The Integration Competition between the EU and Russia
Belarus and Ukraine as Areas of Contention
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
The European Union and Russia describe their relationship as a “strategic partnership”. Cooperation and conflict exist alongside one another. But especially in the common neighbourhood, a competition in integration is underway. Through its Eastern Partnership programme, the EU is trying to export values, norms, and practices. Russia, via a number of projects, is striving to reintegrate the post-Soviet realm. The cases of Belarus and Ukraine show that Moscow is trying to use their self-isolation, economic weakness, and dependence on cheap energy supplies from Russia, in order to bind these countries more closely to Moscow. The integration projects of the EU and Russia are mutually exclusive.
(Osteuropa 6-8/2012, pp. 383–406)