Borders in the Baltic region

The Centre de Recherches Europes-Eurasie-CREE (Inalco), co-organized by the Espaces Baltiques seminar and the Observatoire de l'Europe médiane contemporaine, is pleased to invite you to the round table-breakfast: "Borders in the Baltic space".
Un champ et un piquet rouge et vert
Frontière "verte" au Sud-Est de l'Estonie face à la Russie en 2006 © Katerina Kesa‎

Speakers

  • Marielle VITUREAU, Journalist-Reporter and correspondent for French media (RFI, Le Courrier international, Le Figaro...) - in the Baltic countries, residing in Vilnius, author of Dictionnaire insolite des pays baltes, ed. Cosmopoles, 2022.
  • Živilė KALIBATAITĖ, Doctor of political science, specializing in Baltic defense issues; currently deputy head of studies and research at the Institut des Hautes études de défense nationale (IHEDN).

The session will be discussed by

  • Damien SIMONNEAU, Senior Lecturer in Political Science, Deputy Director of the International Relations Department at Inalco, member of CESSMA, author of Pourquoi s'emmurer? Essai sur une frénésie planétaire, ed. Stock, 2024.
  • Katerina KESA, Lecturer in Baltic civilization, researcher at CREE, Inalco.

Argumentaire de la table ronde

The organizers of the Espaces baltiques seminar and the Observatoire de l'Europe médiane contemporaine (CREE-INALCO) invite you to a round table devoted to the social, practical and security aspects of borders in the Baltic space. The focus will be on the cultural, economic and practical realities of life for cross-border populations along the Baltic states' increasingly hermetic eastern border with Russia since the start of the large-scale war in Ukraine, and in a tense geopolitical context. Over and above the practical aspects of cross-border life, this session will look at the security issues - both "hybrid" and military - and defense of this border between the European Union and NATO and Russia, and the solutions envisaged and put in place by the public authorities to meet them. Finally, this round table will be an opportunity to discuss current political life in Lithuania in a post-election context.

L'Observatoire de l'Europe médiane contemporaine

The Observatoire de l'Europe médiane contemporaine of the Centre de Recherches Europes-Eurasie (CREE), Inalco, aims to organize debates open to the general public, bringing together specialists (academics, experts, journalists, diplomats...) from the states and societies of Central Europe, to provide contextualized insights into current issues, and to question the perception of the region's civilian populations on political and social changes and phenomena that are the subject of debate. As well as addressing current issues, the Observatoire de l'Europe Médiane will also focus on longer-term societal issues (issues relating to internal politics, the socio-economic situation and transformations, cultural or media issues).

Created on the model of the Observatory of Post-Soviet States, which has existed since the 1990s, the Observatory of Contemporary Medieval Europe responds to the need to nurture knowledge, information and debate on a geographical area stretching from Finland to Greece, including the countries of Central and Balkan Europe, but also occasionally, depending on the issues, dealing with its "margins", countries situated between two historical and political spaces, such as the Baltic States (both ex-Soviet and EU members), Ukraine or Belarus (ex-Soviet and Middle Europe).

Organization
Contacts

katerina.kesa@inalco.fr, eric.lebourhis@inalco.fr, anne.madelain@inalco.fr and jana.vargovcikova