Dear colleague,
We are delighted to announce the publication of ECFR´s latest policy report entitled The Limits of Enlargement-lite: European and Russian Power in the Troubled Neighbourhood, by ECFR Policy Fellows Nicu Popescu and Andrew Wilson.
In this report - based on extensive work by researchers mapping EU and Russian power in each of the six neighbourhood countries of Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia - the authors argue that a complacent strategy focusing on slow change rather than pressing crises in these countries is losing the EU its battle with Russia for influence in the eastern neighbourhood.
The report calls on the EU to urgently rethink its approach towards its eastern neighbours or face a ring of failing states and an increasingly active Russia rebuilding its sphere of influence. These are real risks which might be avoided if EU leaders improve their act and stop placing a lazy bet on a strategy of "enlargement-lite" - ignoring that these countries are deep in the worst political and economic crisis since their independence. This irresponsible lack of attention means Europe risks another "August surprise" with Russia, like last year´s Georgian war - this time over new elections in Moldova or another gas crisis in Ukraine. Although EU leaders have recently become more aware of the need to step up their political engagement with these crisis-prone neighbours, their current strategy - including its latest incarnation, the Eastern Partnership initiative - continues to promote long-term and "technocratic" change while fail to offer these countries the immediate support they need as they navigate the incumbent political, economic and security crises in the face of Russian activism and quick-footedness.
We hope you will find the report interesting and stimulating. Comments can be addressed to the authors directly at nicu.popescu@ecfr.eu and andrew.wilson@ecfr.eu.
Link to full brief: http://ecfr.eu/page/-/documents/ECFR_ENP_report.pdf, 37 pgs
European Council on Foreign Relations - www.ecfr.eu
