluctanсe to transfer additional competences to the EU bodies and willingness to support the European industry. Supranationality and deindustrialisation are considered to be more imminent threats than climate change. The article explores a two-dimensional structure of ideological space of the given activity. Close relations between left-wing and right-wing parties could be explained by similarity of political views (i. e Euroscepticism in attributed not only to far-right politicians).

The study analyses the position and political discourse of Russian parties in Latvia and Estonia in the context of the special military operation in Ukraine. The analysis is conducted along the lines of interaction of Russian parties with one another, as well as with the government, the Russian diaspora and Russia. The empirical basis of the study is the data of the central election commissions of Latvia and Estonia. The speeches of Russian party leaders about the special military operation are also analysed. The main differences in the representation of the ethnic component of the discourse in the preelection programmes were revealed. Based on this, conclusions are drawn about the different degree of ethnic identity of parties as a criterion reflecting the degree of positioning of a political force as a representative of the interests of a national minority. It was recorded that Russian parties are characterised by different rhetoric regarding the conflict in Ukraine. Some parties preferred silence or neutrality, while the largest Russian parties in the 2000s (“Harmony” and the Estonian Centre Party) chose a hostile stance towards the Russian government. This fact together with the low representation of the ethnic component in their programmes was an important factor that significantly reduced their electoral support in regions with Russian population and in the country. At the same time, the process of fragmentation of the Russian electorate is taking place in the countries under consideration due to the growing number of political actors articulating its interests.

New trends in global economic development, such as the processes of transnationalisation, economic and energy crises, gaps in foreign trade and logistics chains, challenges of modern technological development, intensify the competition of companies in world markets. The governments of the developed countries and large multinational corporations are actively engaged in radical transformation of the modern social and economic world development model on the basis of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Germany is at the forefront of this global agenda. According to the German government, the development and introduction of transformative innovations is one of the tools that brings the world closer to sustainable development model. Such innovations do not only lead to technical progress, but also solve important social problems. To force through rapid modernisation German government has chosen a time-tested method – mission-oriented innovation policy (MOIP). State becomes the leading actor of the national innovation system, setting the goals of technological development and mobilising economic resources required to achieve these goals. For the first time, the missions of innovation policy were formalised in government documents in 2018. In early 2023 the new German government updated the drafting and composition of the missions. This article discusses the theoretical foundations of the MOIP approach to the formation of government innovation policy, describes the missions of the innovation policy of Germany, approved in 2018 and 2023, and examines the practical results of the implementation of some missions in 2018‒2022 on the example of renewable energy technologies introduction, building up battery cell production in Germany, developing clean mobility, putting German indigenous artificial intelligence technologies into practical application, digital healthcare, creating sustainable circular economies.

The article examines the relevant trends in the development of a modern European city using socio-cultural methodology and the systematic approach. The study demonstrates that the evolution of the European urban space is now taking place holistically, affecting the unity of the social, natural and individual dimensions of urban life. The proposed system of trends in the evolution of the European city is considered in the article as an interdependent triad of creativity, smart development and inclusivity and at the same time an actual standard in the ongoing theoretical discussions about the “good city” and their practical applications. The foundation of the movement towards the optimal functioning of the European city rests on the creatively formulated goals of urbanisation. It is revealed that without creativity, neither movement towards sustainable urban development nor the productive evolution of inclusive urban strategies is possible. It is established that at this stage of the formation of the information society in Europe, it is the expansion of the inclusiveness of urban living spaces that is the most difficult problem to solve, both because of its complexity and the lack of a consensual theoretical foundation for its vision. It is demonstrated that theoretical research of this kind is largely positively correlated with the strategies recorded in official EU documents, as well as the participation of supranational structures in financing urbanisation programmes. In the second quarter of the XXI century in order to optimise this problematic urban scenario it will be necessary to adopt and then implement some absolutely non-trivial strategies, the content of which is not yet completely obvious.

In the article on the basis of the collection “Russian Orthodox Church in Spain from the middle of the XVIII to the beginning of the 21st century” published in 2023. Archpriest Andrei Kordochkin, Doctor of Philosophy and Candidate of Theology analyzed the history of the formation and development of bilateral Russian-Spanish relations in the context of their spiritual and cultural component, namely the activities of Orthodox parishes, priesthood on the Pyrenee peninsula at the indicated time. One way or another, the presence of the parish church testified to the strengthening of Russian-Spanish relations. The author of the article, based on a civilizational approach, discusses the spiritual and cultural mission of the most prominent priests who served in Spain, such as Fr. Konstantin Kustodiev, about. John (Shakhovskaya), Hieromonk Arseny (Sokolov). They acted as researchers of the features of Spanish Catholicism, national cultural and religious traditions, conveyed their sympathy for the object of study in publications to the Russian reader and made a lot to strengthen horizontal friendly ties with the Spaniards. A change in state-confessional relations on the 1978 Constitution and the proclamation of the principle of freedom of conscience made the legal existence of the Russian Orthodox parish, along with the parishes of other Orthodox nationalities in Spain. But the issue of their legal status is still not completely regulated, and we hope that the coverage of the issue of the history of Russian Orthodoxy in Spain will create the basis for its full resolution.

The article examines the factors that have an impact on the implementation of the international gas hub project in Turkey. Upon successful completion of construction, the Turkish hub will become an alternative pricing center in South-Eastern Europe. It will allow to diversify gas imports to the European Union and stabilise supplies. In addition to obtaining a new supply route, the EU will be able to return to the purchase of Russian gas, bypassing its own sanctions. Due to the hub, a “Turkish gas mix” will be formed, which makes it possible for Europe to purchase it without political risks. The objectives of the study include determining the conditions that are necessary for this project. First, there must be a multitude of gas sources. Turkey needs to increase its own productions and to ensure stable supplies through existing and potential pipelines from Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. Besides these routes, Turkey needs LNG terminals that will diversify export routes. Such a variety of different sources of imports makes it possible to avoid the dominance of one supplier and create competitive conditions, which are necessary for the formation of a gas hub. The aim of the research is to assess the possibility of creating a Turkish gas hub. The article can be used for a deeper study of factors influencing this project, as well as, for reassessing the possibility of its implementation in case of new circumstances.