Sem categoria

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) is publishing a summary of the event co-organized with European Alliance for Georgia (EAFG) on the 6th of June in the European Parliament. The summary includes input from ENC Academic Council members as well as ENC research staff.

The full summary is available in PDF format below.

The upcoming ENC Perspectives (to be published in July) will include articles related to security and stability in the Eastern Partnership area.

The Eastern Partnership – Deliverables, Prospects and Challenges

Interview with Andreas Marazis on the impact of Turkish Stream for Europe and Ukraine

The EU’s energy diversification strategy aims to find alternative sources to Russian gas, responding to the concerns of natural gas disruptions via Ukraine since 2008. Kremlin, on the other hand, is promoting alternative pipeline projects that – if implemented – would bypass Ukraine.

Recent suggestions propose linking the Turkish Stream to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) – an act that will supply Turkey and Europe with Russian gas bypassing Ukraine. Trend News Agency, based in Azerbaijan, interviewed ENC Head Researcher Mr. Andreas Marazis on the issue.

Mr. Marazis argues that the Russian gas company Gazprom could retain its position in the Southern European markets and in Turkey if connecting the Turkish Stream to TAP and TANAP. “Ironically, the Southern Gas Corridor has been primarily promoted as a strategy to emancipate the EU’s gas supply from Russia and improve ‘energy security'”, he claims.

However, the connection would be bad news for Ukraine. If going through with it, Russian gas companies could bypass Ukraine in order to supply Europe. Losing its gas revenues would be devastating for Ukraine and its stabilization.

Read the full article here: http://en.trend.az/other/commentary/2753278.html

Monitoring EU-Russia Relations

Relations between the EU and Russia have been in decline over the last three years. Although there is no direct conflict between the two powers, and despite the strong scientific co-operation and joint projects in the Middle East, the recent deployment of NATO troops in the Baltic regions, accusations of Moscow-led cyber-attacks, ongoing bilateral sanctions, and the conflict in Eastern Ukraine – amongst other issues – have only served to augment a coldness between them.

Andreas Marazis is a project manager and researcher specialising in the Eastern partnership countries and Central Asia at the independent think tank the European Neighbourhood Council. He is also an affiliate researcher at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium, and an associate researcher for EUCAM, a knowledge hub on broader Europe-central Asia relations. PanEuropeanNetworks (PEN) spoke with him in Brussels to gain his expert insight into the military and political developments between the European Union and Russia, and hear his thoughts on the future of the sensitive relationship.

The full expert article is attached below in PDF format. The online version can be found in the PanEuropeanNetworks publications at the following web address:

http://www.paneuropeannetworkspublications.com/DMR2/#142

Monitoring EU-Russia Relations

Release of ENC Publication Summary – Turkish Customs Union Reform – Setting the EU Turkey economic agenda