Eastern European Region Research Articles

On the relationship between digitalization and the national smart economy model to achieve strategies of innovative progress

Modern economic processes are influenced by the digitalization and globalization of production processes. The consequence of this has been the emergence of the concept of a smart economy, which is actively implemented in the advanced countries of the world. The article aims to analyze the relationship between digitalization and the national model of a smart economy to achieve the strategies of the innovation process. The main methods of research were general scientific (analysis, synthesis) and special methods of economic knowledge (forecasting, methods of analytical work organization, collection of materials, and their processing). The results define the prospects for the development of a smart economy (primarily, the Internet of Things), determine the level of digitalization of the economy of individual countries of Central and Eastern Europe, attempt to form a model of development and interaction of digitalization and smart economy. A special role in today's production processes is played by the Internet of Things (IIoT), the use of which may have powerful prospects for global GDP. At the same time, the countries of the Eastern European region are experiencing difficulties on this path, as there is a lack of specialists at the appropriate level, and the educational facilities are not able to cover this deficit. It is indicated that further digitalization of the economy will have an impact on the growth of export orientation and competitiveness of the economies of the region (based on the example of Bulgaria). An important element of this process is to encourage enterprises to modernize their production base, adapting business models to modern digital transformations. In conclusion, it is concluded that the Central-Eastern European region lacks investments in the smart economy, which can be remedied by deepening the implementation of national and regional strategies and the cooperation of the authorities, businesses, and academia.

Adaptation and Distribution of a Complex Sensitivity-Training Program in the Eastern European Region

Research has shown that an inclusive way of thinking helps to promote social interactions on and off the sports field. The most important process of accepting differences is sensitization, which is to achieve the positive change of an understanding and accepting environment through purposeful effort and involvement. The role of teachers of people with disabilities is significant in this process. The KézenFogva Foundation has applied this to develop an inclusive pedagogical, theoretical, and practical pilot project, the “SHAPE Complex Sensitisation Programme”, an innovative special pedagogy infrastructure which highlighted all practices promoting the realization of inclusion. After their training, teachers (majority educators) participating in the project (N = 26) applied the acquired knowledge in theme weeks among their students (N = 191), extending sensitization by further dissemination. Besides showing the direction and extent of changes in the sensitivities of teachers and their students (emotional, intellectual, and behavioral) with the help of the attitude scale, CATCH, the research was designed to introduce an innovative way of inducement of non-disabled athletes as well as special sport professionals. Although only a limited number of teachers could participate in the training, the success and effectiveness of the program was illustrated that even with this small sample, changes in the attitudes of the participants could be detected and that the training held by the foundation and its partners was effective, along with a noticeable change in the attitude of students.

The burden of mental health-related mortality in the Baltic States in 2007-2018

BackgroundThe problem of underestimating the burden of mental health-related mortality is widely discussed in the public health literature. Relevant scientific evidence from societies experiencing the largest burden of mental health mortality is important for better understanding global and national mental health challenges and improving policies. Three Baltic States - Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia - are countries in the Central and Eastern European region that experienced post-soviet transition trauma and showed among the highest suicide and alcohol-related mortality rates in Europe. This study aimed to examine the change in the burden of mental health-related mortality in three Baltic States in the context of consistent growth in life expectancy in 2007-2018.MethodsWe calculated age-standardized years of life lost due to specific mental health-related causes of death in three Baltic countries from 2007 to 2018. Four mental health-related causes of death groups were analyzed: (i) all mental and behavioural disorders; (ii) intentional self-harm; (iii) main substance use-related causes of death; and (iv) external causes of death. The number of deaths came from the WHO Mortality Database; population exposures were extracted from the Human Mortality Database.ResultsWe found that the proportion of age-standardized years of life lost due to mental disorders was relatively low in all three countries. It varied from 0.2% for females in Lithuania in 2009 to 2.4% for males in Estonia in 2007. However, the proportion of age-standardized years of life lost from self-harm and substance use remained high. In 2018, the proportion of age-standardized years of life lost due to self-harm was highest among males in Lithuania (4.1%) while the highest proportion due to substance use-related causes of death was among males in Estonia (7.3%).ConclusionsOur findings indicate that the burden of mental health-related mortality remained high and showed divergent temporal changes across the three countries. In the context of the Baltic States and other post-soviet countries, fractions of various external causes of death and alcohol-related causes of death should be considered in assessing the total burden of mental health-related mortality.

