The general understanding of security and key threats in the neighborhood and in the Wider Black Sea region went through a process of significant evolution in Romania . The Russian aggression first against in Georgia in 2008 and then in Ukraine starting from 2014 and with a high point in 2022 have triggered the process of such evolution. Bucharest has put its stakes on Trans-Atlantic solidarity, strengthening its ties with the United States, and focusing on meeting NATO’s requirements. Militarization of the Black Sea region is perceived as a challenge to Romania’s national security and the attempts to adjust to the new realities with the available security tools are the main factors shaping Romanian strategic thinking.
Sergiy Gerasymchuk is the Deputy Executive Director, Regional Initiatives and Neighborhood Program Director. Sergiy is involved in political studies since 2001 and has the experience of working for the Secretariat of the Parliament of Ukraine, scientific research institutions under the President of Ukraine and under Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. Besides, he was involved in the project implemented by national and international think tanks in Ukraine and in the area of Eastern Partnership. The areas of professional interest: political studies and political process in Ukraine, the activities of think tanks and civil society, regional security and frozen conflicts, transborder cooperation.
Yaroslav Matiychyk, Executive Director at Strategic and Security Studies Group (Kyiv, Ukraine). Previously Mr. Matiychyk was working as a Head of Foreign Policy Strategy Department at the National Institute for Strategic Studies, Senior Fellow at the Institute of National Security and Chief of Monitoring Unit at the National Institute for International Security Problems. He graduated from the Academy of State Governance under the President of Ukraine and also is an alumnus of the George C. Marshall European Center For Security Studies, Szeged Security Policy Center, Swiss Institute of Information Technologies. The key research interests of Mr. Matiychyk are national and international security studies, foreign policy of Ukraine, national security policy of Ukraine.
This policy brief is developed within the project “Romanian – Ukrainian Civil Society Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation. Third edition”, implemented by the Experts for Security and Global Affairs Association, Romania, in partnership with Strategic and Security Studies Group and Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian PRISM”, Ukraine, with the support of Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation, a project of the German Marshall Fund. The views expressed in this policy paper are those of the author and do not necessarily coincide with those of ESGA partners.