EU not well represented in talks on frozen conflicts in Caucasus - German expert
Tue 10 November 2009 | 08:08 GMT
Kathrin Brockmann
News.Az
interviews Kathrin Brockmann, resident fellow of the German Council on
Foreign Relations' International Forum on Strategic Thinking.
What is Azerbaijan for the EU? Is it just an energy supplier or something more?
Energy issues do play an essential role in EU policies. However, as one
of the EU’s Eastern neighbours, Azerbaijan is more than just an energy
supplier to the European Union. After the 2004 enlargement, the EU
debated the issue of avoiding dividing lines and “new walls” in Europe
by promoting regional frameworks for cooperation with its neighbours.
The conflicts over Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia and Abkhazia have
put economic and political pressure on the three Caucasian countries,
impoverished their societies, created conditions for the emergence of
organized crime and have negatively impacted on their democratization
processes.
Kathrin Brockmann
This debate eventually resulted in the creation of the European
Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The ultimate aim of this policy is to bring
its neighbours closer to the EU and to establish an area of prosperity,
security and stability in the wider European space. It is therefore
also out of normative and security considerations that the EU is
interested in close and good relations with Azerbaijan. With the
creation of the Eastern Partnership, the EU has recently expressed its
commitment to intensify relations with its Eastern neighbours.
Do you see Azerbaijan in the EU in the future?
The instruments and incentives that the EU offers to its neighbours in
the framework of the ENP are summarized in the catch-phrase “all but
institutions”.
As such, the ENP is designed as a complementary instrument to
enlargement policy and does not entail the perspective of membership.
The EU is currently experiencing institutional overstretch and frequent
political gridlock, that have been further aggravated by the latest
enlargements. The prevailing enlargement fatigue makes it unlikely that
the EU will open new membership negotiations with any country soon.
However, it will be difficult for the EU to deny the prospect of
membership to any European country that entirely fulfills all economic
and political criteria for accession (Copenhagen criteria). In this
respect, while it is unlikely in the near future, membership is not
impossible at a later stage should reforms proceed in the right
direction.
Do you share the opinion that ethnic conflicts in Europe, in particular in the South Caucasus, are threats for Europe?
The conflicts over Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia and Abkhazia have
put economic and political pressure on the three Caucasian countries,
impoverished their societies, created conditions for the emergence of
organized crime and have negatively impacted on their democratization
processes.
These developments contribute to instability and insecurity in the
region and undermine the countries’ path towards Euro-Atlantic
integration. The eruption of the frozen conflict that led to the war
between Georgia and Russia in the summer of 2008 is a prominent example.
Following a wider notion of security, such conflicts pose not only
threats to regional stability but also to European values and the
livelihoods and rights of many people.
What kind of role can the EU play to support stability and peace in the region?
Within the EU a broad consensus prevails that there is a positive correlation between democracy, peace and stability.
Following these considerations, the EU’s efforts to promote stability
and peace in the region are geared towards supporting democratic
reforms, good governance and institution-building, with the ENP being
the most prominent instrument at its disposal apart from enlargement.
While there is truth in the assumption that consolidated democracies
are more peaceful than any other form of government, this does not
necessarily hold true for countries in democratic transition, which are
often prone to conflict.
Given the already existing tensions within their societies, any attempt
to assist the democratization of the countries in the South Caucasus
will have to go hand-in-hand with conflict resolution efforts. In this
respect there is still some homework to be done for the EU. The
conciliation of interests within a European Union of 27 states remains
a challenge. In addition, the EU has so far been unable to come up
with a coherent stance towards Russia, which remains a powerful actor
in the region.
Last but not least, the EU has failed to match its concern over the
frozen conflicts in the region by an adequate presence in the
respective negotiations to solve them. Only if the EU manages to take
into account the national peculiarities and needs of the countries in
the South Caucasus and accompanies its democracy assistance with
enhanced conflict resolution efforts, might it be able to make use of
its transformative power to promote stability and peace in its
immediate neighbourhood.
Leyla Tagiyeva
News.Az
http://www.news.az/articles/2055
