East-Central Europe can be easily distinguished, despite diff erent views on the subject, as a geographical space. It cannot be said, however, that it constitutes a distinct and coherent political, economic, social, and cultural space. Changes taking place in contemporary Europe, in particular those associated with the integration processes, mark a new, specifi c dividing line, different from that during the Cold War. It runs across the geographical, and, consequently, social, political, economic and cultural space of East-Central Europe. Th e research objective is therefore to identify and analyze the “fracture” of social space in this part of Europe. For research purposes it is assumed that social space, denoting the whole of social behaviors and ties as well as material products of human activity, is a complex, multifaceted construction. Especially signifi cant seems to be the problem of the political empowerments of society and its limitations, the problem of the socio-economic situation, and the problem of cultural identity. It is also assumed that the EU’s political strategy currently being pursued, consisting in relinquishing the prospect of EU enlargement towards the east to include selected countries of the so-called post-Soviet area, contributes to strengthening “the fracture” of East-Central Europe. Th is is apparently the result of the European Union’s implementation of “A Europe of Projects” strategy, which is the measures undertaken under the European Neighbourhood Policy, Eastern Partnership, or Back Sea Synergy.

Prowadzenie skutecznej polityki, nieulegającej ideologicznym manifestacjom, może opierać się na unijnym instrumentarium nawet pomimo aktualnego kryzysu integracji europejskiej. Rozsądną odpowiedzią na dylematy geopolityczne Rzeczpospolitej nie wydaje się tzw. „idea jagiellońska”, gdyż potencjalnie stanowi ona przeciwieństwo istniejących filarów bezpieczeństwa narodowego, tj. NATO i UE. Redukowanie polskiej polityki do anachronicznych fantazji o wspólnocie środkowoeuropejskiej może powodować obniżenie znaczenie Polski w strukturach euroatlantyckich. Członkostwo w instytucjach świata zachodniego, polegające m.in. na współpracy z Niemcami, stanowiło do tej pory o bezpieczeństwie Rzeczpospolitej, choć obecnie nie przystaje ono do historycznej koncepcji tzw. „polityki piastowskiej”, głównie z uwagi na obserwowany proces dezintegracji wspólnoty europejskiej.

The aim of the paper is an attempt at evaluating the Eastern Partnership from the point of view of the socio-cultural dimension in a broad sense. Do cultural and civilisational factors influence relations between the EU and Eastern European and South Caucasus countries? Is the EU capable of further enlargement? The Eastern Partnership is experiencing significant turmoil (Russia-Ukraine war, unstable South Caucasus) which begs the question of the future of the policy. Moreover, the paper tackles the issue of the EU’s internal factors and their influence upon relations with Eastern countries.

The government in the political solutions of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia

The article deals with the issue of government in Central and Eastern Europe, understood as one of the executive branch entities, appointed by the representative body, on the example of three countries, the Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. These countries are joined by a common, difficult history, a system of government adopted after 1989, mutual neighborhood, convergent interests. The executive model functioning in these countries sets Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia in the group of states with a parliamentary- cabinet system of government. In addition to the president elected in direct elections, there is a collegial body-government headed by the prime minister. The government with the prime minister is de facto the subject with the greatest resource of power and a fundamental influence on the country’s policy, both in the national and foreign dimensions.

Tożsamość religijna w społeczeństwach Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej ulega aktualnie silnym przemianom związanym zarówno z konsekwencjami transformacji systemowej, zmianami kulturowymi, jak i przemianami wewnątrz Kościołów. W nowych demokratycznych warunkach w państwach takich jak Polska, Słowacja i Ukraina tożsamość religijna staje się także jedną z tożsamości zbiorowych manifestowanych w sferze publicznej i istotnych nie tylko w kontekście dyskursu publicznego, ale także w kontekstach lokalnych, tj. tożsamości lokalnej i tożsamości miejsca. Autorka przedstawia w artykule refleksje dotyczące znaczeń religijnej tożsamości zbiorowej w lokalnej przestrzeni publicznej. Są to spostrzeżenia wyłaniające się z prowadzonych badań jakościowych. Zarysowują się tutaj trzy istotne konteksty znaczeń tożsamości religijnej w lokalnej przestrzeni życia publicznego: 1) specyfika roli religijności i religii w życiu publicznym w tej części Europy, 2) kulturowe i instytucjonalne znaczenia identyfikacji religijnej w odniesieniu do tożsamości lokalnej i tożsamości miejsca, 3) problematyka narracji wokół wieloreligijnego dziedzictwa sakralnego w społecznościach lokalnych, która wprowadza nowy sposób percepcji religijnej tożsamości jako kulturowego zasobu związanego z miejscem i pamięcią.

The aim of this research is to describe China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) in the context of broader economic cooperation among the Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC). This research investigates the infrastructural development in the CEE countries under the 17+1 initiative in the entire region. Further, this study explores different approaches of economic cooperation between CEEC and China and points out the Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in individual CEE-17 countries. What kind of cooperation and mutual interrelation does China’s economic cooperation develop with the member states of the 17+1 initiative? To what extent do the CEE countries transform their economy in the framework of the 17+1 project? It is very clear that China needs to develop more effective mechanisms for wider cooperation in CEE countries to achieve the goal of the BRI initiative. This research mainly produces empirical studies to investigate the objectives and hypotheses. As of now, the result of the BRI initiative and 17+1 framework projects impacted limited economic transition in the CEE countries. The article concludes that there is a need to accelerate different BRI projects proportionally in the CEE countries. Moreover, this study shows that there is a trade deficit between the CEE countries and China. This article indicates that as a recommendation for bilateral cooperation between CEE countries and China, there is a need for large levels of cooperation at the regional level.

THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN INITIATIVE DURING THE BULGARIAN PRESIDENCY HELD IN 2022

This text analyses the implementation of the main priorities of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Central European Initiative (CEI) in 2022. The current activities of the Initiative are presented through an analysis of priorities and planned tasks. This analysis shows that the CEI – which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary – is meticulously performing the tasks for which it was established. It undertakes a number of activities for the integration within the EU, regional security and sustainable development issues. Almost all the planned events were organized during the Bulgarian Presidency. Meetings were held in each of the areas of the CEI activity, i.e. the parliamentary, governmental, economic and recently developed local dimensions. The official programme of the Presidency, the indicative calendar of events, as well as information published on the official website of the Initiative and on the websites of some Bulgarian ministries and institutions involved in the Presidency, form the basis of the research.

The role of anthems in the process of forming Central European national identities based on the book by Csaba G. Kiss

Csaba G. Kiss, using comparative analysis, has not only attempted to uncover the corpus of dominant motifs in national songs, but has also indicated how their selection was influenced by historical events and the traditions of individual communities. Particularly noteworthy are the sections of the work where the links between the songs produced in different national communities are presented, both in terms of their forms and content. On the other hand, what can draw exceptional admiration is the enormous erudition of the author of The Anthems of East-Central Europe, who in his investigations referred not only to the literature in the languages of the conference, but also made extensive use of Polish, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Romanian and - understandably because of his origin – Hungarian studies. Minor errors of a factual nature are somewhat surprising, such as the attribution to Alexander I the paternity of Grand Duke Constantine, commander-in-chief of the Polish army and the actual governor of Congress Poland from 1815 to 1830. The book under review can be considered a highly successful example of the use of comparative analysis in research dedicated to the emergence of national identity in Central Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries.