Squaring the Circle: The EU's Operational Impact in the Black Sea Region

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explain the flux in the European Union (EU) policies towards the Black Sea region with a particular comparative focus on the impact of the EU's operations in the South Caucasus and the EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) in Moldova. This paper adopts the prospect and process of EU enlargement towards Central and Eastern Europe as a breakthrough in the EU's deeper rapprochement with the Black Sea region. By assuming that the EU has a variety of instruments at its disposal for crisis management, this paper suggests that the EU is relatively more powerful with its framework initiatives in dealing with the problems of the region at the grass-roots level, more so than as a security actor assuming direct roles including the operative side of the Common Security and Defence Policy in the resolution of the regional conflicts in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria. More specifically, this paper argues to what extent the three-and-a-half operations in the Black Sea are successful in presenting effective solutions to the region's conflictual situations.

Notes

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^[3] For pluralistic security communities, see K. Deutsch et al., Political Community and the North Atlantic Area: International Organization in the Light of Historical Experience, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1957; and E. Adler, ‘Europe's new security order: a pluralistic security community’, in B. Crawford (ed.), The Future of European Security, IAS, Berkeley, CA, 1992.

^[4] R. Prodi, ‘A wider Europe: a proximity policy as the key to stability’, speech to the Sixth ECSA World Conference, Brussels, 5–6 December 2002, p. 3.

^[5] For the EU's ‘normative model’, see G. Therborn, ‘Europe in the 21st century: the world's Scandinavia?’, Irish Studies in International Relations, 8, 1997, pp. 21–34; I. Manners, ‘Normative power Europe: a contradiction in terms?’, Journal of Common Market Studies, 40(2), 2002, pp. 235–258; and T. Diez, ‘Constructing the self and changing others: reconsidering “normative power Europe”’, Millenium Journal of International Studies, 33, 2005, pp. 613–636.

^[6] D. Triantaphyllou and Y. Tsantoulis, ‘The EU's policies towards its new Eastern neighbours: a new Ostpolitik in the making or a mélange of different concepts and priorities’, Südosteuropa Miteilungen, 5, 2009, p. 9.

^[7] European Commission, European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument: Azerbaijan Country Strategy Paper 2007–2013, p. 3,  < http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/country/enpi_csp_ azerbaijan_en.pdf> (accessed 25 April 2014); European Commission, European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument: Armenia Country Strategy Paper 2007–2013, p. 9,  < http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/country/enpi_csp_ armenia_en.pdf> (accessed 25 April 2014).

^[8] For a detailed account of the EU's policies towards the region, see the contribution by D. Triantaphyllou in this issue.

^[9] For a detailed account of the EU's conflict-resolution role, see the contribution by L. Simão in this issue.

^[10] For a detailed evaluation regarding the crisis in Ukraine and the passive policy of the EU, see K. McNamara, ‘The EU after Ukraine: European foreign policy in the new Europe’, Foreign Affairs, March 2004,  < http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/140991/kathleen-r-mcnamara/the-eu-after-ukraine> (accessed 25 April 2014).

^[11] V. Socor, ‘Frozen conflicts: a challenge to Euro-Atlantic interests’, in R. D. Asmus, K. Dimitrov and J. Forbig (eds), A New Euro-Atlantic Strategy for the Black Sea Region, The German Marshall Fund of the United States, Washington, DC, 2009, p. 127.

^[12] S. Akgul-Acikmese, ‘The European Union's role in the South Caucasus’, in M. Aydın (ed.), Non-traditional Security Threats and Regional Cooperation in the Southern Caucasus, IOS Press, Amsterdam, 2011, pp. 170–177.

^[13] D. Lynch, ‘ESDP and the OSCE’, in G. Grevi, D. Helly and D. Keohane (eds), Ten Years of the European Security and Defence Policy, EUISS, Paris, 2009, p. 140.

^[14] For a detailed account of the EU's access to NATO's assets and capabilities, see ‘Background: EU–NATO: the framework for permanent relations and Berlin Plus’,  < http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cmsUpload/03-11-11%20Berlin%20Plus%20press%20note% 20BL.pdf> (accessed 26 April 2014).

^[15] Apart from the completed rule of law mission in Georgia, the EU had conducted the same type of operation in Iraq (EUJUST-LEX) between 2005 and 2013 with 66 personnel.

^[16] EU Council, European Security and Defence Policy: The Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management, August 2009, CIV/03,  < http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cmsUpload/090702%20Civilian%20aspects%20of %20crisis%20management%20-%20version%203_EN.pdf> (accessed 26 April 2014).

^[17] A. Nowak (ed.), Civilian Crisis Management: The EU Way, ISS, Paris, 2006, pp. 28–29.

^[18] For details of the EU's finished and ongoing operations as of February 2014, see  < http://eeas.europa.eu/csdp/missions-and-operations/index_en.htm> (accessed 15 February 2014).

^[19] Council Joint Action 2004/523/CFSP of 28 June 2004 on the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Georgia, EUJUST THEMIS, Official Journal of the European Union, L 228/21, 29 June 2004.

^[20] Speech by Javier Solana at the 40th Commanders Conference of the Bundeswehr, Bonn, 11 October 2005, Chaillot Paper 87: EU Security and Defense, Institute for Security Studies, Paris, p. 287.

