After discussing Armenia’s situation, we continue our series of interviews on the Eastern Partnership with a talk on another Caucasian country, Georgia. [ Ссылка ] #eudebates #Georgia #Várhelyi #Gakharia

We have the pleasure to interview Irina Mugdusi from Tbilisi. Irina completed a Bachelor in International Relations at the Caucasus University, and she is now studying at the European Political and Governance Studies Department at the College of Europe. Passionate to learn as much as possible about EU-Georgia relations, Irina aims to contribute to strengthening this relationship in the future.

Irina, thank you for agreeing to discuss EU-Georgia relations with us.
The Eastern Partnership was launched partly as a response to the Russo-Georgian war in 2008. The EU wanted to increase its presence in the region. Following that conflict, Georgia has lost control over Abkhazia and Southern Ossetia. How would you evaluate the EU’s response to this conflict within the framework of the Eastern Partnership?
On the one hand, it’s hard to put the Russo-Georgian conflict within the Eastern Partnership framework, because this policy’s aim is not to contribute to conflict resolution. It is mostly based on strengthening the EU’s relations with its Eastern neighbours. As to the Russo-Georgian war, the EU played an important role in negotiating a six-point deal and achieving a ceasefire on 17 August 2008. The EU also has a Monitoring Mission (EUMM Georgia) under the Common Security and Defence Policy, located around Abkhazia and Southern Ossetia. There are currently more than 200 civilian monitors working there. The aim is to supervise respect of the ceasefire agreement, however, the EUMM Georgia can’t fulfil its mandate entirely because of the Russian Federation [1].

On the other hand, connecting your question on the Eastern Partnership to the Russo-Georgian war makes sense. There had been hostilities between Georgia and Abkhazia since the 1990s, but back then, the EU was not very interested in the Caucasus. The EU got more involved in the region because of the political impulse coming from Poland and Sweden in 2008. Some EU Member States, particularly after the enlargement that extended EU borders to the East, realised the conflict was affecting the EU’s foreign policy. Another reason why the Eastern Partnership was launched was the creation of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) the same year. Like the UfM, the Eastern Partnership was conceived as a tool to spread the EU’s normative power and ensure that its neighbouring countries in the East are more stable, more liberalised, and more European.

Georgia signed an Association Agreement including a Deep and Comprehensive Trade Agreement with the EU in 2014, affirming its rapprochement with the EU.
What impact has the Agreement had on your country? How has it affected Georgia’s relations with Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union?
I studied the Association Agreement, and overall, the most important achievement is the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA). The Agreement gave Georgia access to the EU’s internal market. But there are still non-tariff trade barriers such as technical regulations, product standards, geographical indicators, and certification procedures. This means that while the DCFTA accelerates Georgia’s economic development, it doesn’t seem to be a huge deal.

Georgia has a problem concerning economic relations—there had been more connections with Russia in the past. Most people say the DCFTA is generating economic benefits. Maybe it’s a question of time, since EU standards are very high, and it takes a lot of time and resources for Georgia to meet those standards. For now, it’s a little hard to achieve strong economic relations with the EU. But certainly, the DCFTA is already a step towards deeper economic integration. Therefore, at least for me, the DCFTA is mostly a signal that Georgia is getting closer to the EU. Its value is more political.

As to the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), Georgia is not part of it and has never considered joining it. Russia created the EEU as a response to the Eastern Partnership. Armenia, for example, is a member of the EEU and didn’t sign an Association Agreement with the EU.

[ Ссылка ] #eudebates

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