A number of recent studies suggest that EU conditionality is a weak mechanism for democracy promotion to third countries if EU does not offer the reward of membership. EU democratic conditionality has been criticized for many shortcomings even in the context of enlargement, especially for unclear demands, vague benchmarking, moving targets, and politicized decision-making. Present thesis discusses whether the view that conditionality has exhausted its potential for democracy promotion still holds true in one country of Eastern Partnership, Moldova. The EU explicitly offers only carrots short of membership. I find that, among these, visa free regime is the most rewarding. But while visa liberalization coupled with tactics of "half opened, half closed doors" seems potent enough to drive democratic change and consolidation, it is evident that EU did little to address the shortcomings of democratic conditionality of 2004-2007 enlargement. The pattern of ill specified demands and unclear benchmarking perpetuates and is a major source of disappointment.

Yes / Sida requested the Helpdesk to review and analyse the direct and indirect implications of the conflict in Ukraine in 2014 for the portfolio of programmes supported by Sida in the Eastern Partnership Region (EaP) and in Russia; taking into account the Results Strategies for Sweden’s support to these regions and countries.

In recent decades, the EU has significantly expanded its presence and influence in many of the former Soviet states. This essay have examined how the relationship between the EU and Russia has change since The Eastern Partnership was introduced 2009 and the extent to which it can be seen as a contributing factor. The Eastern Partnership is a joint initiative involving the EU, its Member States and six Eastern European Partners. Among this six this essay has focued on Ukraine and its part in the relationship between EU and Russia. This essay have been a theory-consuming case study that analyzes and explains the EU and Russia`s actions concerning the EaP, with the help of Mearsheimer`s theory of offensive realism. The analysis showed that the relations between EU and Russia had changed and deteriorated. The Eastern Partnership has provoked Russia and has made them feel restricted in their sphere of power. There has been a conflict over the six countries, including Ukraine, between the EU and Russia.

This study seeks to examine and assess the effectiveness of the Eastern Partnership Policy (EaP) of the European Union. Beside introduction of positive novelties of the Eastern Partnership, this paper gives a premium attention to scrutinize the possible limitations and shortfalls of EaP. Hence, the study aims to analyze some internal and external factors that complicate the effective functioning of the EaP. The inconsistency of the EU policy structure, the role of Russia and its Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU) in EAP, the ambivalent policy of some Member States (Germany and Italy are examined) toward the EaP, unconsidered discrepancy of eastern partners are analyzed and considered as prime reasons of ineffectiveness. In addition, examined case studies of Ukraine and Azerbaijan reveal that the EU's commitment to their "shared values" are controversial. This paper presents that the EU should find a balance between its economic/energy interests and normative values vis-a-vis Eastern Partners in order to fill the gap between its goals and achievements.

Who is 'the public'? The case of the EU's Public Diplomacy in the Eastern Partnership Master's Thesis - Kristin Aldag - Charles University, June 2021 Abstract For states and other international actors such as the European Union, public diplomacy is an important tool to achieve their political and economic interests abroad by communi- cating directly with foreign audiences. While the existing body of academic literature on pub- lic diplomacy is rich, few authors have thus far addressed the question of who actually consti- tutes the public, and which specific target groups can be distinguished. Using the EU PD prac- tices in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) from 2010-2020 as a case study, this thesis will thus attempt to fill this gap and contribute to the academic literature in the field by offering an overview of the various target groups within the European Union's public diplomacy. In a thorough content analysis of relevant primary sources, the thesis focuses on the policy objec- tives and practices of the European Union's outreach to different groups and audiences in the EaP region. The third chapter presents the results of this comprehensive research, which has shown that several distinct groups within the general public in the EaP can be identified, among them young people, media professional and...

The Eastern Partnership was founded in 2009 with three main areas of focus: one being security. The research questions: ‘What effect has the changing security situation had on the usage of the term security by the EU/joint statements by the Eastern Partnership on selected non-security terms from 2009 to 2021?’ and ‘How have the security terms been affected?’Using content analysis, sampling was kept to official statements concerning the partnership as a whole and do not include material from sub-co-operations, such as the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly. The coding, with a focus on ‘security’, includes several expressions that include security, such as; ‘energy security’; ‘human security’; ‘cyber security’; as well as ‘resolution of conflicts’ and ‘peaceful settlement’; while the codes included in the primary analysis are; ‘economic integration’; ‘stability’; ‘strategic’; ‘prosperity’ and ‘common values’. The theory of securitization was utilized due to its foundation in constructivism and the theory aims to explain how securitizing actors use speech acts to bring attention to issues. Findings show that ‘security’ has been used more in later years, while ‘stability’ is used frequently across all years with data. The selected non-security-related terms are used more overall than the selected security-related ones; a reason for this is that ‘economic integration’ is the core of the EU and one of the founding principles of the Eastern Partnership. Furthermore, one explanation why the non-security-related terms are used more could be that the Eastern Partnership and the EU do not always know where to put the focus, and as a weakness does not recognize the urgency of certain issues, and too little is done too late.

