Economic relations between Russia and Eastern Europe are reasonably stable, but they are characterized by lack of scale. Therefore, sanctions/contrsanctions have not a systemic effect on bilateral relations, although they have on individual companies. Prospects for Russia’s economic relations with the Eastern European countries are evaluated in terms of their embeddedness in the overall relations between Russia and the West. It follows that is not necessary to expect a quick lifting of sanctions, despite the obvious decline over time the economic damage they cause to all parties involved. Possible in the long term mutual cancellation of sanctions regimes will likely be expressed in increase of the positive effects on normalization of trade and investment, but the magnitude of these effects will hardly be noticeable.

When analyzing events which unfolded in the Ukraine during the final months of 2004 and the involvement of Polish politicians and public opinion in the struggle for the preservation of the democratic character of presidential elections, a question arises regarding the connection of their actions with the political projects of Jerzy Giedroyć, the founder and sole editor of an influential magazine and a centre of political thought, which was Culture, published in Maisons-Laffitte, near Paris, in the years 1947–2000. Historians and political scientists rightly emphasize the fact that the „Eastern doctrine”, also known as the ULB doctrine (from the abbreviation of „Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus”), has been a constant element of Polish foreign policy since 1989. Generally speaking, Giedroyć was convinced that nationalist impulses would eventually destroy the Russian empire from within, and a sovereign Poland would gain three new neighbours in the East: Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus. This process was expected to take place in the near future, as foreseen by Culture contributors who called on the émigrés from Eastern Europe to work together in laying solid foundations for the future partnership.

The paper Politics of Russia and security of Eastern Europe after 1991 examines the impact of policy on Russia after 1991, the safety of Eastern Europe. The author focused on activities of Russia to Ukraine and the Caucasus at the beginning of the 21st century. In that time is the activation of Western policy in the region. NATO turns out logistical support of the region’s States in the reconstruction and modernization of the armed forces. Russia’s response to the aggressive military action, the effect of which was the war with Georgia in 2008 and annexation of Crimea in 2014. It takes place now hybrid warfare with the Alliance and consolidated at the same countries such as Ukraine. The escalation of the aggressive actions of Russia threatens regional and delay the integration of Eastern European States with the European Union.

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 article seeks to assess the degree to which Poland exercises power and influence in the Eastern policy of the European Union (EU) from the early 21st century until now, focusing on the attributes of Poland’s latest contribution to the EU policies – the Eastern Partnership (EaP). The article examines also challenges and discussions on Polish strategy towards Eastern Europe. The authors prove that the main points of Poland’s Eastern policy are that the improper attention to it will result in loss of status positions in the international arena; Poland should not be limited by the role of the architect artist in Franco-German project in Europe; European perspective is the only incentive that can encourage the reforms in Eastern Europe; the failure to provide such a perspective would lead to social and economic instability in the region and the drift towards the participation in reintegration projects in post-Soviet space with Moscow; the Eastern Partnership should be considered as a step towards the joining the EU; Europe will take Poland into consideration only as a regional leader; Russian neo-imperialism is a challenge for Poland’s security and needs a strict reaction.

The changing political system of the XXI century has brought many shifts not only in the global balance of power but also in various regional balances scattered across the globe. The rise of national power in countries beforehand classified as small powers or other equivalents has forced to once again place these states in the newly created balances of power. Amongst these states is Poland, whose national power has grown substantially in the last decade. Hence, it is necessary to analyze how Poland compares to other states in the international system, on a global and regional level, and through this evaluate what Poland’s international position is. The article aims at assessing Polish national power and roles in regional initiatives to examine how Poland is placed in the global and regional balance of power.

Lazarians as ambassadors of the national identity of Poles in Eastern Europe. The past, the present and the future

The article is dedicated to the activity on the part of Congregation of the Mission founded by Vincent de Paul, the so-called Lazarians, starting with their arrival to Poland in the 17th century, followed by their activity spreading to various parts of the Polish Republic in the subsequent centuries and the Mission’s difficulties in the 20th century in what is now Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. Attention is also given to the scope and role of Congregation of the Mission in maintaining religious, linguistic and cultural traditions in the local Polish diasporas.

