Šiaurės ir Baltijos šalių (NB6) bendradarbiavimo analizė Europos Sąjungos krizių metu /

• Main Author: Tybjerg, Jonas Kačkus
• Format: Bachelor Thesis
• Language: Lithuanian; English
• Published: Institutional Repository of Vilnius University 2022
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://repository.vu.lt/VU:ELABAETD192976269&prefLang=en_US

The Nordic countries were the most active of all Western states to help the Baltic countries to position themselves in the North Atlantic structures such as the European Union (EU), and after the collapse of the Soviet Union advised them with how to create a western democratic model. The Nordic countries actively supported the Baltic states’ willingness for integration in the western world, they were eager to learn from the experiences the Nordics had and to develop an economically stable region. Both regions were enveloped in a common feeling and solidarity due to being a group of small states. As the cooperation between the regions have been active for over 30 years after the restoration of independence of the Baltic states, there have been created numerous cooperation formats including NB8, Nordic Council of Ministers, Baltic Assembly, etc. In terms of cooperation in the EU, a non-formal cooperation format called NB6 have been established. Even though during the meetings of this format all 6 Nordic-Baltic countries, belonging to the EU, share their positions and set their “red lines” which they are not willing to cross in the EU, none of the members are obliged to vote in a specific way. This raises a question: what is the actual level of cooperation between the regions? Academics R. Vilpišauskas, V. Spolitis and E. Terk have raised an assumption that when the EU is faced with crises, the Nordic-Baltic cooperation should intensify and counterbalance the EU’s incapacity to deal with issues. Utilizing the theories of adjacent internationalism, regional coordination and the notion of small states, the aim of this thesis is to analyse trends of data from certain “Twitter” accounts of Nordic-Baltic MFAs and their ministers, conduct interviews with high profile public servants (former ministers, diplomats, etc.) and answer the question, whether and how Nordic-Baltic cooperation becomes more intense when there is a crisis in the EU. As the paper incorporates both regions, additional research questions have been ...