Partnership of Philosophical Schools of Belarus and Russia and Its Contribution to Development of the Scientific Potential of the Eastern European Region

The summary reveals various areas of Belarusian-Russian collaboration in philosophy: problems of the methodology of scientific knowledge, transdisciplinary synthesis of philosophy and science, philosophical foundations of physics, scientific realism, theory of harmony and self-organization of complex systems, modern epistemological theories, the sociocultural foundations, risks, and prospects of the digital society, human problems in the context of convergent technologies, anthropological foundations of intercultural communication, the world heritage of philosophical thought, the reception of Russian philosophy in the Belarusian intellectual tradition. Special attential is paid to the content, possibilities, and prospects of the agreement on cooperation in the field of scientific and educational activity between the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The areas of mutual interest are scientific research activity, academic work, publishing, humanitarian expertise, training of scientific personnel, interaction of young scientists, career guidance work with schoolchildren, popularization of philosophical knowledge. Under current conditions, the Belarusian and Russian philosophers consider important the studies of civilizational dynamics in the light of the formation of a multipolar world, the philosophical and ethical aspects of the transformation of social practices in the post-COVID era, the philosophical problems of developing artificial intelligence, and the praxeological dimension of philosophical knowledge. Emphasis is placed on the importance of scientific and humanitarian partnership in the development of research and educational potential in the post-Soviet space.

Закавказье и степной мир в эпоху железа: сравнительное краниологическое исследование

Introduction. An attempt to divide, according to the territorial origin, a single data array made up of the sizes of the skulls of the Iron Age series using multidimensional statistics has become the goal of this work. Materials and methods. Individual data on male skulls from the territory of the South Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan) and the Steppe region of Eastern Europe (Srubnaya culture of the South Russian steppes, Moldavia and the Lower Don, the Saka of Turkmenistan) were used in the work. Materials from Armenia were measured by the author, data on other series were obtained from literary sources. The sample size was 187 individuals. Statistical data processing was carried out by the method of discriminant canonical analysis based on a common covariance matrix. The results of the analysis are presented graphically. Results and discussion. In the coordinate field of the first and second canonical variables, the skulls were distributed so that the polarization of the two worlds was revealed. The skulls of the Srubnaya culture and Saka occupy mainly the area of positive values of the first canonical variable, and the materials of the Iron age from Transcaucasia are shifted to the area of negative values. Within these two aggregates, the skulls are grouped according to the territorial principle. Conclusion. The first canonical variable separates the materials of the Iron Age from Transcaucasia and the materials of the log culture and Saka. The series from Transcaucasia are characterized by a combination of a low skull arch and a high face. The skulls of the Srubnaya culture and Saka have a high arch and a low face. The second canonical variable can be considered a factor of broad-face and narrow-face. It distinguishes between the broad-faced groups of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan and the relatively narrow-faced ones from Moldova and the Lower Don.

Post‑crisis Economic Environment of Two Central and Eastern European Regional Centres: A Comparative Approach

Our research studies the economic background of recovery and catching‑up after the global financial and economic crisis, comparing the case study areas of Cluj‑Napoca in Romania and Pécs in Hungary. We use explorative statistical data analysis to describe the post‑crisis regional economic environment in the context of the differential outcomes of the high‑pressure economy in these two countries. Then, we analyse the evolution of the per capita gross domestic product in a decomposed form which provides insights into the main challenges of regional development in the two regional centres. The results show that long‑run economic challenges must be handled with an efficiency‑oriented regional policy that relies upon capital and knowl­edge‑intensive growth.

