Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues

The Russian Federation, with its plans to regain influence over former Soviet bloc countries, currently constitutes the main military danger for the EU and NATO. Because the war is so close to the EU’s borders, European allies have every reason to increase army financing instead of fuelling a transatlantic disagreement about burden sharing. This article deals with the question of whether the high strategic threat posed by Russia has increased military spending among European allies and decreased free-riding practices after 2014. To analyse this problem, we applied Spearman’s Rank Correlation test and then made a comparative analysis of 21 countries that are both EU and NATO members. Our results confirmed that European allies did not react in the same way to the Russian threat. We proved that strategic factors played a key role in the majority of Eastern European members of NATO, but not across Western European allies.

The article investigates the specifics of the military-industrial complex functioning in Ukraine. Theoretical analysis has shown that the development of the country’s defense industry and the state of enterprise`s financial security within this industry have a dual impact on various components of the national security system: is a realization tool of the national interests, which in turn creates opportunities for its strengthening, and it can also be a source of threats to the state`s economic security by its components due to the accumulation of internal negative elements on enterprises (insufficient development and low level of military products competitiveness, obsolescence of fixed assets at enterprises, etc), as well as due to the low ability of enterprises to respond adequately to the challenges arising from changes in external conditions and factors (disruption of sustainable cooperation, increased competition between different military products in domestic and foreign markets, etc). The activity legal framework, legal status and structure of the state concern “Ukroboronprom” have been defined. The strategic growth priorities of defense industry of Ukraine have been cleared up. The financial security of enterprises operating in the defense industry can be ensured not only by using passive mechanisms to resist internal and external destructive factors, but also by mechanisms of efficient interaction with the environment. This in turn allows the company to avoid the need to invest capital in sources of raw materials, production or creation of distribution channels. Access to certain technologies or knowledge, the advantages of narrow specialization and the possibility of increasing consumer value, these all are important reasons for establishing strategic cooperation between different companies.

The purpose of this article is to fulfil a comparative study of national security legislation, as well as the formation of conceptual foundation for its development and the elaboration of proposals for the improvement thereof with regard to Ukraine. The article analyses in comparative aspect the practice of the Republic of Lithuania as one of the European countries. In the context of globalization, the research focuses on international legal systems of both international and regional levels. The comparative legal analysis of the legal measures to maintain national security revealed similarities in theoretical and methodological approaches. In the study, the author’s definition of national security is given; and a typological model of the concept of national security is formed.

The articles analyses the penetration of social media through personal use into daily life and the relation of this phenomenon to national security. A survey of Lithuanian higher-school students aged 18-29 was conducted according to quantitative research methodology. Young people actively use social networks for various purposes (personal, learning, work, recreation). Statistically, each individual, aged 18-29, has personal profiles on four social networking sites, yet most often does not adequately evaluate and link the use of social networks with possible national security threats and risk factors. Less than two-thirds of young people have heard something of possible threats and risk factors; however, the impact of social media on national security is not considered significant. Thus, it seems that young people lack information about real threats presented by social networks to both personal data storage and national security.

Our paper is dealing with the issues of economic security and international relations in the European Union (EU) at the uncertain times of rethinking European security and sustainability in the face of Brexit and other challenges facing Europe.