^[21] D. Helly, ‘EUJUST Themis in Georgia: an ambitious bet on rule of law’, in A. Nowak (ed.), Civilian Crisis Management: The EU Way, ISS, Paris, 2006, p. 90.

^[22] X. Kurowska, ‘EUJUST Themis: a EU rule of law mission in Georgia’, in G. Grevi, D. Helly and D. Keohane (eds), Ten Years of the European Security and Defence Policy, EUISS, Paris, 2009, p. 207.

^[23] The proposal of extending the mandate of the EUSR's BST to make it possible to start developing a dialogue with the secessionist authorities of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on border management issues was blocked by Greece in order not to antagonize Russia. N. Popescu, ‘EU and the Eastern neighbourhood: reluctant involvement in conflict resolution’, European Foreign Affairs Review, 14, 2009, p. 467.

^[24] Council Joint Action 2005/582/CFSP of 28 July 2005 Amending and Extending the Mandate of the European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Official Journal of the European Union, L 199/92, 29 July 2005.

^[25] Popescu, op. cit., p. 465.

^[26] A. Huff, ‘The role of the EU Defence Policy in the Eastern neighbourhood’, ISS Occasional Paper, 91, May 2011, p. 19.

^[27] P. L. Isakhanyan, ‘EUMM—Georgia: the European Union Monitoring Mission’, Diploweb.com, 15 May 2011,  < http://www.diploweb.com/EUMM-Georgia-the-European-Union.html#nb41> (accessed 27 April 2014).

^[28] Council Joint Action 2008/736/CFSP of 15 September 2008 on the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia, EUMM Georgia, Official Journal of the European Union, L 248/26, 17 September 2008.

^[29] S. Fischer, ‘EUMM Georgia’, in G. Grevi and D. Keohane (eds), Ten Years of the European Security and Defence Policy, EUISS, Paris, 2009, p. 389.

^[30] Isakhanyan, op. cit.

^[31] Fischer, op. cit., p. 386.

^[32] Point five is related to restoring the situation in Georgia to the status quo ante, which calls for ‘Russian troops to go back to positions prior to the outbreak of hostilities’.

^[33] European Commission, Delegation of the European Union to Georgia, < http://ec.europa.eu/delegations/georgia/eu_georgia/tech_financial_cooperation/index_en.htm> (accessed 28 April 2014).

^[34] The only exception was €50,000 given in support to an Akhalgori youth house. For the ongoing rehabilitation projects for the peoples of the region and those in Abkhazia, see European Union Delegation to Georgia, Overview of EC Assistance to People Affected by Conflict in Georgia, May 2010, < http://ec.europa.eu/delegations/georgia/documents/projects/overview_post_conflict_ec_assistance_may10_en.pdf> (accessed 28 April 2014).

^[35] International Crisis Group, ‘Conflict resolution in the South Caucasus: the EU's role’, ICG Europe Report, 173, 2006.

^[36] F. Cameron, ‘The European Neighbourhood Policy as a conflict prevention tool’, EPC Issue Paper, 47, 2006, p. 17.

^[37] European Commission, EU/Moldova Action Plan, 2004, < http://eeas.europa.eu/enp/pdf/pdf/action_plans/moldova_enp_ap_final_en.pdf> (accessed 2 May 2014).

^[38] V. A. Dias, ‘The EU's post-liberal approach to peace: framing EUBAM's contribution to the Moldova–Transnistria conflict transformation’, European Security, 22(3), 2013, p. 346.

^[39] J. F. Crombois, ‘The ENP and EU actions in conflict management: comparing between Eastern Europe and Maghreb’, Perspectives, 16(2), 2008, p. 38.

^[40] Council Joint Action 2005/776/CFSP of 7 November 2005 on amending the mandate of the European Special Representative for Moldova, Official Journal of the European Union, L 292/13, 8 November 2005.

^[41] EUBAM Annual Reports, 2005/06 and 2012, < http://www.eubam.org/en/knowledge/eubam_pubs?tag = 1> (accessed 2 May 2014).

^[42] G. Sasse, ‘The European Neighbourhood Policy and conflict management: a comparison of Moldova and the Caucasus’, Ethnopolitics, 8(3), 2009, p. 377.

^[43] EUBAM Annual Reports, 2005–2010 and 2012, < http://www.eubam.org/en/knowledge/eubam_pubs?tag = 1> (accessed 2 May 2014).

^[44] Huff, op. cit., p. 20.

^[45] Akgul-Acikmese, op. cit., pp. 170–177.

^[46] Dias, op. cit., p. 342.

^[47] R. Whitman and S. Wolff, ‘The EU as a conflict manager: the case of Georgia and its implications’, International Affairs, 86(1), 2010, p. 11.

^[48] Kurowska, op. cit., p. 206.

^[49] Whitman and Wolff, op. cit., p. 7.

^[50] Dias, op. cit., p. 342.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sinem Akgul Acikmese

Sinem Akgul Acikmese is Associate Professor of International Relations at Kadir Has University, Istanbul, Turkey. Her research interests include Security Studies, European security, EU foreign policy and European integration as well as Turkey–EU relations.

Cihan Dizdaroglu

Cihan Dizdaroglu is a PhD candidate in International Relations at Kadir Has University, Istanbul, Turkey. His research interests focus on Turkish foreign policy, Turkey–EU relations with a particular focus on the Cyprus issue and Turkish–Greek relations, and European security.