Area of Freedom, Security and Justice and the Black Sea Region

The Black Sea Region (BSR) has emerged as an important intersection of political, economic and security considerations and is now firmly into the attention and policy focus of the European Union and other international organizations. Increased movement of people, terrorist threats, economic opportunity, diffusion of the political ideas and model of the Euro-Atlantic community, energy diversification and security are only a few of the phenomena worthy of sustained attention and multi-faceted policy. The European Neighbourhood Policy is presently the main framework guiding EU activities in this part of the world. Beyond it, the Black Sea space is something of a constructed region, which contains an enormous diversity of states.