EU’s Actorness in the South Caucasus: Uneasy Alliance of Normative Power with Conflict Resolution and Peace-Building

Year 2024, , 175 - 198, 27.03.2024

Ayça Ergun , Anar Valiyev

https://doi.org/10.32450/aacd.1439788

Abstract

The success of the EU in the South Caucasus region is limited due to the lack of insufficient commitment, inefficient tools, lack of comprehensive policy design taking into account the needs and priorities of the regional actors. The EU seems to restore its image and increase its visibility in the region after the II. Karabakh War in 2020. Post-war geopolitical context necessitates a durable security-building as a result of a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The EU’s efforts show that it is in the process of re-defining a pro-active role in shaping the meditation and peace-making processes. The outcome will not only determine the nature of the EU’s involvement into the region but also the efficiency of its normative power in the future.

Keywords

the EU, South Caucasus, conflict resolution, peace-building, good governance

References

• Alieva, Leila. “EU and South Caucasus.” in The Bertelsmann Foundation and the Center for Applied Policy Research, (2006).
• Aydın, Mustafa. “The Long View. On Turkish-Russia Rivalry and Cooperation,” GMF, June 08, 2020, Last Updated Date: October, 10, 2023, https://www.gmfus.org/news/long-view-turkish-russian-rivalry-and-cooperation.
• Babayan, Nelli. "“Fear or Love Thy Neighbour”? The EU Framework for Promoting Regional Cooperation in the South Caucasus." Journal of Contemporary European Research 8, no. 1 (2012): 40-56.
• Broers, Laurence. “Perspectives: The EU and Karabakh: Picking up th pieces, looking for a role,” eurasianet, January 20, 2021, Last Updated Date: October 11, 2023, https://eurasianet.org/perspectives-the-eu-and-karabakh-picking-up-the-pieces-looking-for-a-role.
• Delcour, Laure, and Hubert Duhot. “Bringing South Caucasus Closer to Europe: Achievements and Challenges in ENP Implementation.” College of Europe Natolin Research Papers (2011).
• Delcour, Laure, and Kataryna Wolczuk. "Mind the Gap: Role Expectations and Perceived Performance of the EU in the South Caucasus." in Eurasian Geography and Economics 62, no. 2 (2021): 156-177.
• Diez, Thomas. “Constructing the Self and Changing Others: Reconsidering ‘Normative Power Europe’,” Millennium: Journal of International Studies 33, no. 3 (2005): 615
• Duchêne, François. “Europe’s Role in World Peace,” in Europe Tomorrow: Sixteen Europeans Look Ahead, ed. Richard Mayne. London: Fontana, 32-47.
• Duchêne, François. “The European Community and the Uncertainties of Interdependence,” A Nation Writ Large? Foreign Policy Problems Before the European Community, eds. Max Kohnstamm and Wolfgang Hager. London: Macmillan, 1-21.
• European Union. “EU/ Azerbaijan Action Plan,” Last Updated Date: October, 06, 2023. https://www.eeas.europa.eu/sites/default/files/au-az_action_plan_azerbaijan.pdf
• European Union. “EU/Armenia Action Plan,” Last Updated Date: October, 06, 2023. https://eeas.europa.eu/archives/docs/enp/pdf/pdf/action_plans/armenia_enp_ap_final_en.pdf
• European Union. “EU/Georgia Action Plan,”. Last Updated Date: October, 06, 2023. https://www.eeas.europa.eu/sites/default/files/georgia_enp_ap_final_en_0.pdf
• EUR-Lex. “Council Joint Action 2003/496/CFSP of 7 July 2003 concerning the appointment of an EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus” Last Updated Date: October, 06, 2023, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/joint_action/2003/496/oj.
• EUR-Lex. “Council Joint Action 2003/496/CFSP of 7 July 2003 concerning the appointment of an EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus”, Official Journal L 169 , 08/07/2003 P. 0074 – 0075, Last Updated Date: October 11, 2023, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32003E0496&from =EN
• European Council. “Statement of President Charles Michel following the trilateral meeting with President Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan”, December 12, 2021, Last Updated: October 11, 2023, https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2021/12/14/statement-of-president-charles-michel-following-the-trilateral-meeting-with-president-ilham-aliyev-and-prime-minister-nikol-pashinyan/
• European Council. “Press statement by President Michel of the European Council following a trilateral meeting with President Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Pashinyan of Armenia”, May 23, 2022, Last Updated Date: october 11, 2023, https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/05/23/press-statement-by-president-michel-of-the-european-council-following-a-trilateral-meeting-with-president-aliyev-of-azerbaijan-and-prime-minister-pashinyan-of-armenia/
