Eastern Partnership

Narratives of External Norm Contenders Across the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood

The paper focuses on narratives of contested democracy by third-country actors — notably Russia and China — in the EU’s eastern neighbourhood. It identifies four dominant narratives across the region that originate from Russia — ‘decadent and declining West’, ‘historical unity with Russia’, ‘Russia provides security, the West stokes conflict’, and ‘Western-imposed democracy’ — and one broad narrative promoted by China, summed up as ‘China as a positive alternative’. It explores similarities and differences between the six country cases as well as between the narratives advanced by Russia and China. Finally, the paper also seeks to assess the receptiveness of local audiences to the narratives promoted by the two authoritarian powers and their relevance from the viewpoint of democratisation and EU democracy support.

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The Future of the Eastern Partnership

2020 was a shocking year for the European Union’s eastern partners: the Belarusian authorities have been using systematic violence against peaceful protesters for five months; Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a war over Nagorno-Karabakh at the end of the year; Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine have tried to stay more or less on the reform path; and all six were severely ravaged by the coronavirus. At the same time, both the EU and the partner countries have been discussing the development of the Eastern Partnership in its second decade.

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Russia Wages Hybrid Warfare and Increases Its Influence in Polarised Georgia

As usual, Russia is trying to benefit from Georgia’s toxic political environment and capitalise on the divisions. It has doubled down on its pressure and blackmail to push the vulnerable country towards formally changing its pro-Western foreign policy course. By undermining its democratic credentials and Western integration, Georgia is naturally sliding towards Russia’s orbit.

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Eastern Partnership and European Security

On 8-10 October, ICDS Head of Studies and Research Fellow Tomas Jermalavičius attended the high-level seminar “Eastern Partnership and European Security: Enhanced Cooperation to Overcome Common Challenges” which took place in Vilnius, Lithuania.

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