BALKAN STUDIES

Antonia Dimou
(Senior Advisor, Research Institute for European and American Studies, Greece, and Associate at the Center for Strategic Studies, University of Jordan)

Copyright: http://www.cceia.unic.ac.cy (Cyprus Centre for European and International Affairs) – Publication Date on RIEAS web site: 21 June 2015

The discovery of natural gas resources in the East Mediterranean promise important benefits of energy security and economic gains. A 2010 US geological survey showed that the Levantine basin - offshore Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus - could hold as much as 120 trillion cubic feet, thus securing supply of energy not only for the countries of the region but also for Europe.

Regional countries are currently at various stages of exploration and development which are however fraught by political risks and policy dilemmas. Thus cooperation, conflict resolution and the creation of interdependency structures are prerequisites to unlock the potential of the region and safeguard the unimpeded flow of future gas production... Read more

Claudiu-Nicolae Sonda
(Postgraduate student in the M.A. Program - the International and European Relations-in the Linkoping University, Sweden)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 4 April 2015

No discussion over the Black Sea region can be complete without referring to the energy field, more specifically oil and gas resources, pipelines, and transit routes. The energy sector is crucial not only in economic terms, but also for security. By security we mean energy security, defined as 'the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price'. Furthermore, we are talking about security in traditional terms, mainly the danger of inter-state conflict over the control /access to natural resources...Read more

The criminal group was suspected of facilitating the illegal entry into the EU of migrants mainly Syrian via maritime routes from Turkey to Greece

Copyright: www.europol.europa.eu – Publication Date on RIEAS (www.rieas.gr) 23 March 2015

On 10-11 March 2015, Greek law enforcement authorities, with the support of Europol, dismantled an organized criminal group suspected of facilitating the entry of irregular migrants - mainly Syrian nationals - into Greece from Turkey via maritime routes. The group also smuggled victims from Greece to other EU Member States through a range of methods, and was involved in the production and distribution of forged travel documents and their trading to other organized criminal groups. The criminal network operated in Greece and was formed of members from several countries including Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Romania...Read more

Antonia Dimou
(Senior Advisor, Research Institute for European and American Studies, Greece and Associate at the Center for Strategic Studies, University of Jordan)

Copyright: www.cceia.unic.ac.cy Publication Date on RIEAS web site: 15 February 2015

The national parliamentary elections in Greece highlighted the victory for the first time ever of left-wing Syriza party which gained 36.3 percent of the voter turnout securing 149 seats out of 300, short of an absolute majority. The election outcome prompted the formation of a coalition government with The Independent Greeks far-right party that supports an end to austerity. On the other side of the political spectrum, until recently ruling conservative New Democracy lost 2.1 percent of its vote share as compared to the 2012 national elections, a percentage that when converted into numbers represents a loss of 53 seats. Social democratic party Pasok continued to shrink and became the last political force that surpassed the 3 percent threshold with seats being reduced to merely 13 from 33 in 2012... Read more

Claudiu-Nicolae Sonda
(Postgraduate student in the M.A. Program - the International and European Relations-in the Linkoping University, Sweden)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date on 31 January 2015

In this article we will present a short account of the political scene in Moldova during the dissolution of the Soviet Empire, and in its aftermath. We are tracing the growth of the Democratic Movement of Moldova, and its metamorphosis into a well-organized political group which managed to get its own Prime-Minister in power, and to restore pluralism inside the Moldavian parliament. The completion of our journey will be the frozen conflict of Transnistria, which drew a yet unsettled line of contention between right-bank and left-bank Moldova....Read more