Lazaristé velvyslanci národní identity Poláků na východě Evropy. Minulost-přítomnost-budoucnost

Systemic Geopolitical Analysis in the research of power distribution in Eastern Europe

The article presents Systemic Geopolitical Analysis, which as a scientific method can be an important tool for studying the distribution of power in Eastern Europe, supporting the assumptions of structural realism with an element of quantitative research. This region, as a place where spheres of influence and the ensuing economic and potentially military conflicts meet, is an area where the knowledge of the most precise distribution of power may be a crucial element in the analysis of the genesis of conflicts, the shifts in power distribution during their course, as well as in the prediction of future flashpoints. Being the first attempt to correlate Systemic Geopolitical Analysis with the issue of conflicts in Eastern Europe, the paper contains a hypothesis that Systemic Geopolitical Analysis is a research method that enables an effective analysis of the geopolitical reality in the region because of: 1) the conflicts occurring in the system due to differences in power distribution; 2) the nature of the components of power, measurable by the means of Systemic Geopolitical Analysis. Confirming the above hypothesis, the article points to the economic aspect, linked to the Russian natural gas exports, and the military aspect, by taking into account the characteristics of contemporary tensions in the region, which reduce the role of supra-systemic reserves.

The fall of Communism in the Central and Eastern European countries in the year 1989, was a historical change had occurred after the demise of communism. The decline of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 was one of the most important proceedings of the period: the conclusive end of the Cold War and the Iron Curtain. After the disintegration of the former USSR, the Eastern bloc had started the modernisation of institutions and adopted the norms of democracy. The third wave of democratisation of Samuel P. Huntington’s theory would apply the democratic changes in Central and Eastern Europe and Romania as well. It traces the discussions and opinions of institutional and political development in Romania with special attention to the events around 1989 Post-communism and Eastern enlargement of the European Union. The paper assesses the role of the European Union to promote democratization through Eastern neighbour policy. The paper broadly discusses the institutional and political development in Romania and the role of Copenhagen criteria and the country’s accession to the EU in early 2007. The result of this article is that Romania has successfully integrated into the European Union but that democratization is declining in the country.

The conducted research indicates the elements characteristic of power relations among states in Eastern Europe by describing them in mathematical terms. Using existing assumptions and resulting universal powermetric models, the study adapts them to the specifics of the region, enabling the implementation of the negative role of the imports of Russian energy resources in calculating the power of individual states. The role of trade links based on the two main energy resources – natural gas and crude oil – has been indicated. Imports of these raw materials from Russia, which constitute a significant part of the balance of resources used in the energy sectors of the importing countries, are the source of reduction of the geopolitical position of these states in the region, in relation to the position held by the Russian Federation. By taking into account the negative impact of trade in energy resources due to their use by the Russian Federation as a tool in achieving geostrategic goals, the conclusions obtained in the study allow for an increase in the accuracy of existing powermetric models in research on power distribution in Eastern Europe.

Motivations of students coming from Eastern Europe to study in Poland – international, local and institutional context

The article comprises a presentation of the motivations that accompany students coming from Belarus, Lithuania, Russia, and Ukraine when deciding to study in Poland. The theoretical framework for examining the motivation of foreign students’ migration decisions is the push-pull factors model by Everett Lee. The analyzed material comes from an online survey of foreign students studying at the University of Wroclaw and the Maria Curie Sklodowska University in Lublin in December 2022 and January 2023. The study focuses on the factors that attract foreign students to specific destinations in three contexts: international (why Poland?), local (why a particular city?), and institutional (why a particular university?). The pull factors of greatest importance for foreign students from both universities turned out to be economic and cultural ones. The evaluation of the level of democracy in Poland was also significant. Taking into account the local context, it is worth noting that Wroclaw and Lublin attract not only with their original educational offer but also with their “urban atmosphere,” a “climate” conducive to ethnic difference. Social networks – understood as having family or friends in the country, the city of study or the chosen university – turned out to be the least important for the decision to study in Poland.