Eastern Enlargement of the EU: Bulgaria and Romania’s Accession- Geo-economic and Geopolitical Implications for the Balkans

The project’s aim is to look beyond the journalistic flash stories and the repetitive high pathos analysis of EU's Balkan Enlargement and explore in depth the geopolitical implications of such an important development. In other words, this thesis looks at two major questions, and namely, what are the geopolitical and geo-economic consequences for the Balkans, arising from Bulgaria and Romania’s accession to the EU and in a broader context what are the geo-economic and geopolitical changes that are shaping in the Balkans in the first decade of the 21st century? To answer these broader questions the research concentrates on series of other closely related, but narrowly focused questions, namely: How the EU policies of inclusion and exclusion in the Balkans could contribute to severe economic, political and cultural ghettoization of the Balkans in short to mid term perspective? What are the Geo-economic and Geopolitical Perspectives for the integrated Eastern component? (Bulgaria and Romania) Pathways from the West Periphery or Western Periphery Paths: Options for the Excluded Component? (Bosnia& Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia & Montenegro, Macedonia) Are we currently observing grandeur changes and the emergence of Bulgaria and Romania as a region with a new very important geopolitical value due to the concurrence of major developments? How can these two countries capitalize on their advanced Euro-Atlantic integration stage and lobby for a more engaged EU policy towards the whole region and specifically the West Balkans? The first section of the first chapter gives the historical framework of Balkan economic relations and the evolution from historical confrontation to cooperation.In the next section I explore the recent geopolitical developments and namely the emerging East-West split , running through the heart of the Balkan peninsula, with its east part in the final stages of EU integration (Bulgaria and Romania) and the ‘Wild West’ of the Balkans with no prospective of mid to long-term EU integration. The second chapter explores the geo-economic implications of Bulgaria and Romania’s EU accession for the region. The third chapter explores the major geo-political changes that are currently shaping the Balkans and more narrowly the geo-political implications of Bulgaria and Romania’s EU accession to the region.eu enlargement; eu accession; european union; bulgaria; romania; eastern enlargement; geopolitics; geo-economics; political economy; balkans

The Convex Hull Problem in Practice : Improving the Running Time of the Double Description Method

The double description method is a simple but widely used algorithm for computation of extreme points in polyhedral sets. One key aspect of its implementation is the question of how to efficiently test extreme points for adjacency. In this dissertation, two significant contributions related to adjacency testing are presented. First, the currently used data structures are revisited and various optimizations are proposed. Empirical evidence is provided to demonstrate their competitiveness. Second, a new adjacency test is introduced. It is a refinement of the well known algebraic test featuring a technique for avoiding redundant computations. Its correctness is formally proven. Its superiority in multiple degenerate scenarios is demonstrated through experimental results. Parallel computation is one further aspect of the double description method covered in this work. A recently introduced divide-and-conquer technique is revisited and considerable practical limitations are demonstrated

FIRST RECORD OF MARASMIUS LIMOSUS AND PHOLIOTA CONISSANS (BASIDIOMYCOTA) IN BULGARIA

The paper provides information on the first finding of Marasmius limosus Quél. and Pholiota conissans (Fr.) M. M. Moser in Bulgaria. Both fungi were found as saprotrophs on decaying leaves and stems of Typha angustifolia L. in the karstic swamp Dragomansko Blato. Morphological data obtained by light microscopy are provided for both species. The easy recording of both species in the swamp in the middle of October allows the suggestion for further autumn searching for macromycetes in wetlands

Geopolitics vs. Globalization in the Balkans: The New Rivalries in the Energy and Transport Sectors

The research focuses on how present Balkan political elites declare that they would adhere to the values of integrating and globalizing Europe in their Balkan policy, while de facto employing the ‘arsenal’ of geopolitical egoistic planning. I also argue that narrow geopolitical planning in inter-Balkan relations, which is embedded in the geopolitical thinking of present Balkan political elites, obstructs the democratization and economic recovery of these societies. The aim of this research is not to argue that ‘geopolitical egoistic’ foreign policy is fundamentally irrational in an era of globalization. Instead the focus is on the particular historical, geographical and political context. Although it is a fact that even in the most Euro-committed countries, politicians are concerned both with absolute and relative gains, in situations when ‘the policies followed by one government are regarded by its partners as facilitating realization of their own objectives, as the result of a process of policy coordination’ , cooperation is usually achieved. The research focuses on how present Balkan political elites still prefer to think in the logic of relative gains, despite the cooperation-facilitating international regimes.geopolitics; globalization; geo-economics; transport; energy; Balkans; South-eastern Europe; Bulgaria; Greece; Romania