Политичке последице препознавања перспективе чланства у Европској унији за три источна партнера
Political consequences of recognizing the EU membership perspective for three eastern partners

Summary/Abstract: As a consequence of the invasion of Ukraine, the European Union has taken a series of steps to present itself as a regional geopolitical leader. Comprehensive support for Kyiv has followed in the areas of military-security aid, political, humanitarian, and other cooperation. Additionally, there has been significant distancing from Russia through numerous restrictive measures. Finally, the EU formally recognised the membership perspective for Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia. This paper aims to explore the ambivalence and consequences associated with recognising the accession perspective for these eastern partners. On the one hand, the author interprets this as part of the EU's crisis response, aiming to maintain normative and other influence in its geographic neighbourhood. On the other hand, by effectively including these countries in the enlargement policy, the fate of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) as a neighbourhood political initiative is questioned, as its focus now remains only on Armenia and Azerbaijan, raising questions about its purpose. The hypothesis is that changes in European policies, however justified or compelled, pose a challenge to both domains, as enlargement has been in crisis foryears and the aims and identity of the EaP are now in question. The author further illustrates how the Eastern neighbours compare with Serbia in their readiness for membership. The author concludes that geopolitical trends, no matter how important, cannot replace either domestic reforms in candidate countries or institutional changes necessary within the Union for the planning and implementation of the accession of new countries.

• Details
• Contents