Considering the Future of the Eastern Partnership in Defiance of Threats

During and after his visit to Moscow, Josip Borrell was heavily criticised by MEPs and national governments for the ill-timed diplomatic encounter with Sergey Lavrov after a severe crackdown of the Russian authorities on protests in support of Alexei Navalny. What signal did it send to the neighbouring countries of the Eastern Partnership? We speak with Stanislav Secrieru, Senior Analyst at the European Union Institute for Security Studies, about the EU’s neighbourhood policy and concrete successes and realisations of the EaP framework that was revamped last year – just before COVID-19 struck in full force. With Nicolas Tenzer, President of the Centre d’étude et de réflexion pour l’Action politique (CERAP) and Editor of the Revue Le Blanquet, we zoom in on the EU’s attitude and approach towards Russia as a source of threat and instability in Eastern Europe. Read a public appeal (in French) for Europe to respond with a firm voice against Vladimir Putin’s regime in Russia: https://legrandcontinent.eu/fr/2021/02/07/tribune-leurope-et-les-gouvernements-democratiques-doivent-marquer-un-coup-darret-a-la-repression-du-peuple-russe/ This episode is part of the Eastern European Futures (EaP2030) project supported by the German Marshall Fund of the U.S. – Black Sea Trust. Read our scenarios for the Eastern Partnership region: www.visegradinsight.eu/EaP2030/ #Russia #Belarus #Moldova #Azerbaijan #Armenia #Ukraine #Putin #Georgia #EaP2030 #COVID-19