GEOPOLITICAL FACTORS IN THE FORMATION OF A NEW SCHOOL OF CRIMINALISTICS IN THE INTERMARIUM REGION OF EUROPE

Abstract

The idea of an alliance between Central and Eastern Europe and parts of the Balkans, otherwise known as the Intermarium or the Three Seas Initiative, is not a new one, but it has been given new impetus in our time as this region has developed substantial common interests – not only in the political and economic spheres, but also in other areas. If we look at the idea of the Intermarium, or more specifically the Three Seas concept, we see that 12 European Union countries are formally involved (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia). Greece was admitted to the Alliance in Bucharest in September 2023, while Ukraine and Moldova became associate members. In April 2024, an Intermarium Summit took place in Vilnius where important resolutions were adopted, including on security. The division of criminalistics into four main traditional schools (Germanic, Romance, Anglo-Saxon and Eastern European) which emerged in the second stage of its development in the 20th century is well known. There are no purely national ‘schools of criminalistics’, since each country is in the process of analysing the positive experiences (scientific and applied) of other countries and adapting them to its own purposes. This scientific term is therefore significant first and foremost as a basis for scientific classification, but also reflects the geopolitical vectors of each country. In regard to the development of a specific science such as criminalistics in the context of public security, we need to consider the influence of various factors on this process. In each country, criminalistics, as both a science and an applied field, begins based on the paradigms of one of the main schools before being further saturated with national content. The latter process depends not only on the existing law and its doctrine, the functioning system of law enforcement institutions, and the economic and social conditions, but also on the history, culture, traditions, and geopolitics of the country. The aim of this article, written by authors from three Intermarium countries, is to show, on the basis of an analysis of the most important developments in the forensic sciences of the countries of Eastern and Central Europe in recentdecades, the prerequisites for the formation of a new school of criminalistics in the Intermarium countries. It also seeks to provide insights into the future directions of this process in the context of geopolitical changes.