By Vestnik Kavkaza
Today the summit of the Eastern Partnership opens in Riga. One of the central questions of the meeting will be the situation in Ukraine. Kiev expects that an agreement on providing Ukraine with 1.8 billion euros will be signed, as well as support from the EU in the problem of restructuring debt liabilities. Another question which is interesting not only for Ukraine, but also for Tbilisi, is simplification of the visa regime.
Svetlana Glinkina, the Deputy Director for Scientific Work of the Economics Institute of the RAS, the head of the EI office International Economic and Political Studies, pays attention to the fact that the summit will be held a few months earlier than had previously been planned. “This can be interpreted in different ways. On the one hand, we can say that not all undertakings are successful, and nobody wants to worsen the situation over the program of the Eastern Partnership. On the other hand, probably it is a sign that the EU realizes that the program is sliding and it should be corrected without waiting until November.”
One of the instruments of building special relations is economic integration between post-Soviet countries and the EU. “If we look at figures of 2009 and 2013 on exports and imports of each country to or from the EU, the share of Azerbaijan, both in imports and exports, decreased in comparison with 2009.
The export share of Armenia decreased, while the import share grew by 4%.
Belorussia – imports grew by 2%, exports slightly decreased.
Georgia – the trade turnover with the EU remained the same, unchanged: 22% exports, and 28% imports.
Ukraine – a slight growth, but insignificant.
Moldova – a decrease. Exports were 52%, now they are about 50%; imports were 45%, today it is 43%,” Glinkina said, stressing that there is no intensive involvement of post-Soviet countries in the economic orbit of the EU.
The second direction of building special relations is the copying of European institutions by post-Soviet countries. “Three of the six states signed the association agreement. But these documents have different details. The free trade zone with Ukraine will be established no earlier than in 2016. Openness with Moldova was reached a few years ago, and thus we can say that the agreement is only a formal confirmation of what has already existed between the EU and Moldova.
I think in Georgia, the effect from the signing of the agreement is much lower under current conditions than it could have been 3-5 years ago. The situation with Armenia is an absolutely new phenomenon. From January 1st, 2015, Armenia has been a member of the Eurasian Economic Union. This is an acid test not only for the EU, but also for Russia. What will our reaction be to Armenia’s attempts to work in both the European and Eurasian directions?” Glinkina asks.
According to her, “today the main problem is an attempt to find new mechanisms of cooperation. If we look at Russia and these states, Russia is still a very important partner for them. The states shouldn’t be put in the situation of a child who is asked: “Whom do you love more – your father or your mother?” This is pedagogically wrong. The EU and Russia should think about this. We need to build cooperation without politicizing problems.”
