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  <front>
    <journal-meta>
      <journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">cndcgs</journal-id>
      <journal-title-group>
        <journal-title>Challenges to national defence in contemporary geopolitical situation</journal-title>
      </journal-title-group>
      <issn pub-type="epub">2538-8959</issn>
      <issn pub-type="ppub">2669-2023</issn>
      <publisher>
        <publisher-name>LKA</publisher-name>
      </publisher>
    </journal-meta>
    <article-meta>
      <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">42__IVANCIK</article-id>
      <article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.47459/cndcgs.2026.42</article-id>
      <article-categories>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
          <subject>Article</subject>
        </subj-group>
      </article-categories>
      <title-group>
        <article-title>The European Union and Strategic Autonomy: Political, Economic and Technological Challenges</article-title>
      </title-group>
      <contrib-group>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>IVANČÍK</surname>
            <given-names>Radoslav</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="j_cndcgs_aff_000"/>
        </contrib>
        <aff id="j_cndcgs_aff_000">Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Faculty of Arts, Department of Philosophy and Political Science, Slovak Republic</aff>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>KOMPAN</surname>
            <given-names>Jaroslav</given-names>
          </name>
          <email xlink:href="mailto:jaroslav.kompan@aos.sk">jaroslav.kompan@aos.sk</email>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="j_cndcgs_aff_001"/>
          <xref ref-type="corresp" rid="cor2">∗∗</xref>
        </contrib>
        <aff id="j_cndcgs_aff_001">Armed Forces Academy of the General Milan Rastislav Štefánik, Slovak Republic</aff>
      </contrib-group>
      <author-notes>
        <corresp id="cor2"><label>∗∗</label>Corresponding author.</corresp>
      </author-notes>
      <volume>2026</volume>
      <issue>1</issue>
      <fpage>370</fpage>
      <lpage>380</lpage>
      <pub-date pub-type="epub">
        <day>08</day>
        <month>07</month>
        <year>2026</year>
      </pub-date>
      <permissions>
        <license license-type="open-access">
          <license-p>Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY)</license-p>
        </license>
      </permissions>
      <abstract>
        <p>This paper explores the potentialities and constraints of building the European Union's strategic autonomy in a new geopolitical era marked by the rivalry between the United States and China, the weakening of the multilateral order, and the consequences of the war in Ukraine. The authors primarily focus on the political, economic, and technological dimensions of autonomy, utilising relevant scientific methods within an interdisciplinary research framework, primarily the analytical-synthetic method, content and comparative analysis, as well as the scenario approach. The findings indicate that the EU is capable of progressively reducing its dependency through the diversification of resources, investments in development, research, and innovation, and the strengthening of digital and technological sovereignty. Simultaneously, however, the Union faces serious limitations, the fiscal constraints of the Member States, the fragmentation of its foreign and security policy, and a persistent reliance on the United States in the area of defence. The EU’s future position will therefore hinge on its ability to consolidate its economic and technological potential and transform it into a unified political will and a credible geopolitical power.</p>
      </abstract>
      <kwd-group>
        <label>Keywords</label>
        <kwd>Security and defence policy of the European Union</kwd>
        <kwd>new geopolitical era</kwd>
        <kwd>challenges</kwd>
        <kwd>fragmentation</kwd>
        <kwd>integration</kwd>
      </kwd-group>
    </article-meta>
  </front>
</article>
