No 5 (119) (2023)

The article analyses the origins of the current differences between Brussels and the countries of Central Europe, which tend to deepen and require much effort in order to preserve the unity of the European Union. The contradictions were already evident at the time of the admission of the countries to the EU, that took place according to an accelerated scenario in conditional compliance of these countries with the Maastricht and Copenhagen criteria. The condition, which dealt directly with the issues of market expansion and adaptation of new countries to it, initially received more attention than the condition, which involved political and legal issues. The deepening of the political union of the EU took place already after the admission of new countries, for many of which the new depths of convergence turned out to be unacceptable. However, that meant provoking confrontation with Brussels. Over 20 years of coexistence, the EU members made necessary compromises, however, from the middle of the second decade of the 21st century, disagreements became substantial and Brussels, using the financial leverage of the EU, began to pressure defiant countries, primarily Hungary and Poland. The author comes to the conclusion that in the current difficult international situation, the sides will have to reach a certain compromise.

In the context of the Ukrainian crisis, Western countries have significantly intensified their anti-Russian policy along with its collective development. The article examines the role of the UK in the process of multilateral formation of the collective Western anti-Russian policy. The theoretical basis of the study is the spatial approach and organisational theory. Based on the analysis of institutional-identitarian dynamics using the qualitative and quantitative content analysis, the British foreign policy identity, the transnational identity of the political space of the West, and their mutual influence are explored. It is concluded that the anti-Russian aspects of the foreign policy narratives of the UK and the collective West generally coincide. However, there are features in the corresponding discourse in the UK, which bring it closer to the discourse of the countries of the Anglosphere. International institutions and practices with the participation of the UK are considered, their compliance with anti-Russian narratives is substantiated. The article reveals the directions of British foreign policy that have the most influence on the collective policy of the West. The study focuses on cases where the British leadership was the first to take certain anti-Russian measures, encouraging other countries to follow its example. The reverse impact of international institutions and practices on the British foreign policy identity was analysed. It is argued that the UK has a significant influence on the formation of a collective anti-Russian policy, and is one of the leaders of the West in this context.

The article explores President of France N. Sarkozy’s contribution to overcoming the eurozone crisis in 2010 by analyzing the strategy of his diplomatic actions, as well as identifying the goals and motivations underlying them. The rescue of the European currency required a close coordination between Paris and Berlin. Despite differing views on the practical modalities related to the implementation of the European Economic Government project, the Franco-German tandem managed to convince the EU partners to take immediate action aimed at improving public financial management practices. Under the pretext of saving Greece from default, the euro zone from disintegration, and the European Union from economic destabilisation, the President of France, with the support of the German Chancellor, achieved the creation of the European Stabilization Mechanism and the European Financial Stability Fund, which were the first autonomous financial structures in the European Union to be managed directly by the bureaucracy in Brussels. Nicolas Sarkozy initiated the EU financial stability collective tools, which are still operating in the EU and functioning in accordance with the logic proposed by France in the midst of the eurozone public debt crisis.

The current international relations crisis caused significant adjustments to the foreign economic activity. During the sanctions confrontation, new restrictions affect more and more tradable sectors, which makes it impossible to maintain previously purchased equipment. It also contradicts legal obligations and the terms of warranty service in the field of spare parts supplies. Buyers represented by government agencies, legal entities and ordinary citizens who trusted Western (mostly European) manufacturers find it hard to deal with the situation. The state is forced to look for ways to supply products and spare parts for previously imported equipment. This process is called “critical import”. Alternative ways of trade development will in fact not only increase the chances to overcome the current international relations crisis, but will also give impetus to variety of possible scenarios for the world trade evolution. This article examines alternative ways of developing international economic cooperation, as well as the development of international relations in the short and medium term prospects. Parallel import is likely to increase during the current crisis and also various trade schemes are likely to develop, namely, barter, deliveries through third countries, the organisation of trading houses.

The article examines the realisation of the right to disconnect in the framework of workers’ social protection. The study explores different approaches to the definition of a new right. The right to disconnect is analysed on the basis of targeting and universality of social protection, soft and hard measures, the components of the new right, which include workers’ opportunity, employers’ responsibility, communication between employers and workers, protection from adverse consequences. The legal acts that serve as a foundation of the right to disconnect create a separate work pattern of teleworkers, which affects the formation of the targeting approach to social protection. The regulation of the right to disconnect introduced in European Social Partner framework agreement on digitalisation and European Parliament resolution of 21 January 2021 with recommendations to the Commission on the right to disconnect gives a more universal approach. The Resolution acknowledges the right to disconnect as a fundamental right and proposes hard regulatory and technological measures to ensure observation of work and rest periods. The agreement is based on the change in corporate culture. It is revealed that nowadays the right to disconnect serves as the only project aimed at regulating digital working relations in the framework of social protection of remote workers, however R2D can be limited by a narrow category of teleworkers. Debates over the right to disconnect touch upon the issue of the effectiveness of social dialogue in the context of adaptation to digital work organisation, as well as the possibility of keeping binary understanding of work and rest periods.

Youth policy is an important area of the EU social policy. The national specificity of the EU member states allows different models for the implementation of youth policy, corresponding to their history and political culture. The study aims to explore a transition from the universalist model of implementing the Romanian youth policy of the socialist period to a centralised (or Mediterranean) one in which traditional social institutions play a pivotal role, such as family and the Church. The study applies the content analysis and the systemic method. Romania's accession to the EU made the government pay more attention to the youth. The funds for the youth policy were allocated from European integration funds. The government's strategy was to develop education and additional educational services and help children and the youth without parental care and large families. However, the quality of education deteriorated, aid did not reach its recipients, and tactically strategic goals were not achieved. The state youth policy turned out to be ineffective. The Romanian Orthodox Church (RuOC) became involved in solving issues of supporting children and the youth. Together with municipalities, sponsors, foreign philanthropists, the RuOC opens a network of social centers for children of permanent residence, day care, socio-cultural (educational, leisure, sports). The RuOC conducts actions in support of the development of secondary education to prevent dropouts from school, provide clothing and school supplies, study native history, etc. In general, the participation of the RuOC in solving youth problems convincingly indicates that a centralised model for the implementation of youth policy has been formed in Romania.

In the middle of the 18th century, neighboring Russia began to show interest in Japan. Russia acquired vast territories of Eastern Siberia and Far East which made the countries the closest neighbors. In 1648 on the shore of the Sea of Okhotsk the first Russian settlement Kosoy Ostrozhok appeared, which marked the beginning of the development of the new lands of the Far East by Cossack detachments. Russians first learned about Japan from European books describing travels to that country and from the few notes of those Russians who had been to China and got acquainted with Japanese culture there. Before its "opening" in 1853, Japan allowed only the Dutch and Chinese into the country. The closure was partly due to attempts by the Portuguese to convert the Japanese to the Catholic faith, but mainly to protect the country from the threat of European colonialism. Having become Japan's neighbor, the Russians tried to establish ties with Japan with neither religious nor invasive plans. However, despite repeated attempts by Peter the Great and his successors to convince the Japanese, they failed to do so. Russians got there very rarely and only as prisoners, and the Japanese happened to be in Russia after shipwrecks or navigational errors. The more Russia learned about Japan, the stronger was the desire to establish relations with it. Since the beginning of the 18th century Russia repeatedly sent maritime expeditions to explore the Kurils and Sakhalin. Similar efforts were made by the Japanese. These territories, including Hokkaido, were inhabited mainly by the Ainu and Nivkhi, and Russians and Japanese appeared from time to time on these islands, but the attempt to determine their state affiliation was made only in 1855. Until that time all Russian attempts to establish diplomatic and trade relations with Japan had failed. At the same time the result of these efforts was an accumulation of knowledge about each other and a growing mutual interest. Peter's interest in Japan was determined primarily by the fact that Russia's access to the Pacific Ocean required the development of new lands, and trade relations with Japan could be an important element in their economic development.

The article continues the study of the role of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR A.A. Gromyko in the shaping, development and maintenance of security policy, its principles and structural elements. The relevance of the article is determined by the importance of strategy and strategic thinking in modern foreign policy and diplomacy, their influence on interstate cooperation, the evolution and manageability of international relations. The subject of the article is the study of the strategic project of detente developed by A.A. Gromyko to 1972-1973. The chronological framework of the study is limited to 1972 and 1973. The article consists of three subsections. The first subsection examines the criteria for bilateralism and presents the conditions for concluding new agreements, substantiates the importance of purposeful work on new agreements. The second subsection analyzes the differences between formal balance and equal security. At present, the concept of «equal security» has become a structural element of the foreign policy doctrine and security doctrine of the Russian Federation. The third subsection characterizes the content of the strategic project, the features of differentiated cooperation - the interaction of the USSR with small, medium and large countries, shows the meaning of the concept of «pure national interest», mechanisms for the transition to a «long-term detente» of international tension. The author explores the approaches of A.A. Gromyko to a new system of international relations during the negotiations on the Moscow Treaty. The possible practical application of the main elements of the project in modern times is determined. The sources of the article are published documents of the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany. The author conducts the analysis on the basis of the foreign partners' assessment of the statements made by the Soviet Foreign Minister during official negotiations.