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Eastern neighbours & Russia

The eastern neighbourhood is of strategic importance to the EU: although the Union’s relations with the states of the region vary significantly, the EU and its eastern neighbours maintain high levels of interdependence in several different spheres: from trade and energy flows to the joint management of security challenges and migration.

The EU has long developed its policies in the region and its relations with Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan along the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership.

Association Agreements containing provisions on the establishment of deep and comprehensive free trade areas, form the cornerstones of EU engagement. Such agreements have been signed and are implemented by Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia.

Russia’s war on Ukraine prompted this ‘Association Trio’ to formally apply for EU membership: Ukraine and Moldova were granted candidate status in June 2022, while Georgia was recognised as a potential candidate. Relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan are also advancing but outside of the enlargement track.

Beyond the Eastern Partnership, Russia remains the EU’s biggest geographical neighbour. Until 2022, the EU and Russia were bound by a complex network of political, economic and people-to-people contacts. Yet, Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has halted many aspects of the EU’s relationship with Moscow: European attempts at curtailing Russian aggression on Ukraine have come to dominate a relationship which once was mostly built on fostering trade and energy cooperation.

 Eastern neighbours & Russia 2.0

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has reshaped demographics, geoeconomics, and geopolitics in the Eastern Partnership states, prompting the EU to take radical decisions in its engagement with its eastern neighbourhood, made up of Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. Whereas prior engagement focused on trade, energy, migration, and security, the EU has started channelling funds to supply Ukraine with heavy weapons, while it has extended the enlargement process along its eastern border.

Over the coming years, the newfound momentum of engagement needs to be sustained and backed up with resources. Ultimately, the EU’s success in the neighbourhood will largely depend on its actions in the security realm – not only in Ukraine, but also in Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, given that Russia’s war has altered the status quo of protracted conflicts in said countries. Among other factors, support for refugees, easing of remaining trade barriers, improving regional connectivity, and progress in the enlargement process will co-determine the EU’s success in the neighbourhood in the period to come.

Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has halted many aspects of the EU’s relationship with Moscow: EU attempts at curtailing Russian aggression on Ukraine – through sanctions on Russia and weapons deliveries to Ukraine – has come to dominate a relationship which once was mostly built on fostering trade and energy cooperation, a security dialogue, and visa liberalisation.

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    29March 2017
    Armenia: Russia first, EU second?
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    15March 2017
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    15February 2017
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    09December 2016
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    09December 2016
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    03November 2016
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    05October 2016
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    29July 2016
    Strategic communications – East and South
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    22October 2015
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    24September 2015
    On target? EU sanctions as security policy tools
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    This Report, the outcome of an EUISS Task Force on sanctions, offers valuable insight into a practice that is now part and parcel of the Union's ‘security’ policy toolbox. It aims to shed more light on an EU policy area that is still under-researched at a time when sanctions are becoming more important in terms of their number, scale and political salience.

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    18September 2015
    Saakashvili in Odessa
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    The recent appointment of Mikheil Saakashvili – a restless yet error-prone reformer – as governor of Odessa is a gamble for Ukraine. Will he be able to introduce or force through the reforms the country so desperately needs? Or does he have his sights set on an even bigger prize?

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    18September 2015
    Ukraine’s other war
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    Ukraine is fighting two wars simultaneously: a hybrid conflict in the east and a war against itself – a struggle against its own dysfunctionality and endemic levels of corruption. What progress has been made? And are the country’s political elite likely to scupper or support further reform efforts?

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    03July 2015
    Moldova’s star: shining or falling?
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    Moldova is in the middle of a debate over whether it is the falling star of the Eastern Partnership or if it can still regain some of its shine. Its politics is messy and corruption is high. Yet, its progress over the last few years has been rather impressive. Now the task is to consolidate achievements, while dealing with its failures.

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    17June 2015
    Arctic security matters
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    12June 2015
    CSDP in action – What contribution to international security?
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    10June 2015
    Russian foreign policy: domestic constraints
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    Although President Putin enjoys a remarkably free hand abroad, he still operates within constraints. Over the last nine months, Russians have become increasingly hostile to ‘foreign adventures’ as economic problems have mounted. What effect, if any, will this have on Russian foreign policy?

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    05June 2015
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    13May 2015
    Sanctions against Russia: evasion, compensation and overcompliance
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