• European Council. “Press Remarks by President Charles Michel Following the Trilateral Meeting with President Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Pashinyan of Armenia”, May 14 , 2023, Last Updated Date: October 11, 2023, https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2023/05/14/press-remarks-by-president-charles-michel-following-the-trilateral-meeting-with-president-aliyev-of-azerbaijan-and-prime-minister-pashinyan-of-armenia/
• European Council. “Statement by the spokesperson of Charles Michel, President of the European Council, regarding Armenia and Azerbaijan”, May 31, 2022, Last Updated Date: October 11, 2023, https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/05/31/statement-by-the-spokesperson-of-charles-michel-president-of-the-european-council-regarding-armenia-and-azerbaijan-31-may-2022/
• Forsberg, Tuomas and Graeme P. Herd. “The EU, Human Rights, and the Russo-Chechen Conflict,” Political Science Quarterly 120, no. 3 (2005): 455-478.
• Gelman, Tracey C., “Visibly Invisible: EU Engagement in Conflict Resolution in the South Caucasus,” European Security 16, no 3-4 (2007): 357-374.
• Geybullayeva, Arzu. “Armenia and Azerbaijan recognize each other’s territorial integrity”, October 10, 2022, Last Updated Date: October 11, 2023, https://globalvoices.org/2022/10/10/armenia-and-azerbaijan-recognize-each-others-territorial-integrity/
• Hyde-Price, Adrian. “’Normative’ Power Europe: A Realist Critique,” Journal of European Public Policy 13, no. 2 (2006): 217-234.
• Jafarova, Esmira. “Can European Union Succeed in Facilitating Armenia-Azerbaijan Normalization?-Anlaysis,” Center of Analysis of International Relations, October 14, 2022, Last Updated Date: October 11, 2023, https://aircenter.az/en/single/can-european-union-succeed-in-facilitating-armeniaazerbaijan-normalization--analysis-1043.
• Lightfoot, Simon and Jon Burchell, “The European Union and the World Summit on Sustainable Development: Normative Power Europe in Action?,” Journal of Common Market Studies 43, no. 1 (2005): 75-95.
• Manners, Ian. “Normative Power Europe: A Contradiction in Terms?,” Journal of Common Market Studies 40, no.2 (2002): 235-258.
• Maull, Hanns W. “Germany and Japan: The New Civilian Powers,” Foreign Affairs 69, no. 5 (1990): 91-106.
• Mejlumyan, Ani, Joshua Kucera and Heydar İsayev. “Armenia, Azerbaijan agree to EU mission on border,” eurasianet, October 7, 2020, Last Updated Date: October 11, 2023, https://eurasianet.org/armenia-azerbaijan-agree-to-eu-mission-on-border.
• Merligen, Michael. “Everything is Dangerous: A Critique of ‘Normative Power Europe’,” Security Dialogue 38, no. 4 (2007): 436-453.
• Orbie, Jan. “Civilian Power Europe: Review of the Original and Current Debates,” Cooperation and Conflict: Journal of the Nordic International Studies Association 41, no. 1 (2006): 123.
• Pace, Michelle. “The Construction of EU Normative Power,” Journal of Common Market Studies 45, no. 5 (2007): 1041-1064.
• Paul, Amanda. "The EU in the South Caucasus and the Impact of the Russia-Ukraine War." The International Spectator 50, no. 3 (2015): 30-42.
• Scheipers, Sibylle and Daniela Sicurell. “Normative Power Europe: A Credible Utopia?,” Journal of Common Market Studies 45, no. 2 (2007): 439
• Simão, Licínia, and Maria Raquel Freire. "The EU’s Neighborhood Policy and the South Caucasus: Unfolding New Patterns of Cooperation." Caucasian Review of International Affairs 2, no. 4 (2008): 47-61.
• Simão, Licínia. “The Problematic Role of EU Democracy Promotion in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh.” Communist and Post-Communist Studies 45 (2012): 193-200.
• Storey, Andy. “Normative Power Europe? Economic Partnership Agreements and Africa,” Journal of Contemporary African Studies 24, no. 3 (2006): 343.
• Twitchett, Kenneth J. Europe and the World: The External Relations of the Common Market. New York: St. Martin’s Press, (1976).
• Ünaldılar Kocamaz, Sinem, “The EU’s Promotion of Good Governance and Democracy in the South Caucasus: Reigonal Strategies and Domestic Constraints” in EU Good Governance Promotion in the Age of Democratic Decline, ed. Soyaltin-Colella, D. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham., (2022), 113-132.
• Youngs, Richard. “Normative Dynamics and Strategic Interests in the EU’s External Identity,” Journal of Common Market Studies 42, no. 2 (2004): 415-435.