International Round Table "Neo-Imperialism Between the Baltic and Black Seas"

May – June 2020: Participation in the Preparation and Hosting of the International Round Table "Neo-Imperialism Between the Baltic and Black Seas"

Between May and June 2020, the Charitable Foundation "Social Resources and Initiatives" participated in the preparation and hosting of the International Round Table, titled "Neo-Imperialism Between the Baltic and Black Seas."

Objective: The event aimed to establish an expert platform involving leading politicians and scholars from the Baltic-Black Sea region to analyze the impact of Kremlin's neo-imperialism in the region and develop scientific and practical approaches to countering the associated challenges and threats.

Key Message: Since 2014, Kremlin neo-imperialism has become a global political reality. Violations of sovereignty, military aggression, energy blackmail, interference in internal affairs, and the use of global crises as tools of influence have dominated the international discourse for six years. For the Baltic-Black Sea region, this issue is not merely theoretical but a direct existential challenge.

Conference Details

• Date: June 19, 2020
• Format: Online event via Zoom (Live-streamed on media partner websites)

Organizers

• NGO "Center for Political Narratives of Democracy" (Chernivtsi, Ukraine)
• NGO "Institute for Democratization and Development" (Kyiv, Ukraine)
• Ivan Zolotousty Academy (Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine)
• NGO "Institute of World Policy" (Kyiv, Ukraine)

Partners

• Vasyl Stus Donetsk National University (Donetsk-Vinnytsia, Ukraine)
• NGO "Center for International Security" (Donetsk-Kyiv, Ukraine)
• Charitable Foundation "Social Resources and Initiatives" (Chernivtsi, Ukraine)
• NGO "Center for Advanced Studies and Regional Development" (Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ukraine)
• NGO "Institute for Political Studies and Social Capital" (Chernivtsi, Ukraine)
• Center for Romanian Studies, Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University (Chernivtsi, Ukraine)
• Ukrainian World Congress of Youth Organizations (СКУМО)
• "East House Foundation" (Fundacja Domu Wschodniego, Warsaw, Poland)
• Black Sea House Association (Constanța, Romania)
• Belarus Security Blog (NGO "Belarus Security Blog", Minsk, Belarus)
• Lithuanian Atlantic Treaty Association (Vilnius, Lithuania)
• Black Sea International University (Tbilisi, Georgia)

Media Partners

• Western Information Front
• Polonews
• BucPress
• Molodyi Bukovynets
• Obserwator Międzynarodowy
• GeoPolitica
• Ukrainians.MD
• Europunkt.ro
• Svitua.org ("Stozhary")

Discussion Panels

1. Neo-Imperialism as a Destructive Factor in the Political Reality of the Baltic-Black Sea Region
2. Neo-Imperialism vs. the Sovereignty of Regional States
3. The Imperialist Instrumentalization of Global Crises and Challenges

Key Participants and Speakers

The event featured leading experts, including:

• Serhiy Hakman – Vice President of the Foundation, political scientist, translator, Deputy Director of the Chernivtsi Regional Center for Retraining and Advanced Training of Civil Servants (Ukraine)
• Evgeniy Bilonozhko – Editor-in-Chief of "Polonews", political scientist (Ukraine)
• Kazimierz Vujchitsky – Professor at Warsaw University, political scientist (Poland)
• Angela Gramade – President of ESGA think tank (Romania)
•  Vilius Kaminskas – President of the Lithuanian Atlantic Treaty Association (Lithuania)
•  Nika Chitadze – Professor, Director of the Center for International Studies, International Black Sea University (Georgia)
• Grigory Perepelytsia – Doctor of Political Science, Director of the Institute of Foreign Policy Studies (Ukraine)
• Roman Russu – Political scientist, Secretary General of the Ukrainian World Congress of Youth Organizations (Moldova)
• Dorin Popescu – Diplomat, President of Black Sea House Association (Romania)
• 