KEPENTINGAN KEAMANAN NASIONAL RUSIA DALAM SERANGAN MILITER TERHADAP UKRAINA TAHUN 2022

ABSTRACT This study wants to find out how the background that influences Russia to carry out a military attack on Ukraine in 2022 and study Russia's national security interests against Ukraine. Russia is making changes to its military policy in Ukraine by increasing the number of military equipment and soldiers and carrying out military attacks in 2022. The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors that influence or become the background of Russia in carrying out military attacks and their relationship to its national interests. The theoretical framework used in this research is the concept of national interest described by H.J Morgenthau, and foreign policy from Morgenthau. The concept of national interest and foreign policy is used to explain the factors that influence Russia in carrying out its 2022 military attack policy in Ukraine and its relationship with its national interest in selfdefense. In its policy, Russia is increasingly intensive in sending military personnel and equipment to support military operations in Ukraine. Russia, then also changed its strategy in the operation where in its operation Russia was more offensive and Russiaalso divided the area of operation between the North and the South. From the results of the author's analysis using the theoretical framework, it can be concluded that Russia's military policy related to the political crisis in Ukraine is caused by internal factors, the existence of national interests that must be protected and external factors in the form of the source system behind it. These national interests are related to defense, economy, politics and the military. While the external factor is the existence of a source system where there is a pattern ofinteraction or alliances that exist in the Eastern European region and the security of the country is threatened. The author finds that Russia is trying very hard in carrying out its military policy in order to protect its nation. Keywords: Russia, Ukraine, National Interest

Chinese VFR Travel in Budapest: The Hosts’ Roles

In recent decades, there has been a dynamic growth of Chinese outbound tourism to the Central and Eastern European region, and Hungary has been one of the most visited countries. This increase in demand is linked, in part, to the important Chinese diaspora in Hungary whose members play the role of hosts in VFR travel. This paper aims to explore the social relations—guanxi—within the Chinese diaspora living in Budapest and its influence on VFR travels back and forth China. Results of the survey with 202 Chinese immigrants reveal the strong nexus between migration and VFR travel. The Chinese hosts who have been living in the country for two decades behave differently in their guanxi compared to those who have settled in Budapest recently. The article provides several practical contributions to local destination management organizations and tourism service providers to successfully reach Chinese hosts, such as providing commissions, coupons, and getting discounts.

FDI-based regional development in Central and Eastern Europe: A review and an agenda

This review article reflects on thirty years of FDI-dependent development in Central and Eastern European regions (with a special emphasis on the Visegrad countries). The modernisation potential of FDI-led European integration is examined from a critical and comparative perspective. The authors argue that the FDI-led “Dependent Market Economy” (DME) model has fallen short of its anticipated modernisation potential, while other, potentially lucrative development alternatives have been neglected. While early-stage benefits were considerable, the development model now faces signs of exhaustion and an increasing number of contradictions. The paper builds on previous original research by the authors, as well as a review of international academic literature to describe the limitations and trade-offs of the DME development model, followed by an overview of three alternate growth paths for the future.
 In the macro-level perspective, it is argued that long-term catching-up rates across Central and Eastern Europe over 30 years have been limited, and signs of slowdown are increasingly apparent. Likewise, FDI does not seem to contribute significantly to domestic capital accumulation. On the micro-economic and regional levels, limited income effects are coupled with intangible risks and trade-offs. Strengthened socio-economic and territorial disparities ultimately pose problems for both metropolitan core regions and peripheries, while low capital embeddedness and limited spillovers denote weak territorial integration. It I advanced that the DME model may exacerbate future structural crises and exogenous shocks, and finally, that a development model dependent on exogenous capital structures shows curtailed capability to explore, learn, and benefit from beneficial growth opportunities.
 The paper makes the case that, while the DME model cannot be realistically dismantled in the foreseeable future without considerable risk to the CEE economies, a comprehensive diversification agenda should seek to gradually reduce its risks and foster alternate sources of growth. Embedding foreign capital into local economic networks represents one possible compromise, coupled with growing supplier networks and anchoring value creation in business services as well as innovation and R&D activities. However, alternate sources of development are also to be explored. The new revival of industrial policies in Europe and across the world opens opportunities before previously ‘inconceivable’ state-led development initiatives, including support for the emergence of new national champions. Last but not least, a strengthening domestic SME sector with competitive medium-sized enterprises and locally embedded production networks should serve to strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystems in domestic capital accumulation and value creation. Together, these and similar steps have the capability to shift the balance from the DME model towards a more competitive and resilient “successor model” where the interests of FDI and domestic development can be fruitfully reconciled.

