Door Samar Batrawi en Suzanne Nollen

On Friday 8 November the Clingendael Institute hosted a high level expert seminar, a joint initiative with the Georgian Embassy in The Hague.

This seminar addressed various questions regarding the EU Summit in Vilnius with its Eastern Partners Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus.

The possibility of increased cooperation of these countries with the EU has sparked a reaction from Russia, which set up a customs union with Belarus and Kazakhstan and is establishing a Eurasian Union.

Normalization of Georgian-Russian relations

Alex Petriashvili, State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Georgia, emphasized the importance of the upcoming Summit for Georgia in terms of future perspectives. The country has made significant progress, especially after holding free, fair and democratic elections which consolidated its democracy.

Its foreign policy priorities remain unchanged as they represent the will of the Georgian people. Mr. Petriashvili emphasized that it is not Georgia´s aim to frame its good relations with the EU as an issue of Brussels versus Moscow. On the contrary,  Petriashvili expressed his hope for a normalization of Georgian-Russian relations.

In what Krivas calls 'a strategic choice for the the future', he expressed his hope for cooperation with all global partners, including Russia

Indeed, the same aversion of referring to this question as an issue of Brussels versus Moscow as part of a zero-sum game was voiced by Andrius Krivas, Lithuanian vice-minister of Foreign Affairs. In what he calls “a strategic choice for the the future”, he expressed his hope for cooperation with all global partners, including Russia.

Prospects beyond the Vilnius

An issue both speakers agreed on when discussing prospects beyond the Vilnius Summit, is the difficult phase to be entered after the agreements are signed. The implementation of further democratic and economic reforms will be even more difficult than negotiating them.

Although signing the agreements marks a point of no return, successful implementation will require a lot of effort and time. This will include painful sacrifices and costly reforms. Andrius Krivas suggested that  in the long run giving more incentives to the Eastern partners, that show they are really making progress, may ultimately be the promise of full EU membership.

Eastern Partnership

The Swedish ambassador for the Eastern Partnership, Martin Hagström, expressed his full support for the Eastern Partnership policy, drawing attention to the fact that Sweden was amongst the EU countries which initiated this policy.

In response to a question with regards to the differentiation between Eastern Partners countries, he answered that partly it is a matter of self-differentiation and partly it is a matter of already existing differences between these countries that are able to influence the speed in which reforms can be completed.

Not à la carte

Dirk Jan Kop, the Dutch ambassador for the Eastern Partnership, underlined how important rule of law issues and respect of fundamental values are in the eyes of the Dutch. The Eastern Partnership is not an á la carte menu. It is a package in which all parties have demands.

Respecting the rule of law not only is fundamental for a well-functioning democracy, but it is also crucial for attracting investors, creating a transparent business climate and fostering trade relations. In terms of implementation, the re-shaping of bureaucracies was seen by Mr. Kop as the biggest challenge ahead.

Konstantinos Vardakis, dp. head of the EEAS division in charge of the Eastern Partnership, Regional Cooperation and Relations with the OSCE, re-iterated many of the hopes and concerns of the other speakers, and added that the partnership will certainly also contribute to European security. Furthermore he voiced the need to manage expectations and to be clear about the fact that the Eastern Partnership is not an automatic path to EU membership.

On the issue of differentiation Verdakis added that it is not necessarily a bad thing, as the so-called best students can transfer their knowledge to those that are further away from completing necessary reforms.

System of values

In conclusion, if in any way the Vilnius Summit is to be seen as a Brussels versus Moscow competition it is with regards to a choice of a system of values such as rule of law, free market, rejection of corruption, democracy and human rights. All speakers expressed their wish for a good relationship with Russia and future cooperation with this country as a global partner.

Yet, the Vilnius Summit is foremost a very constructive and positive development for the Eastern Partners themselves.

In the photo above the article, from left to right: State Minister of Georgia Alex Petrashvili, Vice-Minister of Lithuania Andrius Krivas and senior visiting fellow of Clingendael Jan Marinus Wiersma.