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European Union Institute for Security Studies1

SEmInar

EUISS Harvard Black Sea Security Programme

Euope foeig policy

d the Blck Se regio

The EUISS organised a seminar on European ForeignPolicy and the Black Sea Region as part of the HarvardBlack Sea Security Programme 2010. Every year this

programme brings together representatives of the po-litical and security elites of the Black Sea countries inorder to discuss political and security relations in theregion, as well as the role of external actors such asthe EU, NATO and the US. The EUISS seminar aimedat giving participants from the region an opportunityto familiarise themselves with European perspectivesand to foster an exchange of views and opinions withexperts from Paris and Brussels before they movedon to the US.

It was pointed out dur-ing the discussions

that, from a historicalperspective, the BlackSea region is relativelyyoung. After severaldecades during whichthe region existed asa Soviet lake, thebreakdown of theSoviet Union openedit up to external inu-ences. The large lit-toral states, notably

Russia, Turkey andalso the Ukraine, are

still in the process of dening their roles. Several un-resolved conicts block the smooth and constructivedevelopment of regional relations, and many political,

economic, environmental and security challengesremain unresolved. It was stressed that for regionalcooperation to develop, thus allowing for these prob-lems to be tackled efciently, a stronger sense ofregional identity needs to emerge in the Black Searegion. However, this is not an easy process sincethe countries in the region diverge greatly in terms ofthe current stages of their respective economic andpolitical development, as well as in terms of their for-eign policy postures.

EU policy towards theregion was an impor-

tant focus of the de-bate. The EU has madesignicant advances re-garding its engagementin and with the coun-tries around the BlackSea. It has developeda variety of instrumentswith which it aims tomeet the various chal-lenges that its partnercountries face. The EU

is confronted with veryhigh expectations as

EuropeanUnionInstitute forSecurity Studies

SeminarReports

Pris, 16 april 2010 by Sbine Fischer

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European Union Institute for Security Studies2

EUISS Seminar Report

to its capacities both for quick rapprochement withindividual countries and to help resolve the problemsof the region. Several participants pointed out a sig-nicant gap between those expectations and the EUsability to deliver.

The ENP and the Eastern Partnership, it was argued,suffer from a lack of incentive, particularly regardingthe absence of a concrete membership perspectivefor countries in the Eastern neighbourhood. The EUhas become an important actor in conict resolutionprocesses in the region, but its policy remains ratherineffective due to a lack of resolve and common un-derstanding of the conict situations.

On the other hand, it was pointed out that the EU isengaged in a constant process of ne-tuning and de-

veloping its policy instruments and that the implemen-tation of the Lisbon Treaty will bring more coherenceand clarity to EU foreign policy. At the same time, how-ever, the implementation phase of the treaty plungesthe EU into a complicated period of transition with theresult that for the moment there is little evidence ofsuch coherence or clarity. Proactive public diplomacyinitiatives to explain ongoing changes to external part-ners would be of great help here so as to reduce fearsand concerns in the EUs neighbourhood. However,the emerging European External Action Service(EEAS) lacks the means and resources to pursue

such a policy.

Cooperation between the EU and signicant countriesin the region, as well as with other external actors, wasan important issue discussed at the seminar.

There was broad agreement that Russia continues toplay a predominant and not always constructive role in the development of regional relations. Most par-ticipants perceived a recent change in Russias policyand attitude towards the region. In the aftermath of theelections in Ukraine, Moscow seems to be taking amore relaxed stance on many regional issues, among

them EU engagement via the Eastern Partnership andother policies. At the same time, however, participantssaw this more as a tactical adaptation then a strategicvolte-face. It was stressed that Russia will keep striv-

ing for the expansion of its inuence in the region bymeans of both hard and soft power.

Many participants saw Turkey as an important actorstill in search of a clear denition of its role. Ankarasrecent initiatives in the South Caucasus - and Russiassupportive attitude - gave some participants the im-pression that the South Caucasus could become aTurkish-Russian condominium with little room formanoeuvre for either the EU or the US. It was em-phasised that Turkeys insistence on an independentpolicy in the region was closely linked to the stallingof the EU accession process. In general, participantsfrom the region found that the EU underestimatedTurkeys importance for international relations in theBlack Sea region.

NATO too has become increasingly involved in theBlack Sea region in the past two decades. Cooperationwith the regional partner countries varies according totheir own interest and capacities. It was pointed outthat NATO remains committed to the region and thatit plays a role in current debates on the new strategicconcept. NATO and the EU both pursue similar goals interms of the democratisation and stabilisation of the re-gion. At the same time, however, cooperation betweenthe two in the Black Sea region remains limited.

Participants agreed that more cooperation between

the EU and the US in the Black Sea region wouldbe desirable. During the Bush Administration, day-to-day coordination and interaction between the EUand the US on the ground was rather intense, whileboth sides policies differed in terms of their strategicorientation. The advent of the Obama Administrationseems to have reversed this state of affairs: whilethere is greater overlap now between Washington andBrussels regarding regional relations and relationswith Russia, the level of interaction on the ground hasdiminished considerably. It was pointed out that thiscould be a window of opportunity for the EU to takethe lead and shape EU-US cooperation in the Black

Sea region and the Eastern neighbourhood. It remainsunclear however if the EU will be able to do so, giventhe distractions generated by the transition phase thatit is currently undergoing.