The Eastern Dimension of EU External Relations

Author(s): Susan Stewart
Editor(s): Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic, Heiko Pleines, Hans-Henning Schröder
Series: Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)
Issue: 61
Pages: 2-5
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen
Publication Year: 2009

The eastern dimension of EU external relations has become more differentiated over time. While still embedded in the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP), it has been given new impetus with the introduction of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) in May 2009. However, the ENP has been plagued with a series of problems which are likely to carry over into the EaP, and the global economic crisis has created a very difficult environment for EaP implementation. Furthermore, Russia's sense of a growing competition between the EU and the Russian Federation in the EaP partner countries makes EU-Russian cooperation in the common neighborhood unlikely. Thus while there is some potential for progress in the civil society realm, the overall prospects for the EaP appear rather bleak.

Download:

English (PDF)