Central Europe’s role and importance as a world power has been constantly changing over the centuries. As a transitional area between South, East and West, it has always tried to act as a bridge and provide a framework for thinking and mentality. It has also functioned as a dividing line, not only geographically but also politically, religiously and socially.
Central European states have historically been linked to the Balkans, Russia and Turkey with varying degrees of intensity, but always with important political and economic ties. This is no different in the 21st century, as economic and cultural ties are unchanged by changes in political regimes, interdependence is growing as crises hit each other, and challenges can only be met effectively by working together. It is therefore no coincidence that the role of Central and, more broadly, South-Eastern Europe is gaining in importance, with Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Greece and Bulgaria on the external borders of the European Union, and Ukraine, Moldova, Serbia, Albania, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey having expressed their desire to become part of the European Community.
We believe that a research centre with a Central and South-Eastern Europe focus, established under the auspices of the Department of Political Science and International Studies of the University of Pécs, with a broad outlook towards the Balkans and Turkey, could bring new perspectives and dimensions to social science research, which could create new and closer higher education cooperation than ever before. The broad spectrum of research will also allow the creation of skills that can provide an effective framework for future joint training programmes.
We focus our research on the region, which is a natural arc from the Visegrad Cooperation countries through the Balkans to Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Our research is not only concerned with the domestic and foreign policy processes, political, economic and social phenomena and institutional actors (political parties, governmental actors, diplomacy, etc.) of the countries in the region, but also with non-formal actors (movements, non-profit organisations, civil networks).
The planned institutions of the research centre are University of Pécs, Hungary; University of Warsaw, Poland; Istanbul University, Turkey.
