... policy chief. It needs to be someone with a vision and strategic thinking; someone whose allegiance to European ideals is unquestionable but who is a realist and not ashamed, or worse, afraid of geopolitics. Someone who will rethink and re-calibrate the Eastern Partnership, acknowledging its geopolitical nature. Someone who can make it fit the new reality shaped partly by a self-assured Russia, protective of its sphere of influence and as disinterested in modernising trade and security cooperation with ...
The Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius in November 2013 demonstrated that the European Union’s policy toward its eastern neighbors has developed into a highly contentious issue between the EU and Russia. The summit was overshadowed by the decision ...
Armenia and the Customs Union: a Forced Maneuver or Conscious Choice?
At the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius on November 28-29, 2013, Armenia chose not to sign the Association Agreement and the accompanying accords on the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA). Meanwhile, a joint statement adopted at the event underlines ...
... developments seem to be on the way. In light of the happenings of the past few days, Europe may come out of this better than it would have, had things gone another way.
It has long been known that the talks between the EU and Ukraine should end at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, with the signing of a Free Trade and Association Agreement. It’s been known that such an agreement would be against Russia’s well-articulated geopolitical interests, and that it would much prefer to see ...
... with serious differences, even escalating to ultimatums
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, among the group members, and the joint search for historical and ideological foundations for consolidation.
The fourth peak of the Visegrad forum's activity started with the adoption of the Eastern Partnership Programme in 2009. This meant that the VG countries had found a common goal and a common interest that could really bring them closer together and lend their interaction real meaning, which had hitherto not been apparent and is still ...
Interview with Vladimir Chizhov
As the Eastern Partnership Summit is approaching, discussions about the foreign political course of Ukraine and its relations with Russia and the European Union are intensifying. How will Kiev’s choice affect relations within the Russia – Ukraine ...
... feature of this new stage in EU policy towards the East is the demand for the harmonization of national legislation with EU legal provisions.
The next cycle of growing attention to regional interaction took place during 2008-2009. The EU’s “Eastern Partnership” program became a key element in the system of multilateral relations. Despite being widespread and deeply rooted in both expert and political domains, the “Eastern Partnership” is not a direct reaction to the “Color ...
... cooperation on certain conditions with no prospect for joining the union. Later, in 2007, the EU was pushed by Germany to announce the so-called Neighborhood Policy Plus and the European Strategy for Central Asia. In 2008-2009, Europeans put forward its Eastern Partnership program for six states, i.e. Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. All European initiatives help formalize political conditionality, appeals to development of political dialog, democratization and assistance to ...
Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) is seen as one of the most important carrots for countries of the Eastern Partnership. Ukraine’s negotiations with the EU over the Association Agreement, which contains the DCFTA, were concluded at the turn of the year 2011. On the opposite shore stands the offer of Customs Union, consisting of Russia, Belarus ...
... influence over its policies, the Kremlin has not set any politico-legal conditions to accession; economic integration is what it says and what it means.
The symbolism of it all
Apart from the early planning stages, Russia has not taken part in the Eastern Partnership or the European Neighbourhood Policy. Amongst a number of practical reasons, they fear it endangers their own regional integration projects as well as their own rapprochement with the EU. But let’s not underestimate the role ...