摘要：Situated in the proximity of Heartland, whose control is the object of a very complex political, diplomatic and economic-military game, the Black Sea has become, especially after September 11 2001, but foremost once with the decision of NATO expansion in 2002, a space complicated crossroads between the geopolitical and geo-economic boundaries. The new geopolitical configuration of the Black Sea has been announcing itself ever since the ‘90s, when the first projects of pipelines transporting energy resources of the East to the West have been outlined. Geographically situated at the crossroads of the European, Eurasian and Middle East security spaces, the Black Sea has not been considered as belonging to any of these, this causing it to be ignored and marginalised, without stirring any particular interest. The conflict in the former Yugoslavia has directed, to a large extent, attention towards this space, and frozen conflicts (Transnistria, Abhazia, South Osetia, Karabah) and the residual situation immersed after the fall of the Soviet Union have lit red lights on the geostrategic maps of the European chancellors. The West stills mirrors it as a “near foreign” area of the Moscow, in which this harbours special interests, and as such, the Black Sea was not considered in major assessments. Today, the region of the Black Sea gradually starts to occupy the epicentre of the western efforts to protect their interests in the Caucasus and Middle East. As NATO expands its attributions and gets ready for a long term involvement in Afghanistan, considering and undertaking additional responsibilities in the Middle East region, and especially in Irak, the Black Sea region begins to be looked from another perspective.
关键词：Black Sea; Wider Black Sea Area; frozen conflicts; democracy; ; geopolitics; security; energy; geostrategy; NATO; EU
