The regular discussions under the umbrella of the Romanian – Ukrainian Civil Society Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation (supported by the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation) usually tackle both the promising dimensions of bilateral cooperation and the sensitive issues that cause misunderstandings. However, in 2020 except for overviewing the current stage of partnership and drafting recommendations for the Roadmap of the bilateral relations for the next year the Project team decided to supplement them with the additional paper focused on the new regional challenges. Such necessity was rooted in the developments caused by the global pandemic of COVID-19 and its societal, economic and security impact, growing competition of the global powers, weaponization of the problems raised by the pandemic by Russia etc.
As a matter of fact the pandemic not only caused new global and regional challenges. It also has triggered the traditional threats, enforced protracted conflicts, led to the new wave of global and regional competition. The pandemic’s consequences have been perceived by many global actors as game-changers and caused their assertiveness.
The project team took the courage to analyze the new challenges and how the old threats have transformed under the influence of the pandemic. To present both Romanian and Ukrainian views, accents, and main concerns, the authors elaborated their parts separately. The Project coordinator’s task was to highlight common denominators, focal points for cooperation, and the remaining sensitive issues.
The full text of the Study can be found here: Ukraine-Romania – New Regional Challenges 2020-2021