Notable Participants and Experts

📌 Ukraine

• Evgeniy Bilonozhko – PhD in Philosophy, Editor-in-Chief of Polonews, political scientist, journalist, translator
• Oleh Bilous – PhD in Political Science, Vice-Rector of Ivan Zolotousty Academy
• Serhiy Hakman – PhD in History, political scientist, translator, Deputy Director of Chernivtsi Regional Center for Civil Servant Training
• Marin Herman – PhD in Political Science, Editor-in-Chief of BucPress, journalist, translator
• Stanislav Zhelykhovskyi – PhD in Political Science, leading expert at H. Udovenko Diplomatic Academy
• Andriy Karakuts – PhD in History, First Deputy Director of Center for International Security
• Valeriy Kravchenko – PhD in History, Senior Researcher at National Institute for Strategic Studies, Director of Center for International Security
• Pavlo Lodin – Political scientist, journalist, Executive Director of Center for Political Narratives of Democracy
• Yevhen Magda – PhD in Political Science, Associate Professor at NTUU KPI, Executive Director of Institute for World Policy
• Maksym Mykhailenko – Political scientist, Editor-in-Chief of Newssky, Director of Research at IDS Kronos
• Hryhoriy Perepelytsia – Doctor of Political Science, Professor at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Director of Institute of Foreign Policy Studies
• Dmytro Sav’yuk – Political scientist, Head of Institute for Democratization and Development, Advisor to the President of Ukrainian World Congress of Youth Organizations
• Yuriy Temirov – PhD in History, Dean of Faculty of History and International Relations, Vasyl Stus Donetsk National University
• Ihor Todorov – Doctor of History, Professor at Uzhhorod National University
• Serhiy Fedunyak – Doctor of Political Science, Professor at Department of International Relations, Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, Director of Strategic Projects at Center for Political Narratives of Democracy

📌 Poland

• Kazimierz Vujchitsky – Professor at Warsaw University, political scientist
• Ostap Kushnir – PhD, Lecturer at Lazarski University, political scientist
• Tomasz Lyakhovsky – Professor at University of Łódź, Editor-in-Chief of Obserwator Międzynarodowy
• Viktor Mozhgin – Political scientist, PhD Candidate at Jagiellonian University

📌 Romania

• Angela Gramade – President of ESGA Think Tank
• Vasile Similanu – President-Founder of Ion Coja Geopolitical Association, Director of Geopolitica Journal, Associate Professor at Academy of Economic Studies (Bucharest), Member of Academy of Scientists of Romania
• Dorin Popescu – PhD, political scientist, diplomat, President of Black Sea House Association
• Liviu Iancu – Political scientist, Director of Association Eurocentrica, Editor at EuroPunkt.ro

📌 Lithuania

• Vilius Kaminskas – President of Lithuanian Atlantic Treaty Association
• Audrius Skaystis – Member of the Atlantic Treaty Association Council, Deputy Director of Department for Cultural Heritage Protection, Ministry of Culture

📌 Moldova

• Roman Russu – MA in Political Science, Secretary-General of Ukrainian World Congress of Youth Organizations (СКУМО), Editor-in-Chief of Ukrainians.md

📌 Belarus

• Zmitser Mitskevich – Analyst at Belarus Security Blog, Editor-in-Chief of Varta Almanac, journalist at Belsat TV

📌 Georgia

• Teona Kakhiiani – Vice President of Ukrainian World Congress of Youth Organizations

• Vakhtang Tsotsanava – Political scientist

• Nika Chitadze – Professor, Director of Center for International Studies, International Black Sea University

📌 Hungary

• Sandor Fjoldvari – Historian, political scientist, Research Fellow at Baltic Studies Center, University of Debrecen

Event Highlights

• Cross-border discussion on neo-imperialism and its impact on the Baltic-Black Sea region
• Debate on hybrid threats, sovereignty, and global crisis exploitation
• Proposals for countering aggressive foreign policies through regional security cooperation