Coal is the primary energy source affecting Poland’s energy security. It is because deposits of this raw material are available in Poland. Unlike natural gas or oil reserves, which are limited in the country. The high cost of extracting Polish coal in comparison with coal prices on the world market has made it necessary to adopt Polish mining to functioning in market economy conditions. The paper presents the evolution of Polish government policy towards the activity of coal mines in the years 1990–2015. This article aims to present government policy on restructuring coal mining after 2015 and showing its effects. The stages of consolidation of the power industry with the mining industry are shown. The above issues are presented in the context of the European Union’s energy and climate policy, paying particular attention to the share of renewable energy sources in the energy and fuel balance and the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.

The Scientific Conference under the name “Świnoujście LNG Terminal and the energy security of the region and Poland” was held at the Institute of Political and European Studies in Szczecin on 13th-14th November 2013. The Conference was attended by many eminent scientists and practitioners from all over Poland. Employees of inter alia AGH University of Science and Technology, Warsaw University, Jagiellonian University, Graduate School of Humanities and Journalism, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Western Institute and University of Wroclaw were present. Lack of experience in the execution of such investments in Poland and lack of national legislation adapted to the task required preparation and introduction of new laws and organizational solutions. Adopting the relevant legislation was treated as a priority by the Polish government and it helped to improve energy security and intensify the development of the Polish gas market. The location of the Świnoujście Terminal LNG in the Baltic Sea will provide the possibility of importing LNG from anywhere in the world and the distribution to operators in the country. The adoption of such solutions will be a viable diversifi cation of gas resources. This is important from the point of view of strategic Polish interests.

Energy security is a key component of national security. It’s really hard to formulate correct construction of the strategic culture, political strategy, without considering this crucial component. Thus, especially important factors that shape Polish security policy should be mentioned: diversification of energy links and resources, adaptation of country`s technical infrastructure to modern petrol market requirements, bilateral and multilateral agreements covering energy security problems. The Russian factor plays an important role in the Polish energy security policy. Bilateral relations within energy sector have repercussions on Polish energy security and the foreign policy. It also has an impact on the Poland`s internal politics, thus should be considered as crucial for Polish national interest.

Geo-economics is an approach that, in general, looks at the links between politics and economy in the international arena. This article is an analyses overview of the presence of geo-economics strategy in the Polish-Russian relations. The author focuses particularly on the problems of investment, trade and energy.

The France on the international stage, with Russia can be changed while in the field of energy, trying to benefit from mutual cooperation. This comes from the desire of France to ensure the security of gas supplies, supply diversification, the strengthening of French companies in the field of energy in the European Energy market. France pursued a policy based on the security of supplies from sources of imports under long-term contracts. In addition to security issues and important economic role played by political issues. France is more active cooperation in economic matters and issues of energy security between Germany and Russia. Doesn’t want to be completely excluded from cooperation in this area. Offer Russia the possibility of buying some military technology and nuclear missiles, which can Germany offer.

The Polish Political Science Yearbook invites all scholars, researchers and professionals to participate in the 7th PPSY International Seminar "Security in Central Europe: Confronting Uncertainty?" which takes place in Toruń (Poland) on April 24, 2018. The conference supports a special section of the current Volume 47 of 2018 of the journal and its objective is to discuss challenges of security and stability in Central Europe and to present current advancements in regional security studies.

Deadline for application: April 6, 2018, with the Online Form.

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The seminar focused on the Security Challenges in Central Europe organised by PPSY was held in Toruń on February 21, 2017. The leading topic of this event could not have been apter as the last years in the region brought back serious questions about stability and security of the region. From the domestic challenges – like the rise of populist movements; to more resurgent foreign policy of Russian Federation; instability of so-called Eastern flank; through the questions about coherence of both NATO and the European Union – Central European states found themselves in a situation unprecedented since the end of the Cold War. It can be even argued that Central Europe come to strategic crossroads that would determine future of the regions and its countries in particular.

Russian authorities have for years been proclaiming that in order to ensure energy security and to increase their economic presence in North-East Asia their priority is to diversify gas export and to increase cooperation with the Asia-Pacific region. Despite frequent meetings at interstate and business levels, and numerous formal – but no binding – agreements, no tangible progress in this regard has yet been made. This paper argues, from a game-theoretic perspective, that peril for Russian geopolitical and economic interests ensuing from both inception of EU energy policy and evolution of the European gas market has been one of the factors hindering Russian plans of eastbound gas export diversification.

