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AbstractIn this paper, the authors analyse the ambiguous political decision to ban the major Russian web resources from access to the Ukrainian market, in spite of heavy criticisms from local and foreign experts. While the supporters of the new internet policy claimed the new strategy to be coherent with cybersecurity priorities of the country, the opponents pointed out a set of legal and political limitations. Drawing on the setting and results of taking a new approach to information policy, we describe the fragility of Euromaidan democratic heritage and drawbacks of the current political regime. The logical method of legal interpretation has been applied to analyse the controversies of the current legislation on Russian internet resources restriction. The article concludes that Ukrainian post-Euromaidan governance model needs to consolidate the efforts in order to prove the commitment to freedom of speech as a core European value and replace spontaneous actions with an evidence-based approach to political decision-making.

AbstractThe article studies the role of energy resources in the annexation of Crimea by the Russian government. Russian justification that this action was taken to protect Russian ethnicity, as declared with the “referendum”, can be challenged in the light of the realist balance of power concept. According to the research, Russia considered Ukraine’s improving relations with the West as a threat and tried to eliminate it with preemptive action, in order to reestablish regional balance of power with the West. The article finds that the energy factor had a significant role in this consideration but in a subtractive approach. More precisely, there were no major incentives for Russia to capture the Black Sea resources intrinsically, but these reserves were recognized as part of the main Ukrainian economic empowerment plan, particularly on the EU’s future energy market. Thus, Russia tried to block Ukraine’s access to them in line with a wedge strategy. Hence, the annexation can be considered as one part of Russian energy policy towards the EU and Russia’s goal to emasculate Ukraine’s natural gas transit role by constructing new pipelines such as Nord Stream and Turkish Stream, as the other part.The study exemplifies how Ukraine’s strategic position has been significantly diminished from the energy perspective.

Abstract This article is an econometric study of patent development, education policy and research and development (R&D) expenditure policy, the aim of which is to investigate the key similarities and differences when it comes to the issue of competitiveness between Estonia and Finland, particularly in the utilisation of foreign patents, as well as ranking them on the international arena. The authors of the article intend to study how it is possible to increase the technological competitiveness of small European Union Member States and the special effect of investments in research and development (R&D) and education on the competitiveness ranking of Estonia and Finland. The authors attempt to explore how Estonia can advance by learning from the model of innovative growth adopted by Finland.

Abstract Freedom of expression does not only mean absence of censorship or other restrictive content laws—it also means that people have real access to communication. Nowadays, internet is a key means of communication. In this article we explain the relevance of access to internet from legal, practical and market aspects for freedom of expression. To illustrate the question, we present the situation in Ukraine. We look at legislation, including restrictions due to national security—availability, affordability and accessibility of internet. Ukraine is an interesting example of a mixture of very positive indicators and some remaining restrictions.

An editorial introduction to the Special Issue of The Baltic Journal of European Studies. The individual articles in this Special Issue present a diverse array of analyses and topics: what binds them together, however, is the perspective of change. The twentieth-century certainties are no longer adequate explanations as the evolving mosaic of Asia-Pacific relations continues to surprise even the most well-informed commentators. Contemporary developments in China, North Korea, and Japan collectively present a new international relations subsystem of issues that challenge the existing multilateral and strategic context of the Asia-Pacific. Additionally, the different regionalisms as expressed by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) process emphasise the intercontinental connectivity of Asia-Pacific relations, while generating plenty of serious discussions on the topic in the European Union (EU). The Special Issue falls into two parts: an examination of regional approaches (BRI and ASEM) and country-specific case studies (Singapore, Japan, North Korea, and Taiwan) and how these have been affected by the rise of China. The diversity of the contributions perfectly matches the kaleidoscopic patchwork that represents the Asia-Pacific and articulates the important juxtaposition of EU solidarity with the more pragmatic alliances that help in shaping the region—ASEM, Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN, as well as traditional bilateralism.

Abstract Uncertainty and unease surround both Europe’s current predicament and future prospects. Be it national governments devoid of European solidarity, the self-contained Brussels bureaucracy or fear of another economic recession, the status quo in Europe contains much to be concerned about. In particular, the rise of the far right casts a shadow over contemporary Europe from Poland and Hungary to France and Italy. The leitmotif of this article is social Europe, i.e. Europe with commitment to “good society”, conducive to human well-being. I seek to envision a reconstruction to the current maladies. Before taking up the main task of the article, I write about the two key developments that have lead to the decline of social Europe. I begin with the Maastricht Treaty which had a profound impact on the rules of economic governance in Europe, as well as contained a vision of competitive and individualistic social life. Thereafter, I probe into the divisive consequences that austerity has had in Europe in the 2010s. Lastly, I focus on a path forward and inquire into social thought that aims at a reconstruction of European politics and economy in order to arrive at a social Europe. I shall do this by engaging with the recent ‘Manifesto for the democratization of Europe’ (Boujou et al., 2019), an initiative led by prominent French intellectuals that seeks to save Europe from its current troubled state.

The article studies the problems of human resources stemming from increased mobility, and the emergence of new aspects of migration processes. A comparative analysis of the connection between academic development in the context of university (and the science system) and the process of labour migration taking place in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia was carried out. The article examines the limits of the model through European territorial migration process and concludes that the huge migration of high-skilled labour (called the “knowledge workers”) has had a very negative impact on the innovative and academic potential of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and a negative impact in Estonia. In the final section, the article examines increase in the requirements for competence in the Baltic Sea macroregion of the European Union and Estonia’s university reform of 2013–2016 as an illustrative experiment to (un)resolved problems. The first results of the reform in higher education indicated that it was ineffective—for students, the good ideas of the reform proved to be a lost experiment and the mobility of knowledge workers, as the future academic resource in homeland, turned from Estonia to larger Europe, especially to Finland and the UK. Reikšminiai žodžiai: Akademinė plėtra Baltijos šalyse; Baltijos jūros makroregionas; Baltijos šalių akademiškumo plėtotė; Baltijos šalys kaip Europos Sąjungos makro-regionas; Emigracija; Vietos politika; Žmogiškieji ištekliai; Žmogiškojo potencialo plėtotės strategijos ir politika vietiniu lygmeniu; Academic development in the Baltic countries; Baltic Sea macro-region; Baltic Sea macro-region of the European Union; Emigration; European Union; Human resource; Local policies; Strategies for human resource and local policies; Europos Sąjunga (European Union)

Abstract In the context of the EU’s Digital Single Market (eHealth) Strategy, the deployment of digital tools for patients’ empowerment and person-centred care is of high demand and importance. Shifting from treatment to health promotion and disease prevention, a variety of internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy programmes have been proven to be effective for managing common mental health disorders in secondary care even hough the effectiveness and the clinical use of internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy programmes alone in primary care have not been approved yet. Additionally, such interventions are neither included in the international clinical guidelines for treating common mental health disorders nor regulated by Member States as a healthcare service. Despite that, the UK National Health Service and the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare endorse the use of internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy as a first treatment option. The aim of this research is to investigate the global experience of internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy programmes in controlled and real-life conditions in general practice and to evaluate the reliability of the results and concomitantly their compliance with the European Commission’s eHealth Strategy. A systematic review of quantitative studies was conducted from January 2007 to December 2017. The results indicated that unsupported internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy programmes alone are less effective than combined therapy options for treatment purposes, if no additional therapy is prescribed. Guided internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy may supplement traditional treatment methods resulting in improving the control of mental disorders, but are unable to demonstrate consistent quality or replace face-to-face therapy.