he increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters in the Western Balkans — including the 2014 floods, the devastating 2019 earthquake in Albania, and the post-2021 wildfire seasons across the Adriatic — have simultaneously revealed growing response capacities and persistent structural gaps in cross-border disaster governance. While regional solidarity has strengthened and emergency support has been mobilized in several critical events, crisis management remains highly reliant on ad-hoc coordination, asymmetric institutional capacities, and external support from EU and NATO civil protection mechanisms.This study advances the concept of a Regional Civil Smart Defense Model for disaster resilience, grounded in shared operational capacities, integrated training systems, interoperable early-warning mechanisms, and depoliticized cross-border cooperation. Methodologically, the research employs comparative case analysis, institutional documentation, and data from regional and international emergency structures. Findings reveal a clear increase in mutual assistance — such as the deployment of over 30 international teams to Albania in 2019 and large-scale mobilization during the 2014 floods — yet highlight persistent deficits in interoperability, standardized procedures, and harmonized digital infrastructure.The study’s main contribution is the conceptualization of regional resilience through a civil Smart Defense lens, where civil protection and security instruments converge to enhance mutual trust, reduce vulnerability, and accelerate Euro-Atlantic integration. It concludes with policy recommendations such as the establishing a Regional Joint Crisis Hub, a shared aerial firefighting fleet, a regional risk data platform, and a Regional Academy for Resilience and Civil Security, positioning the Western Balkans as a pilot region for integrated EU–NATO disaster governance.
Since the dissolution of 9 June 2024, France’s political and legal system has undergone a new configuration. On the one hand, the tripolarisation of the National Assembly and the establishment of two minority governments are encouraging a permanent search for balance and maintaining a political disorder that has already been present in the Assembly since the re election of Emmanuel Macron. But, on the other hand, the constitutional means available to the institutions are fully operational. However, within the executive dyarchy they reveal the obvious weakening of the President of the Republic and the predominance of the Prime Minister, who is a full player in a monist parliamentary system.
The topicality of the choice of the article is proven by the annual increase in the number of imprisoned women in the world, which is especially highlighted by international organizations dealing with the protection of human rights. They point out the identified reasons for this increase and at the same time address the existing conditions provided by the state to imprisoned women. In general, one of the biggest problems is that prisons often do not provide the appropriate conditions required by gender diversity or specificity. And consequently, they often do not meet specific requirements at all for a very sensitive group of prisoners, namely imprisoned women – mothers. The aim of this article is to expand the knowledge base on the issue of imprisoned women – mothers, based on a comparison and to examine the solutions to this issue in the conditions of selected countries. The authors analyse and compare the conditions and legislation in three different European Union states: The Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic and the Italian Republic. The conclusions are based on the obtained results of a comparative study, the processing of which helped to reveal differences in the implementation of the addressed issue in the environment of selected countries. Finally, the authors consider de lege ferenda possible solutions in the Slovak Republic.
The purpose of the research is to study and analyze the results of the reform - the introduction of the Estonian model of profit tax, carried out in the direction of tax policy, both from a theoretical and a fiscal point of view (example of Estonia, Georgia and Poland). Based on the review of the legislative framework of the reform, the results of the fiscal and entrepreneurs survey are analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The target audience is entrepreneurs who pay profit tax. Both the legislative review and the fiscal results analyzed on the example of Estonia, Georgia and Poland have shown a potential association between two events - that this reform has a positive result only in the long term (as the income from the profit tax increases several times). And, in the short term, it can cause a budget deficit (which is manifested in the fact that the income from the profit tax in the budget decreases) for a country with a large share of profit tax in its budget. Despite the review of the legislative framework of these countries, the research and literature on this topic is limited, which would allow us to analyze this reform from different perspectives. The said research is to some extent an indicator for the institutions implementing the reform, how appropriate it is to carry out the said reform in their countries (taking into account the compliance with the existing legislation). This study offers valuable information to policymakers in this area.
Ukraine’s recovery requires not only large-scale reconstruction financing but also governance arrangements capable of converting resources into resilient, inclusive and productivity-enhancing transformation. This article develops a conceptual frame work of transformational public governance for Ukraine by integrating four mutually reinforcing dimensions: multi-level decentrali sation and institutional modernisation, integrated digital transformation, public-private co-operation and investment mobilisation, and inclusive and accountable institutions. The study combines institutional and comparative analysis with an exploratory scenario based forecasting exercise using macroeconomic panel data for Ukraine and selected European countries. The quantitative component employs OLS and Random Forest models based primarily on investment and inflation variables. Governance-related variables con sidered in the initial specifications were excluded because of severe multicollinearity and model instability; accordingly, the forecast ing results are not interpreted as estimates of the causal effect of governance reforms on GDP growth. Backtesting instead reveals substantial forecast error for Ukraine under wartime conditions, demonstrating the limits of conventional models in the presence of structural breaks. The article’s principal contribution is therefore conceptual and policy-oriented: it separates governance-capacity indicators from economic recovery outcomes, links institutional transformation to a phased implementation architecture, and shows how scenario analysis can inform policy without overstating causal inference. The framework positions governance quality as an enabling condition for reconstruction effectiveness, investment absorption, institutional resilience and long-term convergence with the European Union.
