THE BALTIC-BLACK SEA UNION AS AN AXIS OF UKRAINE’S SECURITY: REALITIES AND DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS

Abstract

The article analyzes the stages of formation of the Baltic-Black Sea community as a geopolitical, economic and security area, the historical and theoretical basis for the emergence of such a community and the changes that took place in the Baltic-Black Sea region after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine in 2022. In addition, the issue of security cooperation is considered states of the region. The main priorities for the development of cooperation between states in the future have been identified. The main questions regarding the issues of cooperation between the states of the region and the structures of the EU and NATO in conditions of tension and open aggression of the Russian Federation after 2022 have been developed. Today, it is obvious that when specialists and politicians of the region discuss the project of the Baltic-Black Sea Alliance, it is primarily about security aspects and motives. In our opinion, only one security aspect is not enough for a project to be complete and viable. The economic component of project implementation is also extremely important. The West’s delay in accepting Ukraine into the EU and NATO requires Ukraine to find allies to protect its independence and sovereignty from Russian aggression. Such potential allies are primarily Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Moldova, and Georgia, which, like Ukraine, have more than once been victims of the imperial policy of tsarist, Soviet, and Putin’s Russia. Nowdays we can see that Western Europe is no longer ready to offer new guidelines, then the Baltic-Black Sea Corridor should become not only a territory for the generation of joint economic benefits, but also a territory for the generation of new meanings. The Baltic-Black Sea Union creates new challenges and provides an opportunity to respond to them. This is the true idea of Europeanness. Europe is a search for something new. Ukraine must take on the mission of giving new answers to what Europe can be today.