The future of the Eastern Partnership and regional geopolitical challenges

Описание: 01 December 2021 - Policy Dialogue

Speakers: Iryna Solonenko, Senior Fellow, Zentrum Liberale Moderne; Iulian Groza, Executive Director, Institute for European Policies and Reforms; James Nixey, Head of Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House; Michal Madl, Political Officer in the Division for Regional Eastern Partnership, regional cooperation and OSCE, EEAS; Nona Mikhelidze, Senior Fellow, Istituto Affari Internazionali

Moderator: Amanda Paul, Senior Policy Analyst, European Policy Centre

The EU Eastern Partnership Summit on 15 December will be the first official summit between the EU and its eastern neighbours (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine) since 2017. It comes after a particularly testing year in the region. This includes political turmoil in Georgia, fraudulent elections in Belarus and, more recently, Minsk’s weaponising of migrants, ongoing provocations and hybrid challenges from Russia, including military build-ups on the Ukrainian border, and large scale disinformation campaigns throughout the region. The Eastern Partnership region has become a theatre for geopolitical confrontation between the EU and Russia.

At this online Policy Dialogue, speakers discussed the future priorities for the partnership, the state of play in the Eastern neighbourhood, the objectives of the newly created Associated Trio (Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) and Russia’s actions in the Eastern neighbourhood. The discussion also focused on possible areas for further cooperation within the Eastern Partnership and measures for furthering the countries’ European political and economic integration.