Plebiscyt górnośląski 20 marca 1921 roku. Geneza – przygotowania – rezultaty – ocena

The article analyses the socio-political situation in Prussian Upper Silesia (administratively the Opole region/ plebiscite area) in the period of autumn 1918. - May 1922. The region belonged to the typical regions of Central and Eastern Europe with a mixed national and religious population and loyalties running sometimes backwards from the ethnic equipment. Although statistically it was dominated by a Slavic/Polish-speaking population, politically it was dominated by the German Catholic Centre Party before the war. It was distinguished by its economic potential, as the Upper Silesian Industrial District was one of the largest centers of heavy industry in Europe. The plebiscite established by the Treaty of Versailles, which was to decide on its nationality, took place on March 20, 1921. After an armed attempt at a fait accompli by the Polish side, the plebiscite area was finally divided on a national basis by a decision of the Council of Ambassadors.

Dynamics in state-religion relations in postcommunist Central Eastern Europe and Russia

ABSTRACT The contribution aims to provide an exposition of the recent dynamics in state-religion relations in Central Eastern Europe (specifically in Hungary, Lithuania, and Slovakia) and Russia through the prism of the typology of modes of governance of religious diversity. Additionally, the present research complements this framework by taking into account the unique characteristics of Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. Though the countries of the region of Central Eastern Europe and Russia share much common history and recent experiences, the case studies analysed in this contribution reveal that state-religion relations and modes of governance of religious diversity nonetheless differ across countries. From a liberal secular perspective, adopted by the current authors, the dynamics of state-religion relations in this region look problematic. Of particular concern are state-Islam relations, which in some of the countries covered, namely Slovakia and Hungary, are already at a very low point, with Muslims (particularly of immigrant background) being increasingly securitised by the media, public, and the national political elites.

Formation of the quality of life index in Western and Eastern Europe within the sociological context

The complexity of determining the quality of life and the optimal selection of criteria for assessing this category is one of the challenges in public administration. The purpose of the study is to critically analyse the characteristics of the quality of life ranking in Western and Eastern Europe and modern approaches to its determination and monitoring. By analysing theoretical materials and studies, the article describes the history of the formation of the concept of quality of life, the development of methods for its assessment, and highlights the features of modern tools for assessing the quality of life. The article examines the main international and Ukrainian approaches to such monitoring; using the methods of comparison and system analysis, the author compares the indicators of Western and Eastern European countries in such sectors as income and purchasing power, life expectancy, access to education and jobs, income equality, safety of the population and environmental conditions. Through this analysis, the author identifies the advantages in the development of Western European countries over the countries of the Eastern European region, concludes that the economic development of countries is uneven and that there is a tendency to reduce imbalances through effective forms and instruments for implementing the development strategies of the European Union. The author identifies the importance of using the experience of the developed EU countries in Ukraine, highlighting the coexistence and interaction of market and state regulation mechanisms of economic development are emphasised, and the focus is on the goals of sustainable development, which is based primarily on dignified labour, creation of well-paid jobs, and efficient use of resources in consumption and production for economic growth. Equally important are the processes of resolving certain constraints for each country, such as reducing income inequality, access to healthcare, high levels of education, and reducing the number of people suffering from harmful addictions. The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility of applying the findings in the preparation of lecture materials for students of economic and historical specialities, future specialists in political science, etc.

