On April 19 and 20, in Bucharest, an advanced research workshop "Black Swans on the Eastern Flank" was organized by the New Strategy Center from Romania and the World Experience for Georgia, supported by the NATO Science for Peace and Security Program. The workshop aimed to provide an innovative set of “black swans” –scenarios that could generate a crisis in the regions of Black Sea and Balkans.

During these two days experts and researchers from Romania, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine indicated potential threats to the countries of these regions related to border and port security, counter-terrorism, energy-security and cyber-security. Apart from experts, representatives from Romanian government, NATO and “FRONTEX” also participated in workshop who played a positive role in the event.

During workshop experts discussed prospective scenarios that might emerge  in the regions and will have an impact on the socio-economic development and security of the countries. In addition to this, participants explained the importance of the international and regional challenges that threaten the eastern flank countries and highlighted the necessity of deepening cooperation among the states in this area.

Participants from each state had the opportunity to learn more about the current situation on the Eastern Flank, to discuss about several important topics and to identify common challenges and threats in the field of fighting against terrorism, radicalization, home-grown terrorism, energy-dependence, border management, personal data protection and to make contacts that could lead to mutually beneficial collaboration in the future.