The long awaited Eastern Partnership summit which took stock of the achievements of the first two years of cooperation took place in Warsaw, Poland on 29-30 September. However, instead of a friendly get-together, tension overshadowed the second high-level meeting of the 6 EaP and 27 EU countries. Inviting Belorussian President Alexander Lukashenko was out of question already at the very start of the EaP, but this time Poland refused to welcome even Belarus’ Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov.
All this is due to the worsening human and civic rights violations in the country that are seriously criticized by European leader. Cracks appeared, nonetheless, when trying to find unanimity between the EU and Eastern leaders. The summit adopted a declaration which denounced human rights violations in Belarus, however, without the support of any leader from the EaP partner country. Further tension arose surrounding the Yulia Tymoshenko trial, an event seriously damaging EU-Ukraine relations. The current situation does not paint a promising future. Lesia Parno shows what possible outcomes we might expect unless Ukraine changes its policy. In such a troubled diplomatic climate emerged Vladimir Putin’s proposal to set up a Eurasian Union which would ncorporate the former Soviet republics of the post-Soviet space. Could this proposal offer an attractive alternative to the countries of Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus? Joan Manuel Lanfranco Pari attempts to answer this question. However, we don’t stop here! Orkhan Ali takes us to Central Asia to show that Putin cannot expect a simple answer there either, in fact, regional dynamics are at least as complicated as in Eastern Europe or in the South Caucasus.
Our articles, however, can offer only an introduction to these complex issues and we strongly encourage you to share your views with us through our Facebook group or via e-mail.
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Wishing you a good read,
Zsuzsanna Végh
Editor in Chief