Changing patterns of soil water content and relationship with national wheat and maize production in Europe

The warming of the climate and shrinking freshwater resources pose serious challenges to European agriculture. Meeting these challenges demands a thorough knowledge of the major trends in soil moisture patterns across the continent over time. Charting the available soil water (ASW) content (m3 m-3) derived from the ERA5 Land dataset in grid cells of 0.1° × 0.1°, the highest values occurred in the Alpine, Baltic and West Balkan countries, as well as in North Western Europe. However, a major part of the Mediterranean and the Carpathian-Balkan regions and Eastern Europe recorded the driest soils over recent decades. The annual average ASW decreased over almost the entire continent from 1981 to 2007, but to the greatest degree in Eastern Europe, while Northern Europe suffered least of all. For the summer half of the year, the available water content of the top 28 cm soil significantly decreased in 45.5 % of European croplands, while only 1.0% showed a significant moisture increase. Summer half-year moisture declined across almost the entirety of Eastern Europe, threatening the reproductive stage of wheat and maize vegetation period. Soil water content had a significant positive impact on wheat yields in an estimated 64.3 % of European wheat fields, and a negative one in 5.7 %. In the case of maize yields the positive impact of ASW was present in an estimated 89.4 % of maize-growing areas, explaining an estimated 46–72 % of maize yield variances in the majority of top European maize-producing countries. In contrast to wheat, negative soil water content impact for maize in the continent was not observed. Significant ASW - wheat and ASW - maize yield relationships were found with decreasing summer half year ASW in 32.0 % and 35.2 % of European croplands, respectively. The coexistence of the crop yield dependence on soil moisture and the decrease in available soil water content pose a considerable threat to grain production stability over extensive regions of Eastern and Western Europe. These warning signs call for an effective intervention on behalf of soil water conservation in European croplands.

The Importance of Safety in Contemporary Consumer Behaviour in the Tourism Market

Until recently, the tourism industry was treated as the most dynamically developing sector of the economy. Tourism affects the national economies of many countries in the world by creating new jobs and stimulating GDP. However, the tourism sector has been hit hard by restrictions on the movement of tourists in the wake of the COVID-19 health crisis. The coronavirus outbreak has negatively impacted the travel industry around the world. Another phenomenon that weakens the tourism industry, mainly in the region of Central and Eastern Europe, is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which causes concern among consumers of the tourism market. Already in the first days of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, tourists from Western Europe and the USA were looking for information on security in Poland. In addition, the war in Ukraine may also lead to a decline in demand for tourism services in the country. Fear wins, and the tourism industry is threatened with a crisis, now when it was just beginning to recover from its COVID debts. The aim of the article is to analyze the role of safety in contemporary consumer behaviour in the tourism market. The work is both theoretical and practical.