In my work I have focused on the Eastern Partnership (EaP) as an instrument of EU (foreign) policy towards its eastern neighbors with regard to the geopolitical implications of collaboration through the given initiative. My ambition has been to identify the potential benefits of initiating the project, especially in political-security and energy aspects. The first chapter focuses on the theoretical concept of geopolitics as well as the geopolitical definition of the East-European region. The second chapter is devoted to the conceptualisation of the EaP as an specific instrument of the European foreign policy as well as the concrete implementation of the EaP in practice. The third chapter deals with particular relevance to this project with the (geo)strategic objectives of the EU as well as the analysis of the EaP in terms of effective functioning.

Denna studie handlar om EU som normativ makt i området för EU:s östliga partnerskap (Eastern Partnership/EP). Med utgångspunkt från säkerhetsgemenskapsteori och konstruktivism undersöks EU:s försök att sprida sina normer och intensifiera kopplingarna till länderna Moldavien och Armenien, som omfattas av European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) och EP. Studien finner att EU:s strategi för att intensifiera kopplingarna till Moldavien och Armenien är mycket lika, där utvecklingen av praktikergemenskaper verkar vara något som EU särskilt vill prioritera och etablera redan i ett inledande skede för att partnerlandet skall acceptera de normer, värden och uppfattningar om intressen som utgör ramverket för EU:s kollektiva identitet. Men det verkar som att ländernas förmåga, möjlighet och vilja att tillmötesgå ramverket skiljer sig åt, och att det är där vi kan hitta förklaringen till varför EU mer framgångsrikt spridit sina normer till Moldavien än till Armenien – ett faktum som denna studie argumenterar för ytterst visat sig genom Moldaviens godkännande av EU:s bindande samarbetsavtal Association Agreement, och Armeniens avvisande av samma avtal till förmån för en tullunion ledd av Ryssland.

The thesis tests the efficacy of Principal-Agent (PA) theory in explaining the creation and development of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). As such, the thesis is subject as well as theory-driven. Empirically, the focal point is how the interaction between the EU member states and the European Commission affected the development of the ENP. It is a theme which is largely overlooked in the ENP literature. In terms of theory, the ENP represents a fascinating case study for PA analysis not only because it has rarely been applied to the field of EU foreign policy but also because PA has seldom been used for studying the evolution of a policy (both pre and post-delegation). Conceptualising EU member states as principals and the European Commission as agent, the thesis examines PA dynamics through the following three ENP policy stages: formulation (2002-2004), finalisation (2004-2006), and implementation (2007-2009). Three hypotheses are tested for each stage of the ENP. Two hypotheses are rooted in PA scholarship, and address the influence of the agent as an informal agenda-setter, while the third distinguishes the agent's influence between different stages of the policy development. Methodologically, the research design is based on within-case process-tracing while the empirical data is drawn from a triangulation of official documents, secondary sources and elite interviews. The thesis findings show that during the initial stages of the policy, the Commission took advantage of its favourable position (e.g. informational asymmetries and uncertainty among the member states) to establish itself as the key actor in the ENP. As the ENP evolved, the Commission’s influence has diminished while the member states, collectively and individually, became more engaged in determining the course of the policy. However, contrary to PA assumptions, member states' increased oversight over the Commission did not come as a response to disobedient behaviour. Based on the empirical data, the Commission, as an agent, was in fact trying to implement the ENP following the guidelines which were previously agreed by its principals. Thus, in the case of the ENP, my PA analysis shifts from the traditional inquiry of how principals control opportunistic agents, to examining how principals could hinder the work of the agent. This phenomenon, broadly defined by Thompson (2007) as the ‘principal problem’, is an anomaly in existing PA literature dominated by an agency-biased standpoint and has previously not been analysed in the context of the European Union. Finally, the wider implication of this thesis is that there is still room for broadening the scope of PA analysis while highlighting the necessity to keep a watchful eye on both the principals and the agent.

EU’s international role as a normative power can be questioned as the current foreign policy of the Eastern Partnership implies a limit to the union’s ability to democratize. An alignment with EU norms is often seen through a dichotomy of compliance or non-compliance, overlooking other forms of resistance stemming from a nexus of international compliance pressure, and defiance pressure from hybrid regime structures. This applies to Georgia, a pro-EU country in the Eastern Partnership, committed to EU norms while maintaining a skewed playing field in favor of incumbents. Through the application of a theoretical framework developed in memory studies, a range of rhetorical adaptation strategies employed by the ruling party regarding electoral reforms delineates a norm navigation. A qualitative content analysis of statements and events relating to the long-contested electoral system during 2015-2019 shows a variation of strategies used, pointing in a direction of increased pressure to align with prescribed EU norms. Whether EU or domestic political forces can be credited is difficult to determine, yet the nuances of norm resistance are important to analytically separate from overarching labels, as states’ rhetorical commitments need a critical perspective to better understand the limits to EU’s normative power in the Eastern Partnership.