EU Eastern Partnership - Promises vs Realities

Original: EU Eastern Partnership - Promises vs Realities


The European Union extended its hand to six former Soviet republics: Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia on Thursday at a summit meant to draw them closer into the EU orbit despite Russia's deep misgivings. Presidents, premiers and their deputies from 33 nations are signing an agreement meant to extend the EU's political and economic ties.
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Last minute tweaks to the Eastern Partnership summit declaration reveal EU unease over enlargement and immigration, as well as the complexities of old conflicts on the union's eastern frontier.

An earlier Czech EU presidency text of 29 April referred to the 27 EU states plus Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia as "European countries." It also spoke o other's "territorial integrity."

The latest wording speaks of obeying the "principles and norms of international law" - a loose phrase that could see Belarus recognise Georgia rebels in South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, entrenching Russia's military occupation of Georgia.

It could also see Armenia maintain military support for the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan, limiting EU options for building new gas pipelines in the South Caucasus.

Velvet evolution

But despite the upsets - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday night had not confirmed if he will go to Prague on Thursday - the event will mark a victory for ex-Communist EU states keen to extend EU freedoms closer to Russia.

The Eastern Partnership idea was born during informal talks between like-minded governments in Tallinn in mid-2007. The pace of progress, through European Commission blueprints to EU summit agreements in 2008, has been European Council on Foreign Rela