The Center for Geopolitical and Security Studies (GSSC), together with the Egmont Institute and the Royal Higher Institute for Defence, organized a roundtable discussion titled “Rethinking the EU’s Eastern Partnership: Strategic Choices Amid Geopolitical Competition.” The discussion featured Dr. Gergana Noutcheva, a researcher at Maastricht University, Bruno Vandecasteele, a representative of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and GSSC associate expert Denis Cenusa. During the event, Denis Cenusa presented the main theses of the recently published paper “Rethinking the EU’s Eastern Partnership: Three Ways to Upgrade Amid Geopolitical Competition.”
Key Focus Areas:
- The discussion concentrated on methodological and practical approaches for rethinking the future of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership framework.
- Participants shared insights on the evolving dynamics in the region and agreed that widening divisions—driven by Russia’s war against Ukraine, the unstable situation in the South Caucasus, and Belarus’s growing alignment with Russia – necessitate a fundamental reassessment of the EU’s Eastern Partnership.
- To ensure the stability of Eastern Partnership countries and reduce Russian and Chinese influence in the region, the Eastern Partnership must serve as the EU’s strategic answer by offering an alternative to the region’s states.
Main Insights from Participants:
- The Eastern Partnership format is closely linked to the EU enlargement process and the stability of the Black Sea region.
- Future decisions regarding the Eastern Partnership should not be directly dependent on the outcome of the war in Ukraine; instead, the EU should pursue a proactive policy toward the region.
- With declining U.S. financial support, the EU’s role has become even more significant in supporting the region’s democratic civil societies and human rights initiatives.
- Participants emphasized that the EU must accurately interpret how the region’s countries envision their own future. Eastern Partnership states have different positions and approaches and do not see themselves as a unified region.
- For this reason, the EU should consistently apply differentiated and tailored approaches to each country, while also seeking to align its bilateral and regional cooperation strategies.
Strategic Conclusions:
- Regardless of the version of Eastern Partnership reform the EU chooses, the Partnership must be aligned with other EU priorities and should be an integral, holistic part of EU policy.
- Strategically, the EU’s interest in the Eastern Partnership region stems from security needs. If these needs remain unmet, Eastern Europe will continue to be a source of instability.