Welcoming Words

Although the European Union many times tends to see itself as an island of calm, geopolitical realities have always been springing up on its fringes. These may sometimes seem to be fraught with dangers but can equally create opportunities if scrutinised minutely and understood correctly. One of such hotspots riveting public attention in recent years is the Eastern Mediterranean, a place that joins three vast and powerful continents.

This region poses several risks as a fertile ground for conflicts that can affect the EU both directly, through maritime border disputes involving its member states, and indirectly, through the influx of migrants and refugees, for instance. However, it can also open up a wide scope for action, by having a possible role in Europe’s energy diversification plans and by providing many excellent investment opportunities.

As the region is not likely to wane in importance—on the contrary, it is expected to compel even more attention in the coming years—we decided to dedicate our present issue to some of its timeliest and most challenging questions. We hope that, browsing through the articles and interviews, our readers can stay au courant with the unfolding affairs of this territory and become aware of its importance.

Zsombor Szabolcs Pál—Editor-in-Chief The Eastern Mediterranean is, without a doubt, home to diverse ambitions, fault lines, challenges, and opportunities. This region is not only a geographical meeting point of the Balkans, Southeast Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, but it is also a region in which the potential for cooperation and conflicts among and within states exist in parallel and where complex geopolitical and security realities can be identified. The year 2020 was especially eventful, and the Eastern Mediterranean often grabbed the headlines. This also motivated our institution to give the region’s present dynamics a closer look. By publishing this issue, the Antall József Knowledge Centre’s goal is to give a comprehensive insight into the realities of a complex region: we offer interviews with diplomats and many articles aim at bringing the Eastern Mediterranean closer to our readers. Topics like the dilemmas of the reconstruction in Syria, the internal and external challenges of Libya, the crises and the quest for reforms in Lebanon, or Israel’s strategy in the Eastern Mediterranean are just some of the many others our issue covers.

Tamás Kozma—Editor