Exchange rates and purchasing power parity: the case of Central European

Introduction. The question of how exchange rates adjust is central to exchange rate policy, since countries with fixed exchange rates need to know what the equilibrium exchange rate is likely to be and countries with variable exchange rates would like to know what level and variation in real and nominal exchange rates they should expect. In broader terms, the question of whether exchange rates adjust toward a level established by purchasing power parity helps to determine the extent to which the international macroeconomic system is self-equilibrating Analysis of recent researches and publications has shown that the published up to date papers aren’t systematic and can’t claim to be a complete analysis in the chosen field. The aim is to test the validity of PPP hypothesis in the long run in former and current European transitional economies. Methods. General scientific methods such as the systematic approach, theo­retical generalization and comparison, analysis, synthesis and the Levin–Lin–Chu (LLC) panel unit root test have been used in the research. Research results. This paper tests the validity of purchasing power parity (PPP) hypothesis in the long run in selected European transitional economies. The database used in this paper contains monthly data on real effective exchange rate (REER) observed over 23 years, from March 1995 till November 2017. To test the hypothesis, the Levin–Lin–Chu (LLC) panel unit root test was employed. The results confirm that PPP holds both for Central European and Western Balkan states in the long run. Conclusions. The equilibrium exchange rate question is central question to exchange rate policy. Purchasing power parity hypothesis was tested on the sample of 14 European countries form the Central and Eastern Europe and Western Balkan region. The database used in this paper contains monthly data on real effective exchange rate –REER observed over 23 years, from March 1995 till November 2017. As PPP holds if the real exchange rate reverts to its equilibrium value over time, the unit root test was applied on panel REER dataset. The results of applied Levin–Lin–Chu (LLC) panel unit root tests confirmed that the PPP hypothesis holds for selected countries during the observed period. Additionaly, results confirmed that PPP hypothesis holds both for CEE and Western Balkan countries separately.

OBSERVATIONS AND DISCUSSIONS ON THE SECURITY CONCERNS DURING THE COLD WAR

After World War II (1939-1945) a bipolar world order emerged under the leaderships of the United States and the Soviet Union. The postwar period was later called as the Cold War Era that witnessed a great tension between the Western and Eastern blocs. Both sides abstained from a direct war and generally competed in such fields as military, political, economic, cultural, and so on. Although avoiding from military interventions was the main principle, the continuous hostility between two nuclear superpowers inevitably forced them to consider military options. In this point, security question became a vital subject between the United States and the Soviet Union, and deeply influenced the shaping of characteristics of two powers’ relations. It was foreseen that the security concerns based on nuclear threat would come to an end with the collapse of the Soviet Union and with the end of the Cold War. However, the expansion of NATO to the Eastern Europe and Baltic region, and possibility of new member’s admission to NATO, including Ukraine, in one hand, Russia’s efforts to be a superpower in the world politics, on the other hand, revealed that the security concerns have not completely disappeared with the end of the Cold War. Thus, revisiting some discussions on the security concerns during the Cold War, and bringing them to the attention of academic world would be stimulating. This article will focus on some fundamental discussions on the security concerns during the Cold War. Firstly, the formation of the US national security understanding, and the role of National Security Council Report 68 (NSC-68) in shaping of the US security concept during the Cold War will be explained. Secondly, the role of nuclear deterrence in the establishment of national security concept will be discussed. Finally, the concept of ‘security dilemma’ and the opinions of Robert Jervis on security dilemma will be evaluated.

Main reasons and predictive factors of cancer-related emergency department visits in a Hungarian tertiary care center

BackgroundIdentifying the reasons for the Emergency Department (ED) visit of patients with cancer would be essential for possibly decreasing the burden of ED use. The aim of our study was to analyze the distribution of the demographic and clinical parameters of patients with cancer based on the reasons for the ED visits and to identify possible predictive factors for their visits.MethodsThis retrospective study, carried out at a large, public tertiary hospital in Hungary, involved all patients 18 years or over, who had received a cancer diagnosis latest within five years of their visit to the ED in 2018. Demographic and clinical characteristics were collected partly via automated data collection and partly through the manual chart review by a team of experts, including six emergency physicians and an oncologist. Five main reasons for the ED visit were hypothesized, pilot-tested, then identified, including those with cancer-related ED visits (whose visit was unambiguously related to their cancer illness) and those with non-cancer-related ED visits (whose visit to the ED was in no way associated with their cancer illness.) A descriptive approach was used for data analysis and binary logistic regression was used to determine predictive factors for patients with cancer visiting the ED.Results23.2% of the altogether 2383 ED visits were directly cancer-related, and these patients had a significantly worse overall survival than patients with non-cancer related ED visits. Age 65 or below (Odds Ratio: 1.51), presence of two more comorbidities (OR: 7.14), dyspnea as chief complaint (OR: 1.52), respiratory cancer (OR: 3.37), any prior chemotherapy (OR: 1.8), any prior immune/biological treatment (OR: 2.21), any prior Best Supportive Care/palliative care (OR: 19.06), or any prior hospice care (OR: 9.43), and hospitalization (OR:2.88) were independent risk factors for the ED visit to be cancer-related.ConclusionsOur study is the first to identify independent predictive factors of ED use by patients with cancer based on the chief cause of their visit in the Central and Eastern European region. These results may provide important information for the development of algorithms intended to identify the needs of care of patients with cancer at the ED.

Invasiveness risks of naked goby, Gobiosoma bosc, to North Sea transitional waters

In recent decades, gobies have dispersed or introduced from the Ponto-Caspian region of eastern Europe in a westerly direction to North American and western European waters. By contrast, the naked goby, Gobiosoma bosc, is the only known gobiid species to have been introduced in an easterly direction from North American to western Europe. The potential invasiveness of G. bosc was assessed using the Aquatic Species Invasiveness Screening Kit (AS-ISK) for rivers and transitional waters for the western and eastern sides of the North Sea. Using globally-derived thresholds, G. bosc was assessed as low-medium invasiveness risk for both sides of the North Sea under current climate conditions. Under future climate conditions, potential invasiveness will increase for both risk assessment areas. Environmental suitability assessment indicated an increase in environmental suitability for G. bosc on the eastern coastline of the North Sea under climate change scenarios and suitability remained unchanged on the western coastline, reflecting the authors' expectations of invasiveness risk.

A review of online communication research in Hungary

Abstract Ever since the mid-nineties, Internet-related communication research has been a growing field in Hungary. Notwithstanding, scholars have so far failed to deliver a systematic overview regarding the historical and topical trends defining the field. To mend this gap, we provide a systematic literature review concerning the main trends and developments of Hungarian online media research as indicated by the most influential journals of the field between 1995 and 2021. Given its historical legacy, Hungary serves as an indicative case study from the socialist and post-socialist Central and Eastern European region, where following the repressive political regime of the Soviet Union, the development of social scientific fields was rendered virtually impossible for decades. In this study, the major research traditions of the field – new media and the Internet; information society; inequalities and the digital divide; education and digital literacy; e-governance; social media; video games; Big Data; algorithms and artificial intelligence – as well as their historical development are assessed. Furthermore, we formulate reflections regarding the results with a high emphasis on current internationalization processes in the region, as well as the prospects of Hungarian communication research within the context of these changes and of the historical-cultural legacies of the country.

Слов’яни і Русь на трансконтинентальних торговельних шляхах Раннього Середньовіччя

As a result of the Arab conquests, there were significant changes in the geography of international trade routes. They shifted from the Mediterranean basin to the north and passed through the Slavic-populated regions of Central and Eastern Europe and Ruthenia. The new system of water and land routes connected the European Frankish West, the Slavic Baltic Pomerania, the Danube and the Ruthenian East of the continent. With the development of trade with the Arab East, the Way from the Vikings to the Greeks was formed and began to function, connecting the lands of the Baltic Wagri Slavs with Kyiv and Constantinople. It ran through the trade centers of the Pomeranian Slavs in the Baltic, across the Vistula, Western Bug, Pripyat, Dnieper and to the Black Sea coincided with the route of the transcontinental highway between Europe and the Arab East, which passed further east through the Sea of Azov, Don, Volga and the Caspian Sea. According to Arab authors, the main goods of Arab imports, including fur, honey, wax, and Frankish swords, came to the east from the Slavic lands and Ruthenia. The earliest and largest treasures of Arab dirhams, found in the lands of the Baltic Slavs, also indicate that the main counterparts of Arab trade in Europe were the Slavs and Ruthenia. The active participation of Ruthenian state in international trade is also evidenced by the construction of a network of stone fortresses in the upper Seversky Donets, Oskol and the Middle and Lower Don, which were not only border outposts of Ruthenia, but also trading posts.