This article deals with the importance of natural gas as an energy source in Polish energy policy. Its purpose is to analyze the extent to which natural gas can provide for ensuring state energy security. This article covers issues related to the diagnosis of the gas sector in Poland (the most important economic entities, the functioning of the gas market), its role in the national energy strategy and prospects for future gas use. The article points out that natural gas, although important for maintaining and securing state energy security, is, however, not crucial in this regard. Multiannual strategies envisage diversification of the way of generating energy, which means the opportunity for renewable energy sources (RES) and nuclear energy. Natural gas has a secondary meaning in this context.

Dynamic changes in the European climate policy are aimed at a drastic reduction of CO2 emissions. The Union’s policy has several social, economic, and political consequences. Therefore, it is subject to assessment from the perspective of the legal order, including the constitutional order of the Member States. Therefore, a question arises as to the compliance of the “Green Deal” policy with the Polish constitution. It can be very troublesome to answer them positively. The EU policy is not only implemented in the interest of the whole world, and its effectiveness is uncertain, if only due to the need for cooperation of the entire international community. An additional challenge may be the quite evident departure from the principle of sustainable development in favor of climate protection. Although the given questions are troublesome, they deserve attention and noticing an apparent collision.

The purpose of the scientific article is to implement the characteristics of rent payments for the use of subsoil as part of the implementation of state policy in the field of environmental protection. In the course of the study, the author determined that the mechanism of making rent payments refers to the economic and legal mechanism of the ecological function of the state. The necessity of understanding the economic function of the state as a system of means, methods, directions, measures, the implementation of which allows to solve strategic tasks to achieve the principles of rational use of natural resources, to stimulate the introduction of innovative technologies to green production. The mechanism of collection of rent payments is investigated, the bases of increase of rates of rent payments are defined. The types of rent payments are set. It is concluded that it is necessary to revise the regulatory approaches to understanding the base of accrual of rent payments, as well as the components of its further distribution between the revenue parts of the state and local budgets. It is proved that rent payments should perform a social function, ie the function of fair distribution of financial resources among all members of society or members of social groups. Taking into account the proved substantiated conclusion the expediency of revision of approaches to establishment of criteria of redistribution of receipts from payment of rent payments between means of the state national and means of local budgets is defined.

Celem artykułu jest analiza i ocena współpracy między Polską i Stanami Zjednoczonymi w zakresie wdrażania w życie Inicjatywy Trójmorza. We wprowadzeniu zarysowano specyfikę i cele TSI oraz główne założenia metodologiczne artykułu. Dwie pierwsze części poświęcono odpowiednio geopolitycznemu i gospodarczemu znaczeniu TSI dla Polski oraz dla regionu Europy Środkowo- Wschodniej i USA. Zasadnicza część artykułu koncentruje się na wspólnych działaniach Polski i Stanów Zjednoczonych na rzecz promowania i wdrażania TSI. Problem badawczy zawiera się w dwóch pytaniach badawczych: Czy zainicjowanie przez Polskę TSI zwiększyło jej znaczenie w polityce zagranicznej i bezpieczeństwa USA? Czy Polsce skutecznie udało się włączyć USA do współpracy na rzecz rozwoju TSI? Dzięki inicjatywie Polska umocniła w USA wizerunek lidera regionu, a administracja Donalda Trumpa zdecydowanie poparła i zaangażowała się w projekt. Istnieją szanse dalszej współpracy w ramach TSI, ponieważ podejście administracji Joego Bidena do tego projektu jak dotąd jest pozytywne. Podczas badań skorzystano z metody analizy źródeł tekstowych.

The presidential election in Belarus was planned for 19 December 2010. Although from the point of view of international law, it sounds cynical and ridiculous, it seems that the beginning of the “match” for the country governed by Alexander Lukashenko, in which one of the “main players” is Russia, was the gas dispute from June 2010. The publication contains an analysis of this dispute and a discussion on the Russian policy of economic blackmail. The dispute also reminded us of the problem of security of supply of natural gas to the European Union. The article therefore contains an overview of the energy situation in the EU and the process of working out a compromise formula for the resolution on security of supply of gas.

