Amanda Paul – Today’s Zaman
Last week EU foreign policy chief Baroness Catherine Ashton travelled to Baku, Tbilisi and Yerevan as a part of a three-day visit to the South Caucasus.
A beautiful part of the world, and of increasing geostrategic importance being a natural transport and energy corridor, the region unfortunately remains plagued by a number of problems including territorial, ethnic and identity conflicts, economic underdevelopment, corruption, inadequate governance and weak rule of law.
While Ashton had already visited Georgia it was her first visit to Azerbaijan and Armenia. According to a European Commission press statement, the purpose of the visit was to “reaffirm the strong commitment of the European Union to the region.” Earlier this year the EU had dithered on the subject of whether or not to maintain an EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus. Ashton had originally suggested that under the Lisbon Treaty the beefed up role of the EU delegations in each of the countries would suffice. This resulted in significant concern over the EU's level of commitment. Thankfully, after serious lobbying efforts the position was maintained and, in September, French diplomat Philippe Lefort took the reins which had been dropped in February by his predecessor, Peter Semneby.
The EU has taken a slow approach to deepening its engagement with the South Caucasus.Perhaps this is not surprising because the region is located far from Brussels. Secondly, because of the region's important location -- at the crossroads between Europe, Central Asia, Russia and the Middle East -- there has historically and still continues to be today, something of a battle for influence. While Russia still remains the key actor, Iran also keeps a foot in the door. Tehran cooperates with Armenia on numerous different projects and with Iran's ethnic Azerbaijani population of over 20 million, Baku is always aware of the need to maintain pragmatic ties with Tehran. Sometimes this is difficult. Tensions arise, not least because of Iranian efforts to “export” fundamental Islam to Azerbaijan. While the US seems to have evolved a more backseat position, Turkey is looking to increase its role. However, with the EU having little or no baggage in the region, the EU has more credibility than some other actors. Therefore it is well placed to play a bigger role.
Since the December 2003 European Security Strategy, a document drawn up under the authority of Javier Solana, the EU has begun to carve out a larger role. Georgia has been at the heart of this, which is a direct result of the actions of its president, Mikheil Saakashvili, who has continually pushed for greater EU integration since the 2003 Rose Revolution. It was Saakashvili who worked to have the three South Caucasus states included in the EU's European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), which subsequently led to them becoming part of the Eastern Partnership. For the most part, though, Armenia and Azerbaijan just tagged along. Meanwhile the EU enlargement of 2007 to Bulgaria and Romania brought the EU closer to the region. Additionally, the EU's increased realization that it needed to further diversify it energy resources away from Russia, also gave the region more importance, not in the least thanks to Azerbaijan's significant gas reserves. The Russia-Georgia war of August 2008 resulted in the EU taking on, for the first time, a security role in the region with the deployment of the the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM).
While none of the three will be joining the EU in the foreseeable future -- although French President Nicholas Sarkozy put it on the table for Georgia and Armenian during a recent visit -- nowadays all three countries are negotiating Association Agreements, which include visa facilitation and, in the case of Armenia and Georgia, a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement.
For all three countries visa facilitation is crucially important. Easing visa restrictions will make it easier for certain categories of people -- students and businessmen for example -- to travel to the EU, which will greatly enhance people to people contacts and offer greater opportunities to engage more effectively. All three countries are making good progress, but it is a two-way street and the EU should avoid unnecessary delays.
The EU hopes that by increasing cooperation (known as a more for more approach) in a maximum of sectors, including related to the economy, environment, education, human rights dialogue, energy, etc., it will help bring about democratic change and modernization. Ashton congratulated all three countries on their efforts so far and expressed the hope that European values could act as guiding light to carry out reforms. However, with the exception of Georgia, there has unfortunately not been too much evidence of this so far.
Beyond bilateral relations, the EU is also keen to progress regional cooperation. This is proving to be trickier. On the sidelines of the recent Warsaw Eastern Partnership Summit, Ashton reportedly proposed a joint meeting between herself and leaderships of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. Unfortunately, it seems that Armenia was not in favor. It is not clear why not. Nevertheless, efforts along these lines should be persevered.
The South Caucasus is hostage to its troubled past. It is up to all actors involved to help free the region from these chains. The EU has a key role to play in this effort.
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