FROM THE VIKINGS TO THE EU NEIGHBOURHOOD AND ENLARGEMENT POLICY

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1 FROM THE VIKINGS TO THE EU NEIGHBOURHOOD AND ENLARGEMENT POLICY BALTIC AND BLACK SEA CITIES AS DRIVERS OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION Adam Balcer Stockholm,

2 BALTIC AND BLACK SEA IN EUROPE source:

3 Strong historical legacy- no starting from the scratch BULLET POINTS BALTIC CITIES AS ENGINES OF THE EU ENGAGEMENT IN THE BLACK SEA REGION Intensification of relations between the EU and the Black Sea despite the rising instability in the region as a window of opportunity Crucial role of the Baltic states in the approximation between the Black Sea region and the EU Black Sea-Baltic Sea specificity (Sea-Land-Sea)

4 WHY? GEOGRAPHY So far, so close very closely located seas in Europe no directly connected through the seawaters but through rivers; continental context: North- the South Axis within Eurasia, the end of New Silk Road- both seas as gates to Europe; the global context both seas located on the sea-land-sea corridor between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Source:

5 WHY? HISTORY AND CULTURE Source: United in diversity Cultural interactions through trade (from Varangians to Greeks, Gdansk-Lviv-Istanbul); Communities (e.g. Crimean Goths, Lithuanian Tatars and Karaims, Estonians and Poles in Georgia, Gammalsvenskby in Kherson Oblast, Mennonites from the Vistula Delta in the Ukrainian Steppe); State traditions (Kievan Rus, Lithuanian-Polish Union/Commonwealth); Alliances (Poland, Ukraine, Sweden, Turkey) Common heroes (e.g. Harald Hadrada, Sari Saltuk, Charles XII and Pylyp Orlyk).

6 WHY? HISTORY AND CULTURE Source:

7 WHY? HISTORY AND CULTURE Source:

8 WHY? HISTORY AND CULTURE Source:

9 WHY? ECONOMY Developing infrastructure (planned and realized): Railways (Viking project) Pipelines (Odessa-Brody-Gdańsk) Source:

10 WHY? ECONOMY Developing infrastructure (planned and realized): Motorways (Via Carpathia) source:

11 WHY? ECONOMY Developing infrastructure (planned and realized): Motorways (Orient-East-Med) source:

12 WHY? ECONOMY Developing infrastructure (planned and realized): Water Corridor (Danubue- Oder-Elbe) source:

13 EU- BALTIC- BLACK SEA Rising EU engagement in the Black Sea region (membership, enlargment, neighbourhood- the Eastern Partnership, the Black Sea Synergy, EU Strategy for the Danubue Region, liberalization of visa regimes) Baltic states as main pillars of the EU engagement in the region (e.g. Poland and Sweden- the initiators of EaP, Lithuania, Estonia, Lativa-its active supporters, Germany -economic engine, social ties, diasporas) The establishment of cooperation between the Council of Baltic Sea States (CBSS) and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC)

14 EU CITY-ORIENTED APPROACH The local authorities in the Black Sea region enjoying the highest social confidence among public institutions The social trust as a precondition of the success of transformation and integration with the EU The cooperation between the Baltic cities and the Black Sea partners as a key instrument to promote the bottom-up approach

15 EU CITY-ORIENTED APPROACH Baltic cities as pillars of the CORLEAP and active members of the Working Group wih Turkey Dynamic cooperation between certain Black Sea and Baltic cities in a wider context (ALDA Gdańsk and Mariupol, Rostock with Batumi within the framework of GIZ) Already achieved bilateral ties (Varna twinned with Rostock, Aalaborg (non-member of the UBC), Malmo, Turku and St. Petersburg) and still work in progress (partnership between Panevezys with Kutaisi signed at the end of 2016)

16 CHALLENGES Russia's neo-imperial policy in the Black Sea region Turkey's authoritarian slide Lack of the Union of Black Sea cities Many twinnings between cities from the Baltic countries with the cities from the Black Sea countries Not so many twinings between Black Sea cities and Black Sea cities (coastal regions)

17 RECOMMENDATIONS to establish a working group within the UBC and a partnership with the International Black Sea Club, including a common platform in order to research the cooperation between both regions in bilateral and multilateral formats to share the know-how and best practicies of the Baltic region with the Black Sea partners, strategic goal- the establishment of the Union of the Black Sea Cities to establish as close as possible cooperation with the EU institutions and initiatives to rise the awareness of societies and elites in both regions about common past and mutual benefits stemming from the cooperation (win-win)

18 Thank you for your attention ADAM BALCER t