Turkey can join the EU once it has fulfilled the conditions and thus complies with European principles and laws. According to Turkish authorities, Ankara is ready and can adopt the full acquis communautaire by 2014. The aim of the article is to argue that seen in this light, the Nabucco pipeline project which is expected to bring Caspian gas to Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria via Turkey is of essential importance. By building this pipeline Turkey might become the fourth energy supply route for natural gas to Western Europe. Moreover, Turkey’s accession to the Energy Community Treaty as an equal partner with full rights would be an extremely important opportunity for Ankara to strengthen its position and commitment on its way to the membership in the EU.

Energy Security Policy of the People’s Republic of China towards the Caspian States of Central Asia

In contemporary international relations, the issue of energy security is becoming fundamental. Access to energy resources is an existential need of every country, conditioning its economic and social development. In such a situation, states try to construct long-term energy security policies to ensure smooth supplies of raw materials. The research problem is the analysis of the energy security policy of the People’s Republic of China towards the Caspian states of Central Asia: Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. In the research process, a hypothesis was verified, assuming that China’s energy security policy in the Caspian region of Central Asia is determined by the increased demand of this superpower for energy resources and geographical proximity to oil and gas deposits located in Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) became interested in the hydrocarbon resources of the Central Asian region right after the collapse of the USSR. At that time, the energy security policy of this superpower was implemented in several stages: from gaining access to the oil and gas reserves of the countries of the region to the construction of export pipelines supplying the absorptive Chinese market. Thus, the analysis presents the conditions of the PRC’s energy security policy, its institutional dimension and actions towards Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, both in upstream and midstream terms.

Nuclear energy in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. The essence of the problem

Characteristic of pomeranian voivodeship electricity sector, causes this region to struggle certain threats that affects is energy security. Solution for some of those threats might be a nuclear power plant that would be located on this voivodeship. Benefits would be seenable also for municipalities that are close to this investment and also for the whole country by reduce price for electricity. At the moment there are two seaside locations considered for the first nuclear power plant in Poland. The final choice will decide what kind of technology would likely be used.

Turkey’s energy security

Türkiye is dependent on imports of energy resources from abroad, but its current economic strategy is based on the diversification of supply sources, which will make it less susceptible to possible manipulation by suppliers. The government’s energy policy focuses on increasing the share of renewable energy resources and domestic energy. Despite the ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine, Türkiye has not given up on energy cooperation with Russia, trying to balance between East and West. The main reason was the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced Ankara to intensify economic and energy contacts with Moscow again. The aim of the article is to present the challenges that Türkiye is currently facing in the sphere of energy security. The authors of the article will try to answer the following research questions: What is the primary objective of Ankara’s economic strategy? Does Türkiye have alternatives to energy cooperation with Russia? The role of Ankara in the NATO Alliance is crucial as well as its position in the international arena. For this reason the research on Türkiye must be carried out.

Europe’s Energy security in the context of Russian invasion on Ukraine

The article presents an objective vision of the causes, content and possible consequences of non-compliance with energy security for the EU or Western democratic countries in connection with Russian imperialism’s aggression against Ukraine as a manifestation of the resurgent colonial Soviet thinking and practice of conquering states and enslaving nations. The concept of energy security has relatively new roots. Intensification of research, attempts at its systemic conceptualization are still ongoing. The author takes a contemporary view of the goals, threats, instruments, and methods of implementation of the policy of energy independence of the EU, diversification of resources and suppliers, and politically assesses the consequences of the still not fully overcome model of supply of raw materials from Russia to the countries of Europe as a hybrid threat. The scientific point of view organically correlates with the civic position, the principles of transatlantic energy security policy and the democratic European vision of contemporary events.

Impact of artificial intelligence development on energy security and smart city management

The development of technology in recent years has carried with it the rise of new solutions aimed at simplifying many areas of life. One of them is artificial intelligence, the progress of which is definitely noticeable and undeniable. The purpose of the article is to present applications of AI in selected areas most important from the point of view of state management. Also, an attempt will be made to define artificial intelligence by interpreting its basic functions and objectives. The most important fields of AI activity from the point of view of the article are energy security and the development of smart cities. Many examples of solutions and software developed by various companies have been presented. Analysis of the implementation of artificial intelligence in the areas described has shown that today it supports the processes taking place in them, although it is not an essential element of their functioning, it carries significant development potential. In conclusion, it has been shown that the development of artificial intelligence is not free of risks, including overdependence on it, the replacement of human labor with machine labor, and if the development of AI will not encounter an obstacle in the form of undeveloped technology.