Jean Monnet Lecture

Bulgaria in NATO and the Russian hybrid war against Bulgaria to question its geostrategic choice

Guest Speaker: Prof. dr. Tatyana Dronzina

June 6th, 2023

Time: 12.00

Where: Zoom

On June 6th, 2023, prof. Dr. Tatyana Dronzina, St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, Bulgaria, will be the guest lecturer for the course European Union Policies. She will deliver a lecture and have a Q and A session with students on the Bulgarian NATO membership.

Dr Tatyana Dronzina is a lecturer at the Department of Political Science of St. Kliment Ohridski, University of Sofia, Bulgaria. She is a doctor habil and a full professor with research interests in the field of terrorism (specifically female suicide terrorism, gender and terrorism) and radicalization (specifically jihadist radicalization). Her publications in Bulgarian, English, Spanish, Russian, and Kazakh are based on ongoing field research in Central Asia and the Balkans.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/95307739930?pwd=aE9lWHRGcHpKTmhJS2VkZi9ROWVLUT09

Meeting ID: 953 0773 9930
Passcode: 993405

Jean Monnet Lecture

The Enhanced and Cooperation Mechanism: Constraints and Opportunities for the European Union

Guest Speaker: Prof. Dr Goran Ilik

May 11, 2023

Time: 16.00

Where: Zoom

On May 11, 2023, dr. Goran Ilik, University of Bitola, North Macedonia, will be the guest lecturer for the course European Union Policies. He will deliver a lecture and have a Q and A session with students on the enhanced cooperation mechanism of the EU.

Prof.Dr Goran Ilik is professor at the University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – Bitola, North Macedonia.

Abstract of the presentation

Taking into account the significance of the enhanced cooperation mechanism (EnC) stipulated with Article 20 TEU and operationalized in Part VI, Title III TFEU, the main intention of this lecture is to address the idea that the enhanced cooperation mechanism with its normative features serves as federator of the EU, taking into account all the opportunities and constraints because the EU Member States are selfish and rather skeptical about transferring more of their sovereignty to the EU supranational institutions. The main inspiration for this lecture stems from the “dynamic core federator” concept, used by Karl W. Deutsch in 1957 as a balancer between the federation units and protector of the whole from the domination of a single member or a group of members.

Finally, it can be concluded that the EnC is a flexible method of intergovernmental cooperation that allows a particular number of EU Member States to cooperate more closely in concrete sectors, particularly as a last resort option when the Council has determined that the EU as a whole cannot meet the objectives pursued by the Member States. By its nature, this mechanism appears as an intermediary medium for compromise between the Member States willing to reinforce the eurointegration processes with those Member States that see eurointegration processes with skepticism, distrust, or lack of interest.

Join Zoom meeting:

Jean Monnet Lecture

Democracy without liberalism. Dealing without populism in the EU

Guest Speaker: Alain Lamassoure

October 20, 2022

Time: 16.00

Where: Zoom

On October 20, 2022, former MEP Mr Alain Lamassoure will deliver the lecture Democracy without liberalism. Dealing with populism in the EU.

The European construction started seventy years ago between six Western European countries in the aftermath of WWII. The aim was to turn arch-enemies into fully reconciled, democratic, and prosperous countries. Protected by NATO against the USSR menace, cooperation deepened, treaty after treaty, into an original pattern of political Union, able to combine the advantages of unity and diversity. It was so successful that it gradually attracted most countries on the continent before and after the end of the Cold War. EU membership helped many countries to strengthen their new democracies and to start catching up with the average European living standard.

But for the last decade, slow to understand the new century’s challenges, the Union and its members have been suffering unprecedented strains from an appalling series of global crises. This is a time for demagoguery and simplistic solutions, forgetting that global issues can only be surmounted together at the European level and that democracy does not mean the unfettered power of a majority but a complete regime of rule of law. The debate rages all over Europe and in the US as well. It pits dreams of a fake past and the courage to invent the future.

Join Zoom Meeting:

Jean Monnet Lecture

European Integration and the Constitutional Identity of North Macedonia.

Guest Speaker: Prof. dr. Goran Ilik

April 13, 2022

Time: 18.00

Where: Zoom

On April 13, 2022, dr. Goran Ilik, University of Bitola, North Macedonia, will be the guest lecturer for the course European Union Policies. He will deliver a lecture and have a Q and A session with students on the EU enlargement policy with a focus on the case of North Macedonia.

Prof.Dr Goran Ilik is Dean of the Faculty of Law, University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – Bitola, North Macedonia

His research interests are linked to EU foreign policy and enlargement policy of the EU towards the Western Balkans. He is the Dean of the Faculty of Law and Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Liberty and International Affairs, a peer-reviewed journal indexed in several international databases.

Jean Monnet Lecture

The Problem of Modernism and the Foreign and Security Policy and Enlargement

Guest Speaker: Prof. dr. Goran Ilik

May 31st, 2021

Time: 19.00

Where: Zoom

This lecture aims to present the two diametrically opposite concepts installed in the European Union operational system – postmodernism and modernism – concerning the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Enlargement, and thus, to offer some ideas for the future advancement of the EU in a postmodern direction.

The main intention of this lecture is to present the inability of the European Union to ensure a single foreign policy while taking into account the clash between the concepts of modernism and postmodernism.

Also, it is important to emphasize that the question of coherence is the main precondition for setting and applying of single EU foreign policy. Therefore, I will stress “the coherence of preferences”, which refers to the EU’s capacity to establish a single foreign policy towards a particular international issue (e.g. Enlargement process with certain EU Candidate States) based on the Member State’s ability coherently to set up and to pursue transcendental (postmodern) objectives, harmonious with those of the EU.  

Jean Monnet Lecture

The Enlargement of the EU towards the Western Balkans

Guest Speaker: Mr John Howarth

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Time: 14.00-15.00

Where: Zoom

The EP to Campus programme is organized by the European Parliament Former Members Association. Babeș-Bolyai University participates successfully in the EP to Campus Programme for more than eight years as it is a valuable programme that offers the chance to students to get in touch with practitioners and learn from their experience and insights on EU policy-making or how to design a career plan in the field of International Relations