ROMANIAN SECURITY IN AN EVOLVING EUROPEAN CONTEXT

With the arrival of formerly Soviet-dominated Central Eastern European countries in the EU, the conceptualisation of European security was yet again challenged, this time by different perceptions of old threats, instead of different readings of modern threats. The evolving (Western) European security culture has tended to address the challenges stemming from beyond EU's borders, while, in this process, the new EU member states brought with them security concerns sprung from within EU's borders and EU's taboo neighbourhood (Russia). Romania was such a country, which, in spite of fully subscribing to the Western perspective on (rather politically neutral) modern threats, also displayed a conservative 'territorial defence' attitude rooted in its recent adverse history and compatible, to a great extent, with American conceptions of security matters. Lessening the European East-West mismatch over defining and addressing Europe's security challenges may occur through a process of asymmetrical adaptation to each other's security concerns, though this mismatch may equally endure over time and even generate centrifugal forces at the heart of EU